On Friday 26 February the Michael Morgan (ON 1964) Rowing Centre was official opened. The Headmaster, Dr David Mulford, welcomed Mr Michael Morgan OAM (ON 1964), his family and other guests and thanked the 39 donors for the generous support of this brand new facility. Special thanks were extended to the organisers of the fundraising – Marty Nicholas (ON 1987) and Head of Sport, James Godfrey (ON 1993).

Prior to unveiling the plaque Mr Morgan thanked the generous donors for their contribution to building such a fabulous facility for Newington College. Mr Morgan also acknowledged the coaches for their dedication to coaching our upcoming rowers and personally expressed how thrilled he was that his family were able to attend the opening of the centre. Mr Morgan’s closed his speech with the following words:

Not everybody wins, and certainly not everybody wins all the time. But once you get into your boat and push off, tie into your shoes and bootstretchers, then ‘lean on the oars’, you have indeed won far more than those who have never tried.

The Michael Morgan Rowing Centre includes both a technical training facility as well as a Rowing specific Strength and Conditioning room. The technical facility will be used by boys of all ages across the Newington College Rowing program. The Strength and Conditioning facility will predominantly be used by Year 9 and 10 students both off-season and in-season for their strength program.

The event was a great success with over 40 guests attending.  A total of $116,950 was raised. The College matched an anonymous $20,000 donation and has also contributed a further $21,000 from its Maintenance budget towards meeting the overall costs. Total costs of the Centre are $177,640. With a $20,000 shortfall there is still opportunity to donate to the facility by emailing community@newington.college.nsw.edu.au or phoning the Community and Development Department on 02 9568 9374.