Christian Ryan launches new boat

The College was delighted to welcome back former College Captain and Olympic silver medallist Christian Ryan (SPC 1992-95) to be guest speaker at our annual Boat Race Assembly and to officially launch our new racer boat named in his honour.

Christian, a two-time Head of the Lake winner in 1994 and 95, shed tears in front of our full school assembly as he spoke of the impact his time at St Patrick’s College had had on his life.

He said the friendships formed from his time in the College and at the Boat Shed had stayed with him for more than 20 years and would remain for the rest of his life.

Christian spoke of his journey from being a boarder at St Patrick’s to becoming a member of the silver medal winning Australian eights crew at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

He took the opportunity to present a short video to our community showing the important role family plays in the quest for success for any successful sportsperson. The video focussed on the gold medal won by cyclists Scott McGrory and Brett Aitken at the 2000 Olympics – particularly the hardship Scott endured in the lead up to the games. The video can be seen at- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI_GjhAuiX4

Following the assembly, Christian and his family met with members of the rowing community including our senior firsts crew at the Boat Shed where he officially christened the new racer boat named in his honour.

The “Christian Ryan” has already been raced competitively twice this season and is, to date, undefeated.

Christian spent more than an hour talking with our senior rowers, passing on his words of wisdom.

He will be a visible presence at the Head of the Lake on Sunday, hoping to see the boat bearing his name cross the line in first position.