West End Rowing Club is based in Auckland, New Zealand, but we do have three different club houses in the Auckland region. These are at; Main Clubrooms at 26 Saunders Reserve, Avondale, Auckland, Mercer club shed - Mercer Ferry Rd, Mercer, Auckland and Coastal rowing club house - 55 West End Road, Coxs Bay, Auckland

West End Rowing Club is proud to be the home of Baradene Rowing, Mt Albert Grammar School and St Peter’s College Rowing.

At West End we have rowing for secondary schools for students from our affiliated schools, Baradene, MAGS and St Peters. Club rowing - Novice/beginner (17 years +), Intermediate, Club and Senior levels aswell as support and training for those at Elite level. We also have a Masters rowing squad for experienced men and women of 27 years or older.

The West End Rowing Club was founded in Ponsonby in 1884, with training taking place in St Mary’s Bay (Westhaven). Success came early to the Club with the first regatta win being recorded in 1885. As the city of Auckland developed, so did West End with the growth in numbers and successes over the early decades of the twentieth century. Even the destruction of virtually all of the Club’s boats in a cyclone which struck Auckland in 1914 where large seas flooded the boathouse was overcome.

In 1949 the Club won its first red-coat (Premier title) with victory in the Premier Eight on Lake Karapiro. This entire crew were selected as the New Zealand eight for the 1950 Empire Games where they finished a close second, only a foot behind the Gold Medalists, Australia.

After this first redcoat the 1950’s-70’s were a golden era for West End with the club winning a 47 redcoats and 2 Olympic Golds. West End celebrated its centenary in 1984 with a premier title and another Olympic Gold.

Following a lean time in the early 1990’s the Club has steadily rebuilt and following its move to the Whau River in Avondale (due to redevelopment at Westhaven) has again taken its place as a leader in New Zealand Rowing. In July 2022 West End Rowing club purchased a new clubhouse in Cox’s Bay that is dedicated to the new form of the sport, Coastal Rowing which will shortly be debuted at the Olympic Games.

The club has had a proud history of developing athletes that have gone on to represent New Zealand at the highest level. Recent olympians are Mahe Drysdale, Juliette Drysdale (nee Haigh) and Stephen Jones. We also have a number of younger athletes who are training and attending junior international regattas.

The club is also proud to provide competitive rowers who are part of the Rowing NZ Pathway system to progress their rowing careers. The club in recent years has sent crews to Henley Royal Regatta as well as the United States Club National Championship regatta.