30 August 2024

By Tim Koch

RIP Louis Petrin was an obituary posted on Hear The Boat Sing on 13 April 2021. It began:

HTBS is in mourning. It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of our friend, rowing historian, rowing advocate and HTBS contributor Louis Petrin, who unexpectedly died on 8 April. He was 63 years old…

It was after Louis Petrin’s daughter, Nicole, began rowing that he joined Drummoyne Rowing Club, New South Wales. He was an active member of the club and rowed in fours and eights at Masters regattas. Louis was a passionate member of the club and was part of a crew that was affectionately known as ‘Grumpy Oar Men’ – a group of fathers who raised funds for their daughters’ school rowing programme… 

(In 2020) Louis was named the Rowing NSW Volunteer of the Year for his long service to the rowing community as an NSW Boat Racing Official. In a social media message, Rowing Australia paid tribute to him: ‘Louis was the most wonderful volunteer to our sport and worked tirelessly at numerous National Championships in the presentation area. He will be sorely missed by all.’

In a statement, Drummoyne RC wrote: ‘Through his association with rowing, Louis became a highly recognised Rowing Historian and amassed an extensive collection of memorabilia. It was a true passion of Louis’. [His] contribution to rowing and Drummoyne Rowing Club will be greatly missed.’

Along with some other local rowers, Louis, who had a library degree and collected rowing books, was helping Australian rowing clubs and enthusiasts to document and preserve historical documents and items. He spent time on the National Library of Australia’s Trove website to edit OCR text of digitised newspaper articles on rowing.

Louis was first a loyal reader of HTBS, and since September 2012, a contributor to the website. His special interests were professional scullers, and Louis loved trophies, cups and medals. Through the years, his collection of rowing memorabilia came to grow extensively. At an early stage of collecting, Louis had the plans to develop a museum to celebrate the sport of rowing in Australia.

Recently, an addition was made to the “comments” section of Louis’ HTBS obituary. It was by Mario M. Libro, a scriptwriter from Sydney, appealing to producers, studios or filmmakers for support in his project to make a documentary on Australian sculler Edward “Ned” Trickett (1851 – 1916). 

After much success sculling in New South Wales, Trickett won the Sculling World Championship in London in 1876 to become the first Australian world champion in any sport. On his return to Sydney, he was welcomed by 25,000 people. In June 1877, he retained his championship against fellow Australian Michael Rush on Sydney’s Parramatta River, attracting 50,000 (or some say 70,000) spectators. Trickett successfully defended his title again in 1879, defeating countryman Elias Laycock. He finally lost the Championship in 1880 to the great Canadian, Ned Hanlan. In all, Trickett won more than 150 races and became Australia’s first popular sporting hero.

Mario wrote:

“Trickett” is a true story based on first-hand accounts inspired by Louie Petrin, a fanatical rower and sculler from Sydney, Australia, who had the most extensive and significant collection of rowing memorabilia in the Southern Hemisphere. He had plans to develop a museum to celebrate the sport of rowing in Australia.

When my friend, Louie, discovered my passion for scriptwriting, he asked me to write a great biopic script to honour and preserve his hero. A compelling Australian biographical screenplay revolves around the life of Edward “Ned” Trickett. We follow his journey and achievements as a Quarryman, Rower, Sculler, Salvationist and Family Man in Colonial Australia in the late 19th century.

Trickett’s ambition to become Australia’s First Sporting World Champion is a testament to the human spirit and the power of resilience. His legacy, a significant part of Australia’s history, is one that deserves preservation, as it put Australia on the map in the world of sports.

When this extraordinary Trickett biopic project, a comprehensive portrayal of Trickett’s life and achievements, is brought to life on the big screen it will not only captivate audiences worldwide but also leave a profound and lasting impact on all Australians and sports people, sparking a wave of inspiration and admiration, especially for the younger generation.

More details are on Mario’s website https://scriptwriter.pro/ and his email is mario@scriptwriter.pro

In 2015, Janis Rafter and Craig Henshaw wrote about Trickett for HTBS in a piece titled, Rowing Our Way to a Separate (and Proud) Australian Identity.