Against the Odds

Name: Against the Odds
Price: 70 AUD
Availability: PreOrder
ISBN: 9781923192898

The History of the Monash University Rowing Club

William P. Gurry, AO, Ruth Sweetman, Andrea Giles

$70

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Monash University Publishing
01 June 2026

Australasian & Pacific history; Higher & further education, tertiary education; Rowing

A celebration of the Monash University Rowing Club and of how the pursuit of rowing lends itself to success in other avenues of life.

Monash University was founded in 1958 and by 1962 students were enquiring about the purchase of a rowing boat from the Melbourne University Boat Club. Despite concerns about the possible distracting effect on study and Clayton being ‘well-removed from any suitable sheet of water’, the male-only Monash University Rowing Club (MURC) was formed the following year. Its swift achievements matched those of the growing university, seeing it soon acclaimed as Victoria’s premier rowing club, and joined by the Monash University Women’s Rowing Club in 1973. Today, all Monash oarspeople row together under the MURC banner.

William P. Gurry, who as a young law student was a member of the rowing club from 1967 to 1972, including four years as Captain of Boats, here tells the full history of MURC for the first time. He writes of the number of challenges faced by the club – and of its sustained success across the decades. He writes of the victories and losses, the obstacles encountered and what happened after, of the Olympians, the future captains of industry and the many successful careers of the MURC men and women. Most of all, in this beautifully designed and illustrated volume, he writes about what it means to compete ‘against the odds’.

By: William P. Gurry AO
With: Ruth Sweetman, Andrea Giles
Imprint: Monash University Publishing
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 210mm, Width: 297mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 1.240kg
ISBN: 9781923192898
ISBN 10: 1923192892
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 01 June 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

William P. Gurry has enjoyed a lengthy and eminent career in business, having formerly held a number of senior banking roles, including Chairman of Rabobank, Executive Chairman of UBS in Australia and CEO of its predecessor, Potter Warburg. Prior to this, he was Managing Director of National Mutual Royal Bank. Bill was a foundation director of the Financial Markets for Children in 1990 and remains involved to this day. In 1996, Bill was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in recognition of his services to the finance and banking professions, the arts and the community.