HISTORY

Founded in 2016, Siġġiewi Rowing Club is a registered Voluntary Organisation (VO) with the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations. The Club officially joined the Malta Rowing Association on 25 August 2016 as an Observer Member before being unanimously admitted as a Full Member on 19 January 2022, with all the rights and responsibilities that membership entails.

From its very beginning, the Club brought together a passionate group of athletes united by a shared commitment to excellence, sportsmanship, scientific training methods, and friendship. During its early years, Club athletes competed primarily in indoor rowing competitions, earning medals at the National Indoor Rowing Championships and qualifying to represent Malta at international events. Among the Club’s earliest international achievements were the participation of Dr Michelle Vella Wood and Jessica Borg Ghigo at the 2017 European Indoor Rowing Championships and the World Games in Wrocław, Poland. Club also prioritised “Olympic-style” rowing and in the same year, Dr Michael Borg became the first Maltese athlete to represent Malta at the World Coastal Rowing Championships, marking another important milestone for both the Club and Maltese rowing.

From its inception, Siġġiewi Rowing Club has placed a strong emphasis on para rowing, making inclusion one of its core values. The Club is proud to support several para athletes who have achieved remarkable success at both national and international level. The first para athlete to join the Club was Antonio Flores PLY who competed under the Siġġiewi colours in the 2017 Malta National Indoor Rowing Championships. In September 2021, Owen Mallia won two gold medals at the British Virtual Indoor Rowing Championships, while Isaac Borg established two world records in the PR3-ID 17–18 category and continues to hold the overall PR3 100m world record.

The year 2021 marked another significant chapter in the Club’s development. During the European Week of Sport, Siġġiewi Rowing Club fielded its own crews for the first time in the traditional rowing races held in the Grand Harbour, demonstrating its growing presence within Malta’s rowing community.

A defining moment in the Club’s history came on 9 February 2022, when it signed a lease agreement for its rowing premises in Marsa, establishing its permanent base for on-water training and operations. The agreement was officially announced during a public ceremony in Siġġiewi on 23 March 2022 by Hon. Silvio Schembri, then Minister for the Economy and Industry, in the presence of Mr Dominic Grech, Mayor of Siġġiewi. Their support was instrumental in making this milestone possible.

Only days later, on 31 March 2022, Siġġiewi Rowing Club made its long-awaited debut in Malta’s historic Maltese National Regatta, competing with its own boats and crews for the very first time. This achievement followed the Club’s admission as the eighth Full Member of the Malta Rowing Association through the unanimous approval of the existing member clubs, granting it the right to participate in one of Malta’s oldest sporting traditions.

Another important milestone was reached in January 2023, when the Club established its land-based training facilities at the gym within Dar tal-Providenza in Siġġiewi, a place the Club proudly considers its natural home. The gym has been progressively equipped through grants, sponsorships, and the generosity of members and supporters. Funding has included the SIS and VOPS schemes administered by the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector (MCVS), together with support from the Ministry for Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector, SportMalta, the I-Sport Programme, Julian Bajada, and numerous individual donors.

In June 2025, Maltese rowing underwent a major restructuring, with the former Malta Rowing Association evolving into Malta Rowing Federation and Regatta Malta. Siġġiewi Rowing Club was key in this restructuring and was the first Maltese rowing club to hold full membership in both organisations.

Today, Siġġiewi Rowing Club continues to build on these foundations, promoting rowing as a sport for all while striving for excellence in competitive rowing, para rowing, youth development, and community engagement. As the Club looks towards the future, it remains committed to its founding values of inclusion, dedication, teamwork, and sporting excellence.

• 25 August 2016

  Established through recognition of Malta Rowing Association (Observer Status).

• November 2016

  Club Athletes participated for the First time in Malta National Indoor Rowing Championships and medalling.

• December 2016

  Club Athletes participated for the first time in international Indoor Rowing Events (BRIC’2016). Since then, athletes participated in various other competitions, including European Championships (medals awarded in F-LW) and the World Games.

• September 2017

  Club athlete participated for the first time in the World Coastal Rowing Championships.

• November 2017

  Club registers its first para athlete, Antonio Flores PLY, who took part in the Malta National Indoor Rowing Championship’s. athlete participated for the first time in the World Coastal Rowing Championships.

• November 2020

  Club enrolled as a Voluntary Organisation (VO/2036).

• April 2021

  Club officially recognised by SportMalta SM/C/315.

• September 2021

  Club para rower Owen Mallia medalled in the British Virtual Indoor Rowing Championships thus getting the first international para rowing medals for the Club. In the same month, Club took part for the first time with its own boats and crews, as well as boats borrowed from Marsa RC, in the traditional regatta organised in Malta’s Grand Harbour as part of the European Week of Sports.

• 19 January 2022

  Club granted “full membership” of Malta Rowing Association (Ghaqda Regatta Nazzjonali u Qdif Iehor), following a unanimous decision of all other seven Clubs, thus becoming the 8th Full Member of the Association with its own right to participate in Malta’s historical National Regatta.

• 9 February 2022

  Club signs a leasehold agreement with the Lands Authority thus acquiring a store in Marsa for use as its home in the Grand Harbour.

• 31 March 2022

  Club took part for the first time with its own boats and crews in Malta’s National Regatta.

• July 2022

  Club athlete Dr Julian Bajada makes history with the Julian Bajada Challenge raising thousands for the setting up of our para rowing progamme.

• September 2022

  Club launches its ISport Programme, aimed at athletes with a visual impairment, in collaboration with the Malta Paralympic Committee and the Malta Trust Foundation chaired by H.E. Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, President Emeritus of the Republic of Malta.

• October-December 2022

  Club took part, as a Club, in the European Fixed-Seat Rowing Championships (Coppa Europa) held in Taranto on 1st October 2022 where it placed overall 2nd in the Male Gozzo category. These Championships are the main fixed-seat rowing events at European level and are officially sanctioned by the CONI affiliated Italian Fixed-Seat Rowing Federation (FICSF). In November of the same year, on the invitation of the Turkish Rowing Federation, Club athletes took part in the X Commagene Rowing Marathon held in the weekend if the 18-19-20 November 2022, placing 4th overall. Another achievement was the first participation as a “Club” in an endurance Coastal Rowing regatta, the Borin 2022 regatta in Trieste, Italy, where Club athletes won bronze.

• January 2023

  Following another historical agreement, all Club land training starts to operate from the gym of Dar tal-Providenza, which we proudly call our natural home in Siggiewi. Gym is being equipped by the Club through various donations and grants. These include the Small Initiatives Support Scheme (SIS) managed by the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector (MCVS) and supported by the Ministry for Inclusion, Voluntary Organisations and Consumer Rights (MIVC), the ISport Programme, Julian Bajada and other members’ donations

• July 2023

  Club athlete Mark Schembri won the first “palju” in the name of the Club in the Barklori race held as part of the Regatta Youths in Rinella Bay within the Grand Harbour.

• 2024-2025

  Club obtains its first Coastal Rowing Boats, the first being Egalite, purchased with the support of APS Bank, and a set of boats from Swift Racing (C4x+, C2x, C1x) with the support of the Voluntary Organisations Project Scheme managed by the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector.

• March 2025

  In March 2025, Club athletes won the first official placings in the Maltese National Regatta: a blue Palju (2nd place) with rowers Kevin Attard and Joseph Grima in the “Tal-Pass b’Żewġ Qaddiefa” Category A race, followed by another historic red Palju (1st place) obtained by the rowers in the “Tal-Pass b’Erbgħa Qaddiefa” Category B race.

• June 2025

  In a historic first, Siġġiewi Rowing Club President Joseph N Grima was instrumental in the formal re-organisation of the national rowing association, which “split” into two entities: Malta Rowing Federation (the National Federation and Governing Body for the sports of Rowing in Malta, affiliated with World Rowing) and Regatta Malta (a national association for traditional rowing). Club was enrolled as a full member of both entities. Club President was elected as the first President of Malta Rowing Federation in its new format.