Australian boys' college rowing coach sacked after he told rowers not to twirl their wangas

One of Queensland’s elite private schools has sacked its director of rowing in a ­bizarre sex-talk scandal. David Bellamy, one of Australia’s most respected coaches, was dismissed by Brisbane Boys’ College after telling rowers not to twirl their “wangas”: slang for ­penises.



Bellamy also admitted using “theatrical body movements” and waving his finger in front of his trousers to mimic a penis as he spoke to 50 rowers and coaches on January 14. Bellamy declined to ­comment, but friends with intimate knowledge of the affair said he used the word humorously when giving the boys a serious warning not to repeat the sexual pranks that had marred a previous rowing camp.

There was laughter when Bellamy told the boys: “It doesn’t matter whether you believe every wife out there has had a wanga waved at them by their husband. It doesn’t matter what you believe is appropriate. It doesn’t even matter what I believe is appropriate. What matters is that the headmaster of BBC does not consider this appropriate ­behaviour.’’


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It is understood a mother who overheard the speech complained that Bellamy’s words and actions were inappropriate in a church school. The college, run by the Presbyterian and Uniting churches, is also understood to have received other ­complaints from parents whose sons had told them about the “wanga” word. Headmaster Graeme McDonald told staff of his dismissal in an email on February 11. Angry parents have rushed to Bellamy’s support, saying the incident was blown out of proportion and his dismissal an injustice.