Richmond fielded 13 men & 6 women competing in 34 races across 14 different age & distance categories in the AIRC championship held on 30 October 2021.
Congratulations to our medallists:
Gold
Teoni Jugg, WL 30-39 2km
Chelsea Crouser, WL 19-29 1km
Will Golding, ML 19-29 1km
Teoni Jugg, WL 30-39 1km
Silver
Chelsea Crouser, WL 19-29 2km
Will Golding, ML 19-29 2km
Gerry Goss, W 55-59 1k
Alex Huang, WL 19-29 1km
Golding/ Wardle/ Gehling/ Carey, M 20-39 2km relay
Fergie/ Crouser/ Kinsman/ Huang, W 20-39 2km relay
Bronze
Alex Huang, WL 19-29 2km
Pavel Oborin, ML 30-39 1km
Chelsea Crouser, WL 19-29 500m
Gerry Goss, W 55-59 500m
Honorable mentions:
The ‘Presidents’ mixed relay team came in third on the day, only to be relegated to fourth when late results came in.
Thoughts from the day:
Following the dramatic storms, no power and no internet my day started a lot less smoothly than I would have liked. However once on the erg, sat in my spare room, zoom squad cheering and my playlist on, I was ready for the day of racing. Despite not hitting any PBs it was a great way to round off some intense lockdown training and a celebration of all things erg before being able to get back into what we do best, on water training.
Kirsty F.
Highlights were definitely the mortadella/ stracciatella/ giardiniera sandwich from Bread Club between the 2k and 1k, and chatting with Amy on an inbound train dialing in to zoom to see the flattering erging faces. Staying within a couple strokes of fellow skinny ergo Pavel for the 1k & 500m made those races a lot more fun. Absolutely hit a wall and couldn’t stand anymore after 5pm, very satisfying way to finish off the ergsclusive lockdown no. 6.
Jack H.
I had big plans ahead of this event! After arriving back in the country 3 weeks before raceday, I expected that a rental erg, plus 14 days mandatory hotel quarantine should put me on track for some good results. Covid had other ideas, with a positive test result landing me in a special care hotel with a sore head and without access to any exercise equipment! 2 weeks later, I was released after a negative result and began ramping up my training for the final week. (What is taper anyway?!) Race day arrived and I felt pretty good all things considered. Luckily, I was only doing the 500 and the 1k. Managed to hit both with PBs and looking forward to next year, when I hope my prep will be better!
Phil Saxena
It was very strange to be competing in a national competition from the bottom of my back yard! I wasn’t sure that the internet signal would support both the erg and a zoom, and even less sure anyone would want to see me cranking out an erg, but it was great to know that people were following the races! My secret erg playlist for competition is just two songs: Start me up by the Rolling Stones and Don’t stop me now by Queen. And Archie the wonder dog lay on the outdoor lounge and slept through the whole thing.
Gerry