We sent a tight contingent of 14 athletes to the 156th annual Rutherglen regatta on Lake Moodemere. Great to be back up to the border after being locked away behind the ring of steel for so long.
The lamb shanks were the clear winner on Friday at the Telegraph Hotel Chiltern, and it was great to see Caffeine n Machine slinging ‘spro before 630am on the Sunday for the sunrise racing!
With spectacularly intense thunderstorms late Friday night, we were glad to see our late arriving rowers make the drive up safely. Over the weekend the lake was absolutely full, and it was a far cry from the dust bowl of yesteryear, with persistent mud at the trailers showing no sign of drying out at the end of the weekend despite the 30+ peak temperatures each day.
Results
We amassed 7 first, 4 second, 8 third place finishes with that Rutherglen famous lack of repêchage.
Saturday 800m results
first place
MC1x / Michael Gehling
MC4x+ / Hellerstedt, Gehling, Wardle, Beck, cox: Emptage
FM4x+ / Dudczig, Fergie, Pearce, Goss, cox: Huang
FM2x / Fergie, Pearce
second
MC8+ / Begelhole, Hellerstedt, Reid, Pupko, Gehling, Wardle, Randall, Beck, cox: Dudczig
FM4+ / Richardson (Ess), Fergie, Pearce, Goss, cox: Emptage
third
FM1x / Gerry Goss
MM8+ (of 3) / Begelhole, Gordon, Reid, Hellerstedt, Mansfield (Yarawonga), Randall, Beck, cox: Dudczig
FM2x / Dudczig, Goss
Sunday 500m results
first
FM4x+ / Dudczig, Fergie, Pearce, Goss, cox: Hellerstedt
FM2x / Goss, Dudczig & Fergie, Pearce
second
MC1x / Hellerstedt
MC4x+ DQ / Hellerstedt, Gehling, Wardle, Beck, cox: Huang
third
MC8+ / Begelhole, Hellerstedt, Reid, Pupko, Gehling, Wardle, Randall, Beck, cox: Dudczig
FC2x / Emptage, Huang
FC1x / Alex Huang
X4x+ / Pearce, Gehling, Pupko, Fergie, cox: Hellerstedt
MB4x+ / Hellerstedt, Pupko, Wardle, Beck, cox: Emptage
Big thanks to Stef Dudczig, Wan-ling Emptage & Alex Huang for the lionshare of box-free coxing! Jack Hellerstedt for some Sunday finals, and Benton Goodbrand of Argonauts, as well as friends at Essendon & Footscray RC for getting our crews down the course and around the bend.
Michael Gehling was the Richmond BRO of the regatta
Boat unloading was poetry in motion, done and dusted in 59m50s
KB, AR, BW, KF, HP, AR, SD, JH