Hi Rowers,
Sorry this is a bit late, Nicole had her bi-annual appointment with the industrial beautician to get the calluses off her hands which coincides with my biannual search of the Docklands for Richmond caps which have blown off during training which I then use one of my black markers to re-colour before popping them back into our wardrobe and bon appetite.
Some New Strategies Nicole and Annalise have been visiting JK in Darwin and checking out her progress with the DORC’s. Some initiatives which I believe they are looking at implementing including jumping from the bank into the boat (a good stretching exercise which history shows began at a similar time to the DORC Para Olympic rowing team in 1896 when there were frequent crocodile visitors in The Darra) as well has feathering quite high, at least 2 metres off the water, allowing the air to run smoothly under the oar and encouraging a strong tap down, this coincided with the introduction of stainless steel oars in 1940 due to some other issues with the wildlife up there.
Out and About
Saltwater regatta on this weekend – we have 6 crews entered! Which is pretty cool – for a rather low key event. What do these people all have in common? They love washing boats, it’s not called Salt Water for nothing.
Time Trials
Next time trial is in 2 weeks time on Sunday Sept 20th. Last time we had 3 eights and 3 fours entered and I expect to match if not beat it. Derek’s HoTY 8 is on brunch duty – the standard of food is very high. So good luck to them. I’d expect something HOT and Y(ellow)
Ergos – Aug Ergos – do them! I’ll try to replace the handle on ‘my’ ergo asap, they just don’t make em like they used to. Those who have been doing them have posted consistent improvements each month – which is awesome. Flog yourself silly – shorts are in this summer Dry land training on Tuesday nights has been rather quiet – so come down for ergos and runs to build you fitness base for HoTY.
Let’s Party Michael Jackson Party THIS FRIDAY! Fun times!
Lets go Swimming Well done to the swimmers last weekend, you’re great grannies are very proud, didn’t you guys blend with the Albert Park Mercedes / latte crowd, leaping in the pool with all your gear on.
katie gray
PANS (PA to Nicole Studka, previously PA to JK until she was transferred to the Darwin Oar Rowing Society and now champions the DORC’s up there)
Saturday the mixed bag…
This Saturday will be a mixed bag as we have a number of items to get through on top of our normal row.
All of you would have read countless emails from Emma (RRC President) regarding the introduction of the compulsory Rowing Victoria Water Safety Management Plan that requires ALL rowers to complete a written test and swim 50 metres by 30 September to avoid wearing life jackets (or PFD) while they are rowing.
So that we will comply with this requirement, Emma is conducting a swim test Saturday morning (4 Sep) at 0930 at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre in Albert Park in the outdoor pool. Unless you are going to camp, then you will need to make this in order to meet the swim part of the requirements.
If you could email Emma today to let her know that you would be there I would appreciate it ([email protected]).
To cover the written test component, I will bring down copies of the test to rowing tomorrow afternoon so you can complete if you have not already done so.
I have had a look at the MJ Thriller video and have worked out that in 30 seconds we need to do a few shoulder shrugs, some steps forward with some breast stroke arm type movements, a few pelvic thrusts, a few steps to the right and a few steps back to the left and some open handed straight arm shaking movements….all pretty straight forward really, it’s just that we need to get the timing right.
The good news is that we do not need to do any crotch grabbing as MJ only introduced this movement when he released the album BAD and he started to invite kids over to his place for sleep over’s…there is a surprise!
Here is a link to a shorten version of the video (the original is 13 minutes long) so you can check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkjtctcuQ9Q.
Then the sensible part of the afternoon starts with a quick talk on a few technique bits we are looking to work on and then a row, hopefully we will have enough time to get in at least two long laps.
Simon
This week has a bit of a Jacko feel about it
Can I request that we all try and make it on time this Thursday as I have a big day of presentations and I will need to get away from the club at 0730 at the latest. If we can be pushing off for 0630 I would very much appreciate it.
Another favour to ask that requires a bit of madness. You would all know that we have a party scheduled for next Friday based around a theme of Michael Jackson. To cut a long email short I have had my creative thinking hat on again and I thought that we (plural) could do a video to promote the event. This involves the entire men’s squad taking off Michael Jacksons Thriller video….this could be bad I know, but it could also be a bit of laugh for the punters. I have this penned in for Saturday prior to the row, so don’t be late otherwise you will find yourself on the front row of the video clip. If no one turns up for a row I know it was a bad idea.
Finally I will get to a rowing program before Thursday and will update you on the session prior to then. I would also like to schedule a talk prior to Saturday’s row to get tuned up for some work that we will be doing during the session. More details later in the week.
Have a good day…Simon
Gray Matters hard at work
Hi Rowers,
Lets go Swimming
Good idea, 1 day to go of winter, so just enough time to save the world http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yZuOflEli8. So Nicole thinks it’s a good time to keep our gear on and jump in the swim.
For a while now we have been given strange orders to read dreary booklets and ordered down to the beach in the middle of winter to swim with our clothes on! No it’s not an initiation to the Richmond cult or a practical joke we play on newbies.
The reason for it is that as of the end of September you need to have done the appropriate boring tests and dares to meet the newly introduced Marine Safety Compliance. So everyone MUST pass the 50m COLD water test and a multiple choice quiz. Emma feels like a good belly laugh and thus has offered to assess our ability to swim OUTDOORS at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre at 9.30am on Saturday.
Wear your Zootie, you’ll just feel like your Great Granny did in the 30’s / 40’s when she went to the beach. Email the Pres at [email protected] and she’ll send you the quiz and then drop the test into the black secretary mailbox opposite the guys change room. For more details see members news on the web site.
If you don’t do the test then you need to wear a yellow PFD. Which I’m think stands for Puffy Floating Dork outfit, which has a few potential negative consequences, if we row hard you might take off (might need to attach some string to your foot), if we row fast the pressure might pop you, you might get rubber / nappy rash, if you are err, umm well err equipped err up top, then bye bye scenery as your PFD will sit up right in front of your face. Lets face it its better to give Emma a giggle on Saturday, than all of Melbourne something to laugh at for weeks to come.
What do Rowers and Michael Jackson have in Common?
MAGIC MICHAEL MOMENTS PARTY inspired by Michael Jackson – Friday Sept 11th at the club. More details on the website – FRONT PAGE!
The GREAT news is that the B team has 5 (count em) members. You know what that means for fancy dress! ABC!!! Unfortunately though 2 seat will be in Sydney (Rehab again poor thing) (Not really but it sounded very Hollywood), so we’re recruiting someone who can play any instrument loudly (might as well have one in the band and the louder the better to drown out our singing).
Keep an eye out for pre party promotions!
Pay up
Camp fees are due now – you should have received an email how to pay. If not let me know and we’ll sort it asap, we want your cash.
Keep a lookout for the forthcoming promotional video for the camp….it will star a closet Michael Jackson fan and his rather patient artistic director girl friend….
Ergo’s
Ergos for August are due now – it’s a great chance to track your progress. Ok now the pressure is on, in order to top the last couple of months you need to think Music, Inspirational Movies (Rambo, and umm Erin Brokovich and err well Footloose) Inspirational books about people who climb Everest in blizzards and lose toes and friends and guides. I assume you’ve tried Pasta the night before and the night before. So what about Pasta for breakfast and lunch as well as the night before, the night before that and the night before that too. Rest up before the ergo. Drive in, slowly, better yet get a lift, to the door and walk up the stairs slowly, if you can get someone to hoist you through the window and carry you to the erg.
Upcoming Regatta
Saltwater regatta, Saturday Sept 13th. It’s a 4.5 km course in quads.
katie gray
PANS (PA to Nicole Studka, previously PA to JK until she was transferred to the
Darwin Oar Rowing Society and now champions the DORC’s up there)
Michael Jackson Party @ RRC
At approximately 7pm the sounds of Michael Jackson in all his glory will be heard echoing from the clubhouse. Yep – it’s time to party. We haven’t done one of these ‘social’ evening get together things for a while and I think it’s time for us to let our hair down and boogie! So break out your best party outfit and start practicing the moon walk because it will all be on show on Friday night.
Bring your work colleagues, friends, family, partners and whoever else you think might enjoy the night. Come and dance, chat and unwind after a week at work. It would be great to see you all there – don’t make me do a solo! I haven’t been following ‘dancing with the stars’ so it could be really painful for everyone.
Any offers of help on the night would be greatly appreciated – any questions re. volunteering or whether you should dress up in the early Michael years or the latter – more plastic ones – you can talk to me!
Emma Catford
Important – Swim Test Requirement
The Rowing Victoria Safety Management Plan states that all rowers must demonstrate swimming competence, 50m swim, by 30 September if they do not wish to wear a PFD while rowing.
It has been suggested (by some hardcore crazy people) that those that have not done it yet can do so at camp in Bairnsdale. While this is definitely possible I am also going to propose a Melbourne based event for those that a) aren’t going to camp or b) think the Mitchell might be a little too cool (or are too soft to take the plunge in the Mitchell).
Date: Saturday 5 September
Time: 9.30am
Location: Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, Albert Park (Outdoor Pool)
Cost: $6.95 (adult swim pass)
For those that wish to attend the Melbourne swim please contact Emma at [email protected] so she can advise you of the exact meeting place.
Emma (with some edits)
The Thursday after a bad sporting weekend
For the diehard Australian sports fan there is not much to write about but plenty to groan about following one of our worst weekends in our recent sporting history.
Not only did we lose the urn to the Poms, but we lost the rugby to the All Blacks by a solitary point and Collingwood has firmed as equal favourites for this year’s flag.
Not since 1996 Atlanta Olympics when the Australian Olympic team appeared at the opening ceremony in green tunics and cream trousers have we, the sporting public of Australia, been faced with such a national sporting crisis.
But wait, don’t go burning the boxing kangaroo flag yet, there maybe light at the end of the tunnel.
Flicking through Monday’s sport section of the Age, past the cricket, football, soccer, rugby, racing, tennis, golf and badminton, I at last find something to cheer about. GOLD in the discus and pole vault and BRONZE in the 4 x 100 metres relay and long jump at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin….Our new national sport have arrived, when was the last time the Poms won the discus and the pole vault at a world champs….take that England!
This lads (to use an English term) is the type of mind set we need to take into the row on Thursday. The weather man has predicted yet another harsh start to the day with more gale force winds to add to an already impressive number of wind affected days we have experienced in the past few weeks.
Needless to say we will be doing some work on the leg drive, not necessarily by choice but from necessity if we are to get any sort of boat speed into the wind.
No session plans to post other than we are going to need to be patient, focused and working as a group if we are going to extract value out of rows in these types of conditions.
See you all Thursday. Simon
Gray Matters and tips on how to preserve a hair do
Hi Rowers, Sorry for the late email.
Nicole and her boat had an RDO yesterday (well so she says but as she just wandered in blue with cold I’m thinking the winds may have blown her FAR upstream and it’s taken her 27 hours to get back) so after a morning of obediently painting paperclips black and yellow yesterday I took advantage of the situation and disappeared to Rowbust to coordinate my sock, croc, undie and zootie combinations in the latest spring colours.
So we now have 6 days left of winter. So that means that every night this week you need to eat soup, followed by a roast (with Yorkshire puddings if you know what they are) followed by hot pudding (chocolate or sticky date up to you), put your electric blanket on and wear your slippers, and under no circumstances do your legs.
6 days (and 7 nights) is also a movie! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120828/ Remember that totally unbelievable romance with Anne Hesche from when she only had eyes for Ellen and Harrison Ford looking like he was about 80 lost in a jungle, talk about lack of chemistry, I think if they had been lost in the jungle they would have been more likely to turn each others into canoes than to kiss.
The B team were let down by their hair last week, pouring rain and work meetings and that fact that we didn’t bring swim caps or have shaved heads has ruined our reputation in Simon’s eyes as we departed for an early season strategy meeting for country regattas and resumed our debate of parma or lasagne the night before a big race (over coffee to invigorate our thought processes) after deciding we wouldn’t be able to pull an erg under 4.99 before 7am. To regain lost ground we’ll be meting at 3am to erg before heading out at 4 on Thursday morning doing a few laps of the island, bringing the boat in for some rack time at about 6.15 and heading out again after that.
What do Rowers and Michael Jackson have in Common?
- Glove / s
- Siblings
- Medallions
- Split second timing
- Parents
- Not being the lover of Billie Jean
- We’re black and yellow he’s black and white
- Michael had some erg (some say lawn mower starting) inspired dance moves
- We all like / liked to party.
Bring your moves along on the 11th of September and dress up. This is code for a party at RRC on Friday 11th September…more details to come.
Time Trials Goss Statistical reports just through from our department analyst which have just arrived on my desk highlight the fact that it’s highly likely the women’s team can open their own jars, as the women’s 8 was only 10 seconds (or about 3 boat lengths) behind the men’s 8.
Such were the lovely weather conditions that one (are they soft?) crew abandoned the race before the island. JL (MNB) decided to swap seats mid race without warning or notifying his buddy in his ‘new’ seat and a number of crews fall well behind their best times.
This is good news, as unless there’s a Tsunami we should be able to beat these times next time.
Ergo’s Ok, 6 days left of August, better get that August ergo in, see if you can make it to the shrine.
Regatta Saltwater regatta, Saturday Sept 13th. It’s a 4.5 km twisty course in quads.
The men’s eight is busy training for a shot at taking out this years sprint title at the world famous annual Dimboola Regatta.
Katie Gray
PANS (PA to Nicole Studka, previously PA to JK until she was transferred to the Darwin Oar Rowing Society and now champions the DORC’s up there)
Tab rockets to $18
Just when we thought that funds would be a bit lean for the Bairnsdale Camp, enter the two favourites Kevin and Martin who have racked up a couple more frequent sleeper points to increase the tab to $18.
Unfortunately the GPS didn’t get a work out this morning as it spent most of its time in Mike’s jacket pocket resting from being overworked by the glamour quad on Tuesday.
I will look at setting it up in the boat (it has a mount) so the cox can read it without having to wear it (or find it in their jacket pocket) or alternatively we can attach a line and a hook to it and throw it out the back and see if one of those pesky Dolphins will take a fancy it to while we are doing X km/h down the river.
Despite the bit of rain, both the four and the eight showed plenty of good form on the water this morning and we even managed a few comments from other coaches along the bank….
Other Coach: ”They are looking alright, what are they training for?”
Simon C: “Dimmy”
Other Coach: YFI type look followed by “Oh”
Just a reminder that we need to make sure we are at the club 15 minutes prior to push off so we are on the water pushing off for 0630. Today there were only four people at the club at 0615 and as a result we didn’t get going until 0650 which cuts into the amount of time we can spend on the water.
Finally…Welcome into the fold Jono, good to have you on board and great to see that you had to accept a lolly from Vickers during your first session at RFC…awesome.
Simon C
Rowing this Week
The GPS has been tried and tested and I am pleased to say that the quad of gorgeousness has been tagged the quad of awesomeness as a result of the numbers the GPS spat out for at least 100 metres of Tuesday morning’s session.
We will continue to experiment with the gadget tomorrow during our morning row…should be fun.
Tomorrow we will do two long laps in the eight and two short laps in the smaller boats and Saturday we will add an additional lap for a bit of variation.
This week we will be doing a bit of square blade work in various part crew combinations to emphasise the release, posture, length of the back (from the tap down to the time the knees ‘pop-up’) and hand heights during the recovery sequence.
Essential that we get this part of the stroke right as it provides the platform for the length and steadiness that we require to set the boat up for an accurate catch and ultimately effective leg drive.
We will also throw in some low rating power work to give the new gadget something to do and Elaine some numbers to provide you feedback on.
Have a good day and we will see you bright and early tomorrow….Simon C