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Boat naming ceremony for the Kathy Macrow & the Derek Begg

On 24/2/22 we formalised two new members of our fleet.

Our new Sykes 4/x+ has been formally christened the Kathy Macrow, for our current treasurer and long-serving committee member who has been a member since 2009. In addition to all her high-level administration for the club, she runs the Tiger social rowing program, a key cornerstone of our goal to make rowing accessible to a broad spectrum of commitment levels and ability.

Hail, Poseidon,
Holder of the Earth
dark-haired lord
O blessed one
be kindly in heart and help those who voyage in ships!

Let it be known
From this day hence
This boat of ours
Is properly named
The Kathy Macrow

The Captain

We doubled down on our off-cycle opportunistic purchase by de-naming the TBFKDB, to christen our new Empacher 8+ (‘The Glendalough’) the Derek Begg. A member since 2004, Derek has served in many capacities on & especially off the committee, and is presently coaching & coxing for the men in their ’21-’22 seasonal incarnation as a big boat squad.

Lifetime member Dennis Beck (left) introducing Derek (middle) with John Carey (right) listening intently.

Across the faraway ocean
Across the faraway sea
Across the land
And across the waters
Poseidon, hear my plea

Divine ruler heed my call
Answer me true
In the light of day
Or in the dark of night
Lend me your strength
Your power
And your will to fight

Let it be known
From this day hence
The boat that was
The Derek Begg
Shall no longer hold this name

Let it be known
From this day hence
This is the boat
That shall carry that name

The Captain
Derek after coxing the MB8+ to victory at state champs in Ballarat
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2022 Nagambie Regatta

Nagambie was hot, dusty & sunny, with a peak temperature of 34 on the day, reinforced by the interminably long lunch break before the last gasp of racing Sunday arvo.

So glad to see the homemade brownies & relish at the Ezy Oar cafe, with burgers clearly the crowd favourite being completely sold out by 1pm.

We sent 32 athletes to row 22 events, with 8 first, 5 second, and 3 third place finishes.

Results

This was the inaugural racing (rowing!) in the newly acquired Kathy Macrow 4/x+, thanks to Lily I-I for the emergency field christening prosecco.

Race of the regatta?

Men’s B quad a candidate, battle paddling Barwon inside of 2 metres all the way down the course. Barwon were quite annoyed to be beaten by a canvas by not only RRC in first but a ‘fast finishing’ 14yo crew from Gippsland Grammar in second, looking at RRC the other side of the line with a “how old do you think we are?”: unclear who envied whom for what while coughing up a lung at the finish line. Look out States!!

Thanks Alex Reid for stepping up to BRO in the afternoon.

Barry closed his eyes and compass navigated the trailer on backroads back to the shed. Unloaded before 1945.

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2022 Wendouree Ballarat regatta

6/2/2022 Sunday saw some classic Wendouree conditions, wind like a hammer coming out of the reeds giving way to comically glassy water in the arvo.

26 athletes rowing 23 events, 7 firsts, 4 second, 2 third place finishes.

Saturday Club results

Sunday results

Thanks to Sue-Virginia for driving up and holding down the RRC BRO, and the course map pictures from inside the BRO nerve centre.

Kim B for the surprise trip to Footscray to park the trailer, the drive everyone wants to do late Sunday night after a long day of racing.

Unloaded & re-sectioned the two eights in 90 minutes.

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2022 Rutherglen regatta

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.

Alex Huang and Wan-ling Emptage heading out for their doubles race Saturday

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

the men’s eight

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

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2021 Melbourne Head Regatta

Melbourne’s rowing community emerged from lockdown for the Melbourne Head Regatta on the Yarra for Melbourne Head on Nov. 20.

Men’s club 4x+ headed up to the start. Photo: Richie Healy

Richmond had 32 rowers competing in 8 events, starting this post-lockdown season with a strong showing of four 3rd, two 2nd, and a 1st place finish in the women’s masters 1x.

It was a cool overcast day for racing, with the sun coming out to make for perfect bbq weather on the balcony following the racing, where we celebrated the AIRC indoors champs in person!

Congratulations to all our competing crews:

Gerry Goss in the MUBC composite masters 8 (1st, 13:54.34)

Men’s club 8/ 4th place, 12:27.71
Cox: Derek Begg
Dennis Beck
Jon Roberts
John Carey
Alex Pupko
Keith Wong
Leigh McKee
Alex Reid
Kim Begelhole

Women’s club 8/ 3rd place, 12:27.01
Cox: Mike Numa
Kate Dyball
Karen Doggett
Chelsea Crouser
Kirsty Fergie
Lily Innes-Irons
Zoe Maxwell
Michelle Joy
Alex Huang

Women’s masters 4x+/ 3rd place, 14:23.59
Cox: Deb Spring
Sarah Houghton
Sarah Hardy
Christine Sullivan
Shern Timmins

Men’s club 4x+/ 2nd place, 12:37.7
Cox: Kathy Macrow
Pavel Oborin
Michael Gehling
Ben Wardle
Jack Hellerstedt

Women’s open 2x/ 3rd place, 14:19.63
Kirsty Fergie
Helen Pearce

Men’s masters 2x/ 2nd place, 13:56.77
Phil Munson
Leigh Sullivan

Women’s club 1x
Chelsea Crouser/ 3rd place, 15:56.42
Alex Huang/ 4th place, 16:19.48

Women’s masters 1x/ 1st place, 16:18.46
Gerry Goss

Fastest time down the course was the MUBC/ UTS men’s open 8 with 9:47.15

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2021 Victoria “eights challenge”

2021-11-27 was the Victoria “eights challenge”  to replace the Head of the Yarra this year as Melbourne & Australia emerge from covid restrictions. It was very fast racing conditions with high tide, fast water, and a strong tailwind down the course from Powerhouse to the Judges box. A blustery, sunny day for racing.

Testosterone was running high in the pileup of long boats in the narrow above Big Bend getting the 60’s bow numbers sorted from the 40’s.

It was the last of the D grade eight racing with the new Rowing Victoria grade change. The powerwashing happening at the front of MRC’s renovation was a lowlight, Kathy doling out gummy worms after the race was definitely a highlight. 

Three Richmond eights after the race. Photo: Will Golding

Richmond vs. Richmond in the MD8+:

Men’s D8+ coxed by Derek Begg. Photo: Steve Sheppard

Cox: Derek Begg
Jack Hellerstedt
Pavel Oborin
Ben Wardle
John Carey
Michael Gehling
Jon Roberts
Allan Randall
Kim Begelhole
First place, 11:23.29

We made the HoTY ‘gram.

Men’s D8+ coxed by Kathy Macrow. Photo: Steve Sheppard

Cox: Kathy Macrow
Dennis Beck
Leigh McKee
Alex Pupko
Tim Gruner
Richie Healy
Ryan Simmons
Keith Wong
Redmond Skelton
Second place, 12:15.06

Women’s C8+

Women’s C8+ coxed by Mike Numa. Photo: Steve Sheppard

Cox: Mike Numa
Kate Dyball
Karen Doggett
Chelsea Crouser
Kirsty Fergie
Lily Innes-Irons
Zoe Maxwell
Michelle Joy
Alex Huang
3rd place, 11:42.5

John Carey getting his D-grade medal from coxswain Derek Begg. Photo: Will Golding

Richmond were also represented in the masters, with Ray Dennis rowing with Banks in the MMI+ (1st place, 15:08.85) and our own president Gerry Goss rowing in a multi -club composite in the FMF+ (1st place, 13:33.7).

The fastest time down the course was the men’s open eight Mercs/ Sydney composite with a blistering 9:15.32 aided by a pair of ex-Olympians in 7&8.

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2021 Christmas Lunch & Club Races

It was a perfect sunny day on the 12th for our club races followed by Christmas lunch. After a morning training session our Head of Rowing, Christine, published the crews for club races and it was game on! Four crews eight fought out the heats, followed by a final. Afterwards members and friends dined in the club decorated with the famous black and yellow Christmas tree…followed by drinks on our fabulous deck in the sunshine.

2021 December club races
the winning crew(s)


The winning crew of the day:
cox: Derek
Keith
John C
Michael G
Alex P
Jack H
Millie
Anthea
Kerrin/ Chelsea

Big thanks to Stu & Alex for running the races from the bank! And Amy for organising lunch afterwards, as well as the bar staff volunteering from Karen, Christine, Kathy, John C, and Barry!

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2021 Australian Indoor Rowing Championships

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.

Celebrating our AIRC winners on the balcony after the Melbourne Head regatta

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.

“zoom erg” session with coaches Will Golding and Dario Sportelli

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.
Pavel Oberin receiving his bronze AIRC medal from Kathy Macrow

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
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RRC Presentation Night Awards 2021

After a postponement we were finally able to hold the Richmond Rowing Club 2021 Presentation Night on the third of July.

We celebrated our Male and Female rowers and Coxswain of the year. These prestigious awards are determined through participation and success at regattas, club races and club time trials. The winners on the evening were:

Mal Scott Award – Male Club Rower of the Year – Dennis Beck

John Sawyer – Female Club Rower of the Year – Kirsty Fergie

The Don Edwards, Cox of the year award was won by Derek Begg

Female Masters Rower of the Year – Michelle Joy

Male Masters Rower of the Year – Leigh Sullivan

The President’s Award was presented to Jack Hellerstedt. Whilst Jack has only been a member for 2 years he has taken an active role coordinating the men’s squad, setting up the 8@8 session, weekly training plans and regatta entries. He is also always willing to jump in any boat to make sure crews get out and is frequently a late minute coxswain call up. Jack is also a great motivator to keep people engaged with the club on and off water.  

The Hendley Family Mixed Quad Time Trial was presented to Dennis Beck, Geraldine Goss, Karen Doggett, John Carey and Derek Begg (coxswain).

The Keith Millar male coxed four Round the Island time trial was won by Dennis Beck, Liam Lovett, Ethan Lovett, Jon Roberts and Derek Begg (coxswain).

The Keith Millar female coxed four Round the Island time trial was won by Chelsea Crouser, Kirsty Fergie, Xanthe Hadfield, Melanie Perkins and Aline Dejeagher (coxswain).

The Jim Barton Female Tub Single time trial was won by Kirsty Fergie.

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Member Protection Policy

Rowing is a sport that values teamwork, cooperation and leadership and one that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities.

Rowing Australia is committed to ensuring that a diverse range of athletes continue to enjoy our sport for years to come and to providing a safe environment in which to do so. Rowing Australia has developed its Member Protection Policy to reinforce its commitment to providing an environment for participants of all ages and backgrounds that is safe, free from harassment and abuse, and promotes respectful and positive behaviour and values.

Richmond Rowing Club has adopted the Rowing Australia Member Protection Policy. The policy provides a code of conduct forming the basis of appropriate and ethical conduct which everyone must abide by. Inappropriate or unlawful behaviour will not be tolerated by Rowing Australia or its State and Territory Associations, and disciplinary action will be taken against individuals if there is a breach of this policy.

Derek Begg and Aline Dejeagher have taken on the Richmond Rowing Club Member Protection Information Officer roles. If you believe you have a Member Protection Policy matter and would like to discuss further, please contact Derek or Ally. If you feel that you are not able to speak with someone at Richmond Rowing Club about such a matter the Rowing Victoria Member Protection Information Officer to contact is: Lynne Charge

This policy is an essential part of our proactive and preventative approach to tackling inappropriate behaviour within our sport. I trust that all Richmond Rowing Club members, coaches and athletes will assist in promoting safe and responsible behaviour within rowing. 

Link to MPP

If you are a member of Rowing Victoria and would like to report a MPP incident please click on the link :

Link to MPP complaint

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