Richmond Rowing Club has been awarded a grant from the Victorian State Government to be used for development of the growing number of volunteer coaches we now have at the club.
The grant for $2,330 will be presented to the club president Emma Catford (thanks Jim) by the Member for Northern Metropolitan Craig Ondachie on Sunday 22 May at 10:00 am.
Further details will be posted in the coming week including the possibility of club races.
Woke up this morning, 
from the strangest dream
I was in the biggest army,
The world has ever seen
We were marching as one,
on the road to the holy grail
OK so we didn’t have Mark Seymour on the road with us, but RRC still had a holy grail of the sprint regatta season: the opportunity to row on the 2000 Olympic rowing course at the Sydney International Regatta Centre (SIRC), Penrith. Under the glow of the Olympic Rings, what a 5 ring SIRC-us it was to perform in and to hopefully secure a medal on the presentation dias.
An RRC squad of 35 hit the road and the air to seek fortune and glory the weekend of the 09th and 10th April, to proudly represent their club, Richmond with the painted-but-not-tainted claws of a tiger and the shrill, chill haka from Lone Grey Goosen echoing in our heads for daily inspiration.
The New South Wales Grade State Championships are a hotly contested regatta, represented by over 42 Rowing Clubs. We quickly realised that our competition was not only NSW Clubs, however International Rowing Clubs including Hanoi (professional rowing squad representing Vietnam…. in Australia for a 6 week training camp) We were also up against crews from Canberra, Surfers Paradise, Brisbane, Barwon, the Sunshine Coast and others.
Women’s Squad Results
Umm pretty good actually. Big fields in the sculling events, lots of strong wins through the qualifying heats and semis. We were able to show strength and staying power across all grades entered, and as a squad we proved to be distinctly better than almost all takers in the first & final sweep events.
WC8+ Gold
WD8+ Gold
WC4+ Gold – Pump up the Jam, pump it up!
WD4+ 4th in final
WC4X Bronze (Professional Hanoi crew pot hunting for Gold)
WD4X Silver
WC2X Zara/Sophie 5th in semi
WD2X Rochelle/Kate (endearingly titled, Pocket Rockets, with rival club members asking while they were on the dias, ‘are they your club coxes’?)
(you should have seen the size of their competition)
WD2X Karen/Leonie 5th in final (Won their heat and 2nd in Semi)
WC1X Kate (blown away in the final…Penrith unleashed her winds)
WC1X Rachael (conserved her strength in the heat for…)
WD1X Rachael Silver
And that meant that each women’s squad member received at least one medal. Their coach is mightily impressed with their dedication, willingness to reach for new heights and competitive spirit.
They are all pretty happy with how it went too. Did we mention crushing strong performer Leichardt? Yeah, did that. Big-noting Griffith Uni Surfers Paradise? Yup.
Man Squad Results (as overheard by the women’s squad)
Yeah so Sam and Nick cheated by actually training but I suppose good on them to win Gold in the C double. Then Nick in the single, what is he on anyway, and where can I get some? Oh yeah, Sam showed us all up with a Bronze in the B single, and then pimped his citizenship for Silver in an exhibitionist race against Hanoi, won by some Balmain guy with a pot.
Man Squad Results
MC2x – Gold
MB1x – Bronze
M1x (sprint) – Silver
Women’s Squad Results (as overheard by man squad)
M1: “Chicks did alright, eh.”
M2: “Whatever”
Social Correspondent’s Report
Darlings, we all know what happens at Penrith stays at Penrith.
So your social correspondent is simply unable to make sense of any of the following late breaking stories:
• man squad’s repressed competitiveness. Gosh, which really is the fastest way to Penrith?
• a little boy lost in Woolworths
• the true meaning of “a glass of wine with dinner”
• did the quarry start work early or was Captain B.C. Snoralot crowing the dawn?
• one male rower’s fructose-friendly product endorsement of Gordon’s
• Nick’s special relationship with Dijon mustard
Finally however we look to the dear reader to enlighten us on an announcement to the packed regatta crowd of the name of the NZ river where Sam Morrison won his international sprint regatta title. Just as it was announced we were distracted by a stray 6-pack, so dites-moi was it:
• North End
• Living End
• Whakapapa
• Fukatani
• all BS to begin with
We started out, seeking fortune and glory, it’s a short song, but it’s a hell of story….. How the Tigers went to Sydney Town and bathed in the Holy Grail.
All the locals scattered, they were hiding after the row
We were so far from home, but man did we know,
there’d be nothing left to plunder as we
Coveted the Holy Grail!
Well done Tigers, Our Richmond Rowing Family the Schoutens and Derek for following every race on Tiger Wheels making sure we did our best!
Derek Begg with Rochelle Stokes
Richmond Rowing Club has picked up another three gold medals on the second and final day of the 2011 Edward Trickett regatta in Sydney this weekend.
The first gold came in the Women’s C Grade Four stroked by Zara Love who easily won their final by six seconds with Sydney University second.
The Richmond men’s C double scull of Sam Morrison and Nick Schouten were the next crew to claim gold for Richmond, winning a very tight race by just under a second to Griffith University in tough head wind conditions.
The Richmond female C eight stroked by Zara Love won a two crew race against Liechhardt completing the eights double having won the D eight on the first day of the regatta.
Women’s coach Derek Begg is said to be very pleased with the performance of the Richmond girls as they have won four gold medals and a number of minor medals which proved significant in placing Richmond fourth overall in the club championship points table for this years regatta.
The results over the weekend were a significant improvement on last years results where Richmond only won the one gold medal over the two day regatta. Club treasurer and long time member Troy Durham said that the club had performed extremely well winning five gold medals over the weekend and the three gold on the second day when the conditions started to deteriorate towards the end of the day was a great effort by the club.
The Richmond girls have beaten St George in a tight race to take gold by 1.30 sec on day 1 of the Edward Trickett regatta in Sydney. The crew stroked by Sophie Robinson had a great race to finish ahead of last years gold medalist.
The second gold went to the D double of Kate Dyball and Rochelle Stokes in a hotly contested race consisting of heats, semi’s and finals.
In other results, Sam Morrison won bronze in the men’s b single scull in another tough race for the kiwi import.
Richmond Rowing Club appears to be on track for a successful Sydney campaign following a string of solid results at this weekend’s Victorian State Championships.
Leading the way was the men’s D eight picking up the clubs only gold medal for the weekend. Stroked by Tim Foster, the crew got off to a flyer and kept their cool to fend off a fast finishing Corowa eight to score by one metre. The victory was particularly pleasing for the crew, as Corowa has been the clubs nemesis in recent years beating the Richmond men to gold in a number of close championship races.
In other results, the club won several silver medals including Nick Schouten in the under 19 single scull who is back and in the boat after taking a year off to play football. A slow starting, fast finishing female C quad stroked by club legend Zara Love, had to settle for silver after narrowly missing out on taking the gold off the highly fancied crew from Latrobe University.
English recruit Rachael Button adapting well to the cool overcast conditions, raced strongly in the female D single taking silver as did the men’s D pair of Barry Campbell and Dave Micallef (coxed by Mike Numa) who notched up their second medal for the regatta in the last race of the day.
Bronze medals also went to the Richmond female D pair of Olivia Brown and Lindsay Morgan (coxed by Simonne Jollye) and the female D four stroked by Tamara Lowe.
Club captain Barry Campbell was pleased with the club’s form over the weekend and believes that a number of the crews are showing great signs building into the NSW state champs which are being held in Sydney on the weekend of 9/10 April.
Simon Crunden
The NSW Club Championship Regatta is on again and this year Richmond will be attending the regatta in force.
There will be plenty of races to be had on the Sydney International Regatta Complex (where they held the rowing at the Sydney Olympics) and if last year is anything to go by, the racing will be fast and furious and we won’t need much more from our crews to bring home a swag full of medals. If you need to refresh your memory on how good the racing was then just take a look at this video of the RRC women’s eight racing St George on You Tube.
The two day regatta is on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 April in Penrith which is located about 1hour from Sydney airport or 1 hour 15 minutes from the Sydney CBD.
The plan is to arrive on the Friday (8th) and depart on the Monday (11th) and there are options available to depart on the Sunday for those who need to be back in Melbourne on the Monday morning for work.
If you plan to fly up to Sydney then now is the time to start booking as there are plenty of flight available that will get you up and back for under $200. If you need transport to and from Sydney airport then I suggest that you try and book a midday flights each way (i.e. ex Melbourne on the Friday and ex Sydney on the Monday) so we can car pool. If you need to go back to Melbourne on the Sunday night then I suggest you aim to catch a flight between 19:00 – 20:00hrs as that will give you plenty of time to get to the airport after the regatta (again we will aim to car pool).
The cost for the weekend will be $260 per person which will include boat transport costs, accommodation and meals (except lunches).
If you are keen to attend the regatta and are not yet involved in a squad then let Justin Thomas know and he will get you organised.
Sydney is a rather large logistical challenge so if you are coming, I need you to click on the following link and complete the survey by Friday 25 February.
Sydney Sign-Up
Simon Crunden
The first country regatta of the season saw 26 RRC members head to Hamilton this weekend. The sun shone brightly on us all weekend and sculls, doubles, quads, pairs, fours and eights all took to the water to battle it out over the 1km course.
Day 1 and event 1 of the regatta was a Richmond win by the female masters double pairing of Susie Ballantyne and Geraldine Goss which kicked off a host of great performances for the weekend. Rachel Button claimed victory in the D grade women’s single scull to win her first individual sculling medal. The mixed eight combination of Susie Ballantyne, Karen Doggett, Charlie Burke, Barry Campbell, Dave Micallef, Matthias Ott, Rochelle Stokes and Anthea Amos thankfully held off the challenge from the Bendigo crew rowing in a borrowed Richmond boat to seal victory in their event. Three Richmond crews fought out the final of the D grade double scull with the glory going to Sophie Robinson and Geraldine Goss. Without a moment to spare Gerry was off again this time winning the female masters single scull to round off a great day.
Another highlight of the day was the male masters coxed four who managed to tip the beloved Butcher 180 degrees after crossing the finish line. All was well when they swam it back to shore with a slightly shocked by surprisingly buoyant school girl cox who against all odds volunteered to cox for us all over again on day 2.
Nestles Rowing Club hosted Sunday’s events which kicked off with a Richmond 1-2-3 in the women’s masters double scull with the glory once again going to the pairing of Susie and Gerry. The heat proved tiring on day 2, or maybe it was the Saturday night alcohol consumption, but further Richmond success came in the women’s D grade single scull which was taken out by Rachel Button. A great race saw Karen Bell, Beverly Thornton, Lindsey Brown and Judy Doherty coxed by Mike Numa win their first regatta medals in the women’s D grade four – may they be the first of many.
A week on from HOTY and still riding high on their success the women’s eight consisting of Sophie Robinson, Karen Doggett, Sally McArthur, Geraldine Goss, Susie Ballantyne, Rachel Button, Rochelle Stokes and Anthea Amos coxed by Mike Numa powered home to victory in the Female A grade final. Sunday’s races were concluded in fitting fashion with another win for Gerry in the female masters single scull and her efforts were rewarded with the coveted presentation of oarswomen of the day.With the sun beginning to fade RRC headed back to Melbourne (some faster than others – you know who you are!) after a very triumphant weekend.
A huge thanks to Barry for organising people, boats, accommodation, a great dinner on Saturday night and a super efficient trailer mechanic. Thanks also to Justin and Sally for BRO duties, Mike as our solo dedicated cox and everyone else who took part and pitched in to help the weekend run so smoothly. Judging by the smiles and laughter that were around all weekend I think everyone would agree that Hamilton/Nestles Regatta 2010 was a roaring success!
Karen Doggett
Eights from all around Australia descended on Melbourne on Saturday 27th November for the annual event of Head of the Yarra. The 8.6km course winding up stream from the city to Hawthorn is a challenge like no other and was contested by almost 200 crews. Following a week of heavy rain (and race day was no exception) the river was flowing strongly adding to the gruelling conditions and testing the skill and endurance of all involved.
Richmond were strongly represented by 4 crews and first off were the women’s D grade eight superbly coxed (and coached) by Derek Begg. The girls overtook the boat in front and powered on to the close the gap of five minutes to the gentlemen’s masters. After some anxious moments at the very narrow Leonda Bridge they charged home in a time of 37:23. Content with a job well done they sheltered from the rain with a few bottles of bubbles back at Geri’s humble abode. Meanwhile the mixed eight took to the water, coached by Anthea Amos. Their early morning training sessions and hard work at the Bairnsdale training camp all culminated in a great row.
Richmond had two men’s C grade eights competing in a hard fought division consisting of 19 crews. Simon Crunden’s squad coxed by Joe Lian-Lloyd beautifully navigated the course in the shiny new Schouten Family eight passing crews within the first kilometre. It was great to see RRC President, Emma Catford back in a boat this time coxing the men’s eight coached by Franziska Locher. With a whole crew who had never raced the prestigious event they set off up the river and again took a great line around the bends of the Yarra. The cox is a key component of any crew and as was witnessed by the crowds gathered and cheering on the infamous ‘Big Bend’ the benefit of local knowledge of the course is priceless and Richmond provided this with both Mike Numa and Nicole Stupka stepping up to cox crews from other clubs.
When crossing the line all crews celebrated being a part of such a great event and despite the at times relentless rain everyone enjoyed the festive atmosphere created by the host club of Hawthorn. To the surprise and thrill of all involved Derek Begg received a phone call from the Head of Rowing, Justin Thomas, to confirm the women’s D eight had won their division! In disbelief we checked the times but there was no mistake when Richmond’s name was called and the girls received their medals. The crew of Sophie Robinson, Karen Doggett, Tamara Mayfield, Geraldine Goss, Susie Ballantyne, Anthea Amos, Rochelle Stokes and Kate Dyball celebrated the clubs first win in seven years in this classic sporting event. The fun didn’t stop there as the crews still had to row their boats back to the city so with the boys kitted out in school uniform and the girls proudly displaying their bling and gold sequinned superhero capes and eye masks we headed for home.
After all that rowing a well deserved dinner was served up at the clubhouse HOTY after party. DJ Alex then kicked the party into action and as the drinks continued to flow the dancing and enjoyment was infectious. Thanks to the boys squad for organising the festivities and I’ll take this opportunity to remind you that if you missed this party don’t let it happen again. In only 2 weeks RRC will be rocking again with the Christmas dinner on Thursday 16th December so put your name down now on the signup board.
A huge well done to all the competitors and everyone who took part in the day or contributed to the build-up of what was a truly a memorable event.
Karen Doggett
Christine and Nick have been travelling around Britain and The Netherlands, meeting up with a R.R.C member and rowing with other clubs.
We were lucky enough to catch up with Anne Carter who is attending Oxford University for a second year. Anne kept up her rowing last year being part of her University College Boat Club. Unfortunately, Anne doesn’t think that she will have the time to commit to rowing this time around.
Although we only had a short time in Oxford, Anne showed us around many colleges and was able to take us to places no tourist gets to see. We were so pleased to meet up with Anne and enjoyed our time with her.
While staying in London we were able to row with Twickenham Rowing Club. Twickenham Rowing Club is situated on Eel Pie Island on The Thames. Eel Pie Island has quite a long history especially more recently in the 1960’s and 70’s. Twickenham Rowing Club built their first clubhouse on the island in 1861. Access to the island is only by footbridge. We received a very friendly welcome from our other crew members and were informed that everyone wears gumboots until in the boat. We were able to borrow from an array of fashionable colored gumboots. Trying to balance a boat while taking off gumboots and stashing them was not done as elegantly as those who have had plenty of practice.
We had a great row up to Teddington locks before turning around a heading down stream to Richmond Bridge. We stopped every now and then to look at the sights along the river. Our crew members, John and Dennis, were perfect hosts and we thank them very much.
We went to Amsterdam to stay with our son and while there we rowed with the K.A.R. & Z.V. “De Hoop”. Their membership is about 900 and their boatshed was rather amazing with so many boats of all descriptions including boats with collapsible rigging for navigating through skinny arches.
Nick went out in a quad and headed inland rowing past many boathouses and buildings before coming to a pinnacle signaling the end of the city continuing through fields and past windmills. Christine joined her crew to row a skiff which was placed on a trolley and wheeled down to the water, one advantage of living in a country that is dead flat. Rowing down river to the canals of Amsterdam fitting though tiny bridge arches, passing theatres and museums and feeling like you are in a peapod when next to those massive barges on the river.
After our row we joined everyone for freshly made cappuccinos, etc. in the clubhouse and heard how on Hitler’s orders all boathouses in Amsterdam were demolished because of their strategic positions along the river and many other stories including their international rowing in Europe, USA and recently in Queensland.
Great times. Great people.
Members,
We have returned the steering to both the Lucy Crunden & Robert Hendley to increase our fleet flexibility. On the booking board indicate your rigging preference with (D) for double or (P) for pair.
The double rigger bolt holes have been honed out to make rigging as doubles easier. The LC Double riggers are numbered back to front and 2 is bow seat 1 is stern seat.
Please allow a little extra time at the beginning of your training session to rig the boat in the configuration required for your session. If you know a crew will be rowing it as a pair or double after your session you can win friends & favours by rigging it ready for them to use. The Captain may even shout you a coffee.
Please do not remove the steering without consulting the Captain first as there is a way to do this simply so it can be put back in again.
The Siberian Tiger is permanently rigged as a double and is available as an alternative if not booked by another crew.
If we all follow the above simple guidelines we can make the maximum usage of our limited fleet and everyone can enjoy a hassle free row.
Thankyou all.
