Category: Regatta Updates

On the weekend, 16 Richmond rowers, coaches, supporters and a cox descended on Penrith for the 2012 NSW State Grade Championships.  What an incredible weekend we had.  Once again the NSW competitors proved to be tough and unrelenting opponents but Richmond’s presence (both on and off the water) did not go unnoticed!
With a record number of scullers competing, our two WD2x crews progressed through to the semi-finals with Karen and Cat taking on the final and placing 5^th overall.  Our two WC2x crews rowed strongly in their heats with Michelle and Rochelle progressing to the semi-finals.    Meanwhile, Rachael singlehandedly took on the WD1x and cruised her way through heats and semis to place 6^th overall in the final. Both Cat and Rachael represented Richmond in the WC1x with Rachael progressing through to the semi-final.
Richmond’s WD4x stroked by Michelle with Nat, Karen and Rochelle competed in an eventful heat and following a re-start progressed through to the final, just missing out on a medal in a very close race placing 4^th overall.

Our sweep rowers also had some great results Continue reading “RRC report from NSW Grade Championships”

We are again challenging NSW and other state crews at the NSW State Grade Champs at Penrith. This regatta has proved very popular with perfect autumn weather, friendly officials who make us very welcome and a great course to row (straight and buoyed!).
More information about the regatta is available from http://www.rowingnsw.asn.au/news/253/609/edward-trickett-regatta-revised-start-times.html
The beautifully appointed RRC  trailer is loaded with all our equipment to get the crews on the water. It is a long trip up the Hume Hwy so we wish the driver and car crew a safe trip. NB Don’t ring the Captin today, he is otherwise engaged!
The crews have done all their training to be ready to do their best coming down the olympic course. We wish them a great 2 days of racing.
Each days’ competiton has been delayed (2 hours on Saturday and 1 hour on Sunday). But that is not a problem, as it is due to Rowing Australia holding their olympic trails for the London Olympics. This is a wonderful opportunity to see our top rowers in action, battling it out to represent Australia. Wish we were there!
Good luck Tigers and we look forward to report in the near future on the regatta and the results for our crews.

Watch out Penrith, the southern SIRC-us otherwise known as RRC is returning in 2012 to take on the NSW Grade Champs on Saturday 31 March and Sunday 1 April.  (Don’t take us for fools!)
So for those RRC members/family/friends/BFFs it’s time to sign up…
To confirm your place you will need to:

1. complete the Sign Up Survey
2. buy an overheads ticket

Sign Up Survey
We need to know if you’re coming asap, and a few details about yourselves.
People are welcome to bring friends and family, so long as each individual fills out a survey so we have information regarding everybody.
To fill in the survey please click on http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6SY9XH6
Overheads for the regatta are $285 and cover accommodation, food and trailering costs – see payment details below.
Flights, transfers and seat fees are extra:

• Seat fee payments will be organised later
• Flights and transfers need to be organised individually, so start sorting yourselves out with hirecar-pooling and coordinated flight times.

Payment of Overheads
Costs must be paid via Trybooking by the 14^th March to secure accommodation and finalise numbers.
To pay, click on http://www.trybooking.com/BGOG , enter password RRC1863 and buy one overheads ticket per person.
Didn’t your mother warn you about tigers?

As the days get shorter, wetter and colder it can only mean one thing, the 2010-11 rowing season is coming to a close with only masters racing left to go. So the months of April and May saw the slightly more mature members (you have to be 27 or over to compete at masters) of RRC take to the water for a few memorable weeks of racing.
The familiar site of the Yarra was the location of the first masters event of the season with the Banks club hosting. It turned out to be a great day for the girls of Kev and Leonie’s hard-working squad with all three lanes of the novice 4 and womens A-C 4 being filled with Richmond boats. Healthy inter-club competition led to wins to the crew coxed by Mike Numa consisting of Karen Bell, Lindsey Brown, Jodie Naisbitt and Sarah Knight. Rachael Button took out the womens A-B single scull and Richmond life member Ray Dennis also came away with a gold from the male maters H double scull.
The following weekend both boats and rowers made the short trip through the city to Albert Park Lake where once again Rachael won in the single and Geri began her assult on the 2011 masters competition with wins in the mixed quad C-E, female double C-E and female quad B-C. Derek’s coxed four consisting of Tamara Lowe, Karen Doggett, Christine Prosser and Sarah Knight found themselves at the start line of the 1km course giving a 30 second headstart to their competitors in the A-G womens coxed four race due to their youthful combination and the aged handicaps of masters racing. Much to their disbelief and delight they managed to power home to victory to round up another great day of racing.
The wild weather of Carrum saw that Masters regatta cancelled and so RRC moved onto Lake Ngambie, the setting for the Victorian State Masters. The early start was well worth it for Mike Numa who coxed the men’s novice four of Charlie Burke, James Farrar, Michael Calvert and Nigel Ainslie to victory in a very exciting, memorable and hard fought race. Only the cheering of the Richmond squad and the appearance of medals persuaded the boys of their win and their reaction was matched by their proud coach Franzi who heard the news whilst back in Melbourne and who is rarely lost for words. The good results continued to flow with bronze for both the women’s four (Tams, Sally, Lindsey and Vikki) and novice quad (Tams, Sally, Lindsey and Sandrine), silver for the female double combination of Karen and Nikki (a new friend from Melbourne) and another surprise result with a gold to Barry and Karen in the mixed double after only one training session. Ray Dennis once again picked up a medal this time in the male F-J coxed four and Geri continued to collect Masters bling in two different quad and double events. Some good natured rivalry saw Geri pip Carolyn to the glory in the female C double, only to have the roles reversed when they came up head-to head in the female C single with the gold going to Carolyn.
Huge congratulations to everyone who has taken part and contributed, a big thanks to Barry for trailoring and organising all the boats and equipment and apologies if I’ve missed or confused any results but as you can see the number of incredible performances has been amazing. The season climaxed at National Masters in June, so watch this space for a round-up of the Tigers triumph in Tasmania – coming soon……
Karen Doggett

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.

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