The 2010 Victorian Masters rowing season was short and intense, culminating in the state championships in Nagambie on Saturday May 15.
The Richmond/CGRC composite crew won a very hard fought race in the quad scull, with a margin of 2 seconds over the Black Mountain crew from Canberra who looked exceedingly surprised and annoyed about being beaten. Carolyn and Gerry then had to fight hard to take out the double scull by 0.7 sec, again over the Canberra girls and Carolyn topped off a great regatta to take gold in the single, while Gerry took silver in the same event.
In other regattas held earlier in the season, the normally sedate Barwon regatta produced wild winds creating havoc with the journey to the start line (and perhaps a bit of assistance coming back again?). The small boats struggled, particularly in the transit lane, with the wind and the reeds and the grumpy officials!
It was great to see the Richmond women flying the flag competing in coxed fours, an eight and a quad scull, with a win in the quad scull crew of Susie Ballantyne, Rochelle Stokes, Anthea Amos and Rachel Button, coxed by Derek Begg.
The highs for the day were Carolyn and Gerry took first and second in the single respectively and had wins in the double scull and quad scull Richmond / CGRC composite crew and the lows were a distinct lack of atmosphere and a coffee cart. What the hell, even the school girls regatta at Barwon organise a coffee cart!
Next stop on the masters circuit was Carrum, and the rowers were greeted with superb rowing conditions but only Carolyn and Gerry attended for RRC, again taking first and second in the single and taking home bling for the double and composite quad.
Beautiful weather also blessed Albert Park, which again saw a big RRC contingent, even a couple of blokes this time! Sadly no other clubs dared to field a mixed eight against the might of Richmond and the event was cancelled.
Competition in other events was fierce however, especially in the novice categories but the coxed fours placed well in several races. Rachel Button took second in the AB single scull, while Gerry was third in the C-E. Gerry also collected some bling for the double scull with Jenny Dewar from CGRC, and in the mixed double scull with Murray Ross from MRC. At least there was some actual bling at this regatta, and even a bar, enabling tired Masters rowers to enjoy a quiet glass of bubbly or a beer. Now that’s more like it!
We all know that regattas don’t just happen, and club participation depends on people giving their time to submit entries, organise crews and boats as well as trailering, and performing BRO duties. Thanks to all those involved in all of these activities, we are lucky indeed to have the culture of volunteer effort that we enjoy at Richmond.
It was good to see a number of new crews competing for Richmond at Barwon and Albert Park and it will be exciting to see these crews develop in the seasons to come. It has certainly been the women’s squad who have carried the flag for Richmond in this Master’s season and congratulations to Geraldine and Carolyn for a great season and we look forward to June when they head to Perth for the Nationals.
Geraldine Goss (with Simon Crunden)