Mildura Archives - Richmond Rowing Club

Happy Easter everyone! Here’s hoping you all stuffed your faces with copious amounts of chocolate, devoured those hot cross buns, and thoroughly enjoyed the long weekend. For a small group of Tigers, these goals were achieved during a fantastic road trip to Mildura to compete at the Wentworth Mildura Easter Regatta.

Congratulations to all competitors – it was a wonderful weekend of racing! For those of you who missed out on this weekend of fun, here’s the 411 to catch you up…

The 7 hours’ drive to Mildura was…a challenge. The backseat snack patrol has never been more important! But in amongst the endlessly straight roads and the multiple loops over the same Spotify playlists, we managed a few stops along to way to take in the sights – silo art, anyone?

Racing took place over Saturday and Sunday, with 1000m and 500m races respectively. As a club, we raced in 18 events – pretty impressive for a small contingent! We took home the gold for:

Female Masters Coxed Four (1000m)
Male C Grade Single (1000m)
Female C Grade Coxed Four (1000m)
Male Masters Single Scull – Division 2 (1000m)
Female C Grade Coxed Quad Scull (500m)
Female Masters Coxed Quad Scull (500m)
Male Masters Single Scull – Division 1 (500m)

And while the jingle jangle of medals around our necks was a nice touch, this weekend was all about having fun at a wholesome country regatta. So in that spirit, I wanted to call out a few of the highlights…

A massive congratulations is in order for Yennie – she competed in a single for the first time, representing Richmond in the Female Under 17 Single Scull. She looked fierce taking out second place in the heat and dealt with the curvy course like a pro!

In a first for many in the boat, we competed in a Mixed Quad and came third – not to toot our own horn, but I’d say this is quite impressive for a scratch crew. And what’s more impressive is that we all managed to keep up with Emil, setting a cracking rate of 500…ok ok it was only 38, but still!

Other highlights included Phil repping Richmond in a race against the Phils, i.e. the Div. 3 Male Masters Single Scull that was surreally populated with 90% Phils. And Charlotte absolutely loved her time in the cox’s seat for the Female Coxed Quad Scull – she walked away bone dry after ensuring that we definitely stayed in our lane.

All in all, this was an incredibly successful and fun weekend. We can’t thank Wentworth and Mildura Rowing Clubs enough for their hospitality and for hosting a fantastic weekend of rowing.

But none of this would’ve been possible without all the behind-the-scenes work. Thanks to Leigh and Chris for towing the trailer all the way to Mildura! And thanks to Sarah and Chris for organizing and submitting entries.

So that’s a wrap on the 100^th Easter Regatta in Mildura! I say we get an even bigger group of Tigers together for the 101^st…who’s with me!?

For those veteran RRC members Easter weekend has always meant just one thing – Mildura road trip!
Well it’s been many years since RRC made the long trip up the Calder freeway to partake in the Mildura and Wentworth regattas but this year we did. Both the Murray and Darling rivers provided beautiful surrounds and calm waters for rowing (and swimming, as Erin can vouch for completing her swim test at the conclusion of day 1). The rest of us settled for a swim in the motel pool or dip in the spa before a refreshing beverage at the Mildura brewery.

Erin's swim test in the Murray — Erin’s swim test in the Murray

We may have been few in numbers for the trip but I think we all agreed that the weekend was a great success. The rowing was of a great standard and once that toggle was released at the start there was no letup despite the almost 90 degree turn in the Henley on the Murray course or the bridge crossing the River Darling on Sunday. All those training sessions on the Yarra have taught us well that a bridge is just a marker to push off no matter what river you find yourself on.

Bec roared on the mixed eight and some quads while the Lucy Crunden (boat not person) went up and down the river countless times with all combinations of doubles crews pushing for the line.

The highlight for many had to be Michael Gehling’s Jesus moment though when preparing to race the single. Unfortunately for Michael but to the amusement of onlookers it turns out he can not walk on water 😉

The RV officials joined in the fun spirit of the weekend and coordinated a new event for the conclusion of each days racing – the pot luck eight. The aim of the event was to get everyone who wanted another row to put their name forward and get representatives from every club out on the water in real eclectic crews covering both sexes and all ages. The races pitched RRC vs RRC aswell as Mildura, Wentworth, Essendon, Nagambie, Rutherglen and Corio Bay. It really was a great fun event with fast and furious eights sprinting down the course in the afternoon sun. There was also some bling to be collected at the end for the lucky ones like Shern Timmins from RRC who claimed victory on both days.

Thanks to everyone who made the weekend possible especially Kathy Macrow and Barry Campbell for organising and to all those involved at the two regatta venues who showed great hospitality and in my humble opinion served the best egg and bacon sandwich I’ve ever had at a regatta. What more could one ask for?

Tag: Mildura

2023 Wentworth Mildura Easter Regatta

Easter Roadtrip