May 2020 News
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Above: New senior high performance coach Mike McKay back in 1992 winning gold at 1992 Olympic Games MAY 2020 NEWS News covered this month: • Great news – limited return to rowing Sat 16th May • New website and member membership system due 1st July • Dredging Update • Happy 90th James and Garth • 1924 Olympic crew documentary – changed screening time • Amanda Bateman, a Lifeline Community Custodian • Dredging news • So what our rowers doing? • Ben Dodwell elected to the RA Board • Congratulations Noel Donaldson and Doug Donoghue • Peppercorn Lawn blocked off until March 2021 • Mike McKay takes charge • Thank you Paul McGann • From the vaults – Charlie Cunningham, what a character! ______________________________________________________________________________ Great news – limited return to rowing on Sat 16th May Published 15th May 2020 Rowing Victoria has published the linked guidelines which have been adopted in full by the Club. Please read and follow to the letter. Sculling sessions High performance group This must be organized and supervised by a high-performance coach who will advise the Captain so that we ensure that there are no more than 10 people at the Clubhouse at any time. Club and masters rowers Any use of the Club must be booked with the Captain [email protected]. The Club has three club sculls available. Sign in/Sign out procedures To manage numbers and know who is at the Club, the following additional Mercantile procedure is also implemented: • When entering the Club you must sign in scanning the sign in QR code found at the downstairs entry door which will link to a questionnaire on the Google docs which you will need to complete. • When leaving the Club you must sign out scanning the sign out QR code found at the downstairs exit door which will link to a questionnaire on the Google docs which you will need to complete. Safety officers There must be a safety officer present at all sessions. Safety officer check list. High performance groups This will be the coach organizing the session. Club/masters rowers and private scull users This will be a person appointed by the Captain [email protected] and may be you. Please ensure that you understand and follow the RV guidelines fully and use the safety officer checklist. Other matters • Come dressed for rowing and bring in your own pre-filled water bottle. • No use of changing rooms (other than to use toilets), gym, kitchen, bar etc. • Maintain physical distancing – greater than 1.5m from the next person. • No leniency – failure to follow the RV guidelines, the sign in/sign out procedures, booking and safety officer processes will lead to serious disciplinary action. Get in, train, get out. ______________________________________________________________________________ New website and member management system due 1st July Published 15th May 2020 Members are advised that the Club will be introducing a new website and associated membership management system on 1st July. More details will follow shortly. ______________________________________________________________________________ Dredging works update Published 12th May 2020 The long awaited dredging works are about to commence, just in time for the reopening of sculling. See below for the latest details and timings. Please read the changed traffic rules. In summary the works are planned as follows – 1st week of dredging (18th – 22nd May) • A section at the centre of the landing will be open for access and egress by rowing skulls. • The downstream end and the upstream end of the VRA landing will be closed and fenced off. • Dredging will take place at the downstream end of the landing and progress in an upstream direction. • Maintenance work on the landing will be undertaken by Parks Victoria at the upstream end of the landing. During the remainder of the works (25th May – 10th June) • The downstream end of the landing will be open for access as dredging works will have been completed in this area. • The section of the landing which is adjacent to the dredging works will be closed and fenced off at all times. The closure will move with the progression of the dredging works from the downstream towards the upstream end of the landing as the dredging advances. • Sections of the VRA landing which are at a safe distance to the dredging works will remain open. • The closed section of the VRA landing will be clearly marked by being fenced off. ______________________________________________________________________________ Happy 90th James and Garth Published 10th May 2020 Two of our distinguished members James Harvey and Garth Manton have reached 90 years of age. Happy birthdays. James Harvey centre at a President’s luncheon Garth at a regatta in recent years They still have many years to go to catch Arthur Atkins who is 103 not out! ______________________________________________________________________________ 1924 Olympic crew documentary – changed screening time Published 7th May 2020 Slight change of time for the screening of this documentary – even your correspondent gets a comment on it. ______________________________________________________________________________ Amanda Bateman, a Lifeline Community Custodian Published 6th May 2020 Amanda Bateman has been selected as AIS Lifeline Community Custodians. She is part of a larger group of 22 athletes from various sports who all have a passion about giving back to the community and helping Lifeline reduce the rate of suicide in Australia. Each have their own story to tell. The immediate focus for this year’s Custodian cohort will be lending their voices to Lifeline’s first ever National Emergency Appeal which is in direct response to the impact of COVID-19. The campaign ‘You’ve got 30 seconds to save a life’ is aiming to raise $5million to fill the funding gap caused by cancellation of key fundraising events, storefront closures and an increasing demand for services. Follow this link to find out more about her work in the prevention of youth suicide in Australia. Well done Amanda. Amanda on the podium in the double last year ______________________________________________________________________________ Dredging News Published 6th May 2020 Dredging Parks Victoria has engaged Victorian Marine Services as the dredging contractor. VMS is a local company who has carried out most of the dredging in the Yarra the last 10 or so years. The dredging at the VRA landing is scheduled to start on the 18th of May and will be completed by the 10th of June. The start date is dependent on the processing time of a work permit for the works. If the work permit application is processed ahead of schedule the dredging will start earlier but not before the 11th of May. The slight delay in the scheduling of the dredging works is due to that our procurement process took a few weeks longer than expected due to COVID 19 related considerations and issues. Parks Victoria are still on schedule to finish the dredging before the potential winter sculling event in the Yarra on the 13th of June, if that competition will be held. To ensure the safety of the public and the river users, and to ensure that any Princes Bridge based rowers can access the river (this is subject to COVID-19 restrictions), the following will occur: 1st week of dredging (18th – 22nd May): • The downstream end and the upstream end of the VRA landing will be closed and fenced off. • Dredging will start at the downstream end of the landing and progress in an upstream direction. • Maintenance work on the landing will be undertaken by Parks Victoria at the upstream end. • A section at the centre of the landing will be open for access. During the remainder of the works (25th – 29th May): • The downstream end of the landing will be open for access as dredging works will have been completed in this area. • The section of the landing in proximity to the dredging works will be closed and fenced off at all times. • The closure will move with the progression of the dredging works from the downstream towards the upstream end of the landing as the dredging advances. • Sections of the VRA landing which are at a safe distance to the dredging works will remain open. VMS will install fencing around the landing and put up signs with information about the closure. There will be an exclusion zone on the river around the dredge and the placement area. The exclusion zone will be marked by Water communication Buoys as well as stringline buoys at the upstream and downstream end of the exclusion zone. There will be one way traffic past the exclusion zone with downstream traffic having right of way, this will be clearly communicated with signage. Parks Victoria are expected to provide an information sheet. ______________________________________________________________________________ So what are our rowers doing? Published 5th May 2020 In short, training with social distancing, and not in boats. So what are they doing? • Ergos • Cycling • Stationary bikes • Running • Competitions including the Tour de COVID designed by Nick Mitchell and a team event titled Red’s Challenge, designed by Red Matthews. Results from from event can be used in the other. • The participants include any Mercs rowers who are planning to row next season to our Olympians, Jess Morrison, Kat Werry, James Rook, Amanda and Katrina Bateman, Gus Widdicombe and Liam Donald. Red’s Challenge is managed by Red Matthews and he is the holder of the rules. It is run in teams carefully selected to balance out the talent and also has weighted results for running, cycling and ergos. The ‘Draft’ for the teams was witnessed by all on zoom and many were ‘dressed’ for the occasion. There is a different challenge each week. Ergs are done together via zoom to provide the social interaction and coach involvement. All results are published. Nick Mitchell’s stage reports for the Tour de COVID make for some interesting reading.