JULY 2019 NEWS

Above: scene with our Wyfold crew in the foreground

News covered this month

• Ria Thompson takes gold at World Under 23 Championships • Gold and Bronze for Mercantile at Under 23 Championships • Racing begins tonight in the World Under 23 Championships • Celebration of lives – Martin Owen and Libby Douglas • Vale Martin Owen • Vale Libby Douglas • WC3 – Australia and Mercs dominate • WC3 – All Mercs members through semi finals and reps on Saturday • WC3 – time trials replace heats • World Cup 3 – Friday heats postponed due to weather • Mercs at World Cup 3 – Racing starts Friday • Trustees announce more grants • Australian Under 23 Men’s announced – 2 more Mercs members added to the team • Mercantile mourns the loss of Nick Garratt AM • Henley Day 5 – Sunday • Henley Day 4 – Saturday • Henley Day 3 – Friday • Henley Day 2 – Thursday • Henley Day 1 -Wednesday • Henley Royal Regatta preview • Yet more Mercs members in the Australian Under 23 team • Foundation trustees announce further grants from the Cooper Fund • From the Archives – Club fundraising in 1883 ______Ria Thompson takes gold at World Under 23 Championships

Published 29th July 2019 Ria Thompson, who rowed for Mercantile before moving to Queensland to study, won the under 23 last night in a superb race. She started relatively slowly and was in fourth place throughout the first 1000m. She then did a powerful third 500m through all but the leading American sculler. Ria had the momentum and then broke the American is the final stages of the race.

The men’s eight raced their final and finished sixth. Sadly they were outclassed but congratulations to them on making the final. The crew contained Mitch Hooper in the two seat, Alex Wolf in the three seat and Jack Robertson in the five seat.

______Gold and Bronze for Mercantile at Under 23 Championships

Published 28th July 2019 The first finals day at the Championships brought great success for Australia and Mercantile with the Women’s containing Imogen Purcell finishing third and the men’s coxed four including Ben Canham and Mitch Hooper and coached by our head coach Nick Mitchell taking gold.

Our bronze medallists celebrating on the podium – photo FISA

First up was the women’s coxed four with Imogen in the bow seat. reported as follows:

The U23 Women’s Coxed Four of Alexandra Nothdurft, Jane Perrignon, Sarah Tisdall, Imogen Purcell and Pheobe Georgakas were drawn in Lane Four, taking on Canada, France, Italy and the USA. The crew, coached by Annabelle Eaton, took advantage of the calm conditions to deliver a measured race that saw them sat in third despite a push from Canada in the final 750 metres.

In a sprint to the line, Georgakas called on her crew to up the rating and as they surged ahead of Canada, the crew looked set to take down the French who had begun to slow. As they crossed the line it was Italy who took the win, with France in second and Australia crossing the line to take bronze, just 0.28 of a second behind the French.

Post-race, Nothdurft said the conditions had been great for their final, “The water was good today and we all stayed calm out there and aimed to stay strong. It’s been really exciting racing here in Florida as it was our first time racing internationally, but Annabelle prepared use really well for the event.”

The next race was the men’s coxed four. In a race which David Colvin described as gutsy and sensational, the four won by a fine margin from a fast finishing British crew.

The victorious four – photo FISA

Rowing Australia reported as follows:

In calm conditions, the U23 Men’s Coxed Four of Ben Canham, Angus Dawson, Mitchell Hooper, Adam Bakker and Caitlin Hockings were crowned World Champions after leading their final from start to finish. The crew, coached by Nick Mitchell, won their heat earlier in the week and Hockings led her crew out firing in the final today in Florida.

The crew clocked a time of 6 minutes 10 seconds to claim victory, having to hold off a last minute sprint to the line from Great Britain, who took silver, and Italy who took bronze. There was only 0.09 of a second between the Australians and the British as the boats crossed the line, while the Italians were just 0.63 of a second behind the Australians.

All but one of the crew were on debut for Australia, with Adam Bakker the only member of the crew to have represented Australia on a world stage, at both Juniors and Under 23s.

Post-race, Queensland-born Bakker, who is an U23 World Champion in the Men’s Four from 2017, said, “We went in feeling confident after our performance in the heats. We executed our race plan well and held off the other crews.

“I thought that the British had gotten us in the end, but no, we’d take the gold which is awesome. Some of us will be ageing out of U23s next year, so we’ll be aiming for selection into the senior team.”

While Bakker, Canham, Dawson and Hockings can celebrate today’s victory, Hooper will be preparing for the U23 Men’s Eight A-Final, with the young Australian doubling up and racing both events in Sarasota.

The crew pose for parents

Enjoying a rest after the presentations

In other news, the men’s eight qualified for the A final but as the last qualifier. The crew now comprises three Mercs members with Mitch Hooper being called into the eight in the two seat. Alex Wolf is in the three seat and Jack Robertson in the five seat. Mitch replaced Alexander Jeremijenko who had to withdraw.

The repechage was a sensational race with the Australian placed third through the middle stages of the race and having to row through Canada to qualify. The sprint for the line was excellent and qualification for the final reached by only 0.17 second. Well done guys

Sprinting to the line – the Germans about a second in front

Go Mercs (and Australia)

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Racing begins tonight in the World Under 23 Championships

Published 24th July 2019 These Championships begin tonight and the large Australian team contains five Mercantile rowers.

• Imogen Purcell in the coxed four • Ben Canham and Mitch Hooper in the coxed four • Alex Wolf and Jack Robertson in the men’s eight • Nick Mitchell is coaching both the men’s coxed four and the men’s lightweight

Opening ceremony – photo FISA Igor Meijer

Men’s coxed four in training – Photo: Rowing Australia

The full team comprises:

Crew Club/State/SIS-SAS U23 Women’s Single Scull Ria Thompson University of Queensland BC/VIC/QAS Coach: Ben Southwell Queensland Academy of Sport U23 Women’s Double Scull Giorgia Patten West Australian Rowing Club/WA/WAIS Harriet Hudson Sydney Rowing Club/NSW/NSWIS Coach: Rhett Ayliffe Western Australian Institute of Sport U23 Women’s Tara Rigney Sydney University Boat Club/NSW Dyone Bettega Sydney University Boat Club/NSW/NSWIS Coach: Alfie Young Sydney University Boat Club/NSW U23 Women’s Lily Alton-Triggs University of Queensland BC/QLD/QAS Grace Reid UTS Rowing Club/NSW Nicela Martincic UTS Rowing Club/NSW/NSWIS Olivia Jones West Australian Rowing Club/WA Coach: Joe Tamigi West Australian RC/WA U23 Women’s Coxed Four Alexandra Nothdurft The Ohio State University/Commercial RC/QLD University of California, Berkeley/ Griffith University Surfer’s Paradise Jane Perrignon RC/QLD Imogen Purcell University of California, Los Angeles/ Mercantile RC/VIC Sarah Tisdall Harvard/University of Queensland BC/QLD Coxswain: Phoebe Georgakas Melbourne University Boat Club/VIC Coach: Annabelle Eaton St Kevin’s College/VIC U23 Lightweight Women’s Single Scull Georgina Masters UTS RC/NSW/NSWIS Coach: Alex Field UTS RC/NSW U23 Lightweight Women’s Pair Lucy Theodore Toowong Rowing Club/QLD Jilly Roberts Australian National University BC/ACT Coach: Ben Southwell QLD Academy of Sport U23 Men’s Single Scull Cormac Kennedy-Leverett Griffith University Surfers Paradise RC/QLD/QAS Coach: Marcus Free Griffith University Surfers Paradise RC/QLD U23 Men’s Coxless Four Nick Lavery UTS Rowing Club/VIC/NSWIS Rohan Lavery Melbourne University BC/VIC Marcus Britt Sydney University BC/NSW Will O’Shannessy Sydney University BC/NSW Coach: Matt Ryan Melbourne University BC/VIC U23 Men’s Coxed Four Ben Canham Mercantile Rowing Club/VIC/VIS Mitchell Hooper Mercantile Rowing Club/VIC Angus Dawson Rowing Club/SA/SASI Adam Bakker Commercial Rowing Club/QLD/QAS Coxswain: Caitlin Hockings University of Queensland BC/QLD/QAS Coach: Nick Mitchell Mercantile RC/VIC U23 Men’s Eight Elliott Apel Toowong Rowing Club/QAS/QLD Harry Crouch Sydney Rowing Club/NSW George Finlayson University of California, Berkeley/UTS Haberfield/NSW Alexander Jeremijenko Yale University/Toowong Rowing Club/QLD Jackson Kench Sydney Rowing Club/NSW/NSWIS Angus Morrison Yale University/Toowong Rowing Club/QLD Jack Robertson University of California, Berkeley/Mercantile Rowing Club/VIC Alexander Wolf Mercantile Rowing Club/VIC Cox: Alannah Gilsmore /SA Coach: John Bowes QLD U23 Lightweight Men’s Pair Patrick Boere Swan River Rowing Club/WA Rohan James Swan River Rowing Club/WA Coach: Mark Beer Swan River RC/ACT U23 Lightweight Men’s Double Scull Mitchell Reinhard Adelaide Rowing Club/SA/SASI Nathan Kennedy Australian National University BC/ACT/ACTAS Coach: Nick Mitchell Mercantile RC/VIC ______Celebration of lives – Martin Owen and Libby Douglas

Published 24th July 2019 The celebration of the life of Martin Owen will be held at Zinc in Federation Square, Yarra River entrance, (opposite the boatsheds) at 2pm Monday 29th July 2019. Drinks will be served at the Clubhouse afterwards, probably from about 4.30pm.

The celebration of the life of Elizabeth Douglas will be conducted on Friday 2nd August at 2pm at The Hayshed, 910 Epping Road Woodstock Vic 3751. Importantly dress will be hayshed gear.

______Vale Martin Owen

Published 18th July 2019 A great of Australian rowing, Martin Owen, died on Monday night after a long and debilitating illness. He had a formidable intellect and abundant enthusiasm which he used to great effect. He was a leader who had a considerable influence many people.

Martin as Captain

For some 30 years, Martin was a great rower, coach and administrator of the sport.

As a cox, he won National Championships and steered at the interstate championships before turning his hand to . His rowing achievements included winning four National Lightweight Eight Championships in a row before coaching crews which also won this event. He was a small lightweight, but tenacious. He was unlucky not to be selected into Australian crews for several years in a row. In the year he was most likely to be selected, he was in a serious car accident at the National Championships breaking his back in two places. Despite a determined attempt to return to top level rowing, his severe injuries prevailed.

Martin then devoted his energies to coaching and he produced many Australian oarsmen. He was an Australian under 23 coach for three years and the senior lightweight coach at the 1989 World Championships.

As an administrator, Martin initiated the development of Mercantile Rowing Club into an elite club and served on both the Mercantile and the Victorian Rowing Association Committees for some 15 years. Naturally he was elected a life member of Mercantile.

After his retirement from active rowing, he and Peter Philip, another great of Australian rowing, established a successful insurance agency business. He was an influential and popular person in the insurance industry. He was well respected by both underwriters and brokers alike for his outstanding technical knowledge and his imaginative and sophisticated approach.

After finishing his coaching career, he also turned his sporting attention to yachting and was a natural at this sport.

He will be sadly missed by many rowers over whom he had so much influence. The words of an early American President and Statesman, John Quincy Adams, are apt: If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. A celebration of life will be held on Monday 29th July 2019. The time will be advised shortly.

______Vale Libby Douglas

Published 18th July 2019 It is with deep sorrow that the Club advises the passing of Elizabeth Douglas after a long illness. Libby was the wife of one of our champions, David Douglas, 1968 Olympic silver medallist. She was also the mother of Mercantile members Georgina and Robert, both of whom raced for Australia.

She was a great supporter of the Club and rowing.

Our thoughts are with David, Kyllie, Georgina and Robert.

______WC3 – Australia and Mercs dominate

Updated 21st July 2019 Australia wins the overall point score at the World Cup. The course was terrible and unfair. The lanes were again seeded which meant that those who qualified at the end of the field were given no hope. Results were heavily impacted.

The story in pictures follows.

Ian Robson, CEO of RA receives the points trophy from FISA President

….. and then enjoys the moment with James Rook

Jess Morrison on the podium enjoying the moment

The women’s eight finished behind the Kiwis at this WC

The eight was still a superb result and on the podium

The Mercs supporters

Women’s eight on the podium

Now back to the start of the day.

The reserve men’s and women’s pairs did well in the B finals with the men’s pair winning the B final and the women finishing third. Both are on track to fill any vacant positions and if need be with the men, qualify the boat for the Olympics if the number 1 crew is used in other boats.

The women’s lightweight double finished second in the B final with a good race

Reserve sculler David Batholot finished last in the B final in a tough field

Then the A finals. Jess Morrison in the bow bending her to get past the Kiwis

After regaining their breath, time to enjoy the victory

Those World Cup Champion tops fit perfectly

The spoils of victory, the trophy, the medallions, the 2019 World Cup tops and 2019 World Cup trophy for the women’s pairs

Spencer Turrin keeps an eye on the Kiwis as they power to the line

Men’s pair look pretty happy with their win also

Amanda Bateman in the bow with Genevieve Horton trying to hold off the Romanian charge

Despite the Romanian prevailing, they won silver, the World Cup series and so receive the vests

Enjoying the presentations

The men’s double finished last in their A final

The women’s four hold off the challenges in the last 500m with our Kat Werry in the 2 seat

Then rowing strongly over the line

Gold medallists enjoy the moment

Then playing up to the camera

Then the men’s four powered down confidently winning

The crews wore black arm bands to recognise Nick Garratt. Nick Purnell kissed his arm band and acknowledged Nick Garratt after their win

Enjoying the win and the World Cup Champion vests

Men’s lightweight double finished last in the A final

Then the women’s quad finished third with Katrina Bateman in the two seat

The women’s quad is a great story. This is the crew that were not selected into the National Training Centre but forced their way into the team with great results. They were a marginal selection and have performed brilliantly. Congratulations.

They were happy with their result, even if Katrina’s hug is challenging when so exhausted

.. and more hugs

Still enjoying after getting off the water

.. and after the presentations

… and celebrating with Club mates

The men’s quad finished an agonising fourth place in a good race

The joy of victory for some and the agony of defeat for others

The men’s eight containing club members Gus Widdicombe and Liam Donald finish last in the A final.

The pain of loss showing on Liam. This is no great surprise with the crew needing a little more power to reach the podium and having to race in an unwinnable lane

And back to where this article started, the silver medal winning eight with Jess Morrison taking out 2 medals at the regatta, gold and silver

In summary, a great regatta for Australia and Mercantile and expect further changes to the men’s sweep line up for the World Championships.

______WC3 – All Mercs members through semi finals and reps on Saturday

Published 13th July 2019 In far from ideal conditions using seeded lanes, semi-finals and repechages were completed today. All Mercs members are through to the finals.

• Jess Morrison is doing the double, the pair and eight – both crews are in the final • James Rook is steering the eight • Kat Werry qualified for the fours final yesterday • Liam Donald and Gus Widdicombe qualified the eight for the final tomorrow • Amanda Bateman qualified the double for the final yesterday

First up today were Australia’s lightweight scullers who both won their semi-finals.

Georgia Nesbitt in the first part of her race

Sean Murphy off the start

Our own Jess Morrison in the bow wins her semi-final – here at the start. Stroke seat is Annabelle McIntyre

Powerful start from the pair which won their semi-final, Alex Hill stroking and Spencer Turrin in the bow this regatta. Hardy and Hicks our other boat did not qualify.

The double finished third in the semi and so into the final. Cam Watts in the stroke seat and Hamish Playfair in the bow.

David Bartholot missed the final

Sadly the women lighties missed the final finishing fifth – Sarah Pound and Alice Arch

The men lighties made it through to the final again – Hamish Parry and Leon Chambers

The women’s quad with Katrina Bateman in the two seat nailed their rep and finished first

And again

The men’s quad also nailed their rep finishing first

The men’s eight also qualified for the final with Gus Widdicombe in the stroke seat and Liam Donald in the three seat

And again displaying an awesome amount of power

The first finals will be this afternoon for the lightweight singles.

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WC3 – time trials replace heats

Published 13th July 2019 In wet and blustery conditions with a strong cross wind, time trials were the order of the day.

Running through our crews with Mercs members:

• Men’s eight through to a very tough repechage • Women’s eight through to the final • Women’s pair through to the final • Women’s four through to the final • Women’s double through to the final • Women’s quad through to the repechage • Some pictures follow

Jess Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre in the time trial

Kat Werry hanging off the handle well in the two seat

Men’s eight will have a very tough rep on Saturday

Women’s eight look good

More to follow.

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World Cup 3 – Friday heats postponed due to weather

Published 12th July 2019 Due to thunder storms last night and this morning, racing this morning has been postponed. Racing will commence this afternoon with a new schedule. Given that it get dark at about 10pm, the delays can be accommodated.

Racing starts at 2pm Dutch time (10pm Melbourne time) and racing will continue to 8.20pm (4.20am Melbourne time).

12.30pm update – thunder storms continuing and so no racing.

Not promising at lunchtime

More news soon.

Inside the Australian tent ______Mercs at WC3 – Racing starts Friday

Published 11th July 2019 Mercs will be well represented at World Cup 3 with the following athletes:

• Jess Morrison ion the pair and eight • Katrina Bateman – W4x • Amanda Bateman – W2x • Kat Werry – W4 • Gus Widdicombe – M8 • Liam Donald – M8 • James Rook – W8 cox

Some pictures from the warm up training follow.

Katrina in the two seat of the quad doing exercises. Note the ancient windmill in the background

Kat Werry in the two seat of the four

Gus Widdicombe with the keys and Liam Donald now in the three seat

Team tent. Let the racing begin. ______Trustees announce more grants

Published 10th July 2019 With the announcement by Rowing Australia of the additional crew to the under 23 team, the Club Trustees have announced two further grants of $1,000 to each of Jack Robertson and Alexander Wolf.

The Foundation has an account to support members selected into Australian under age crews. Whilst this account is currently quite modest in size, the Trustees plan to dramatically increase this account to $1 million over the coming years and therefore dramatically increase the grants to these members.

______Australian Under 23 Men’s eight announced – 2 more Mercs members added to the team

Published 10th July 2019 Rowing Australia has announced the inclusion of a men’s eight to the under 23 team. The eight is based out of Princeton and contains many Australian rowers based in the States. Two Mercs members are included: Jack Robertson and Alex Wolf. Congratulations. The full crew is:

Elliott Apel Toowong Rowing Club/QAS Harry Crouch Sydney Rowing Club George Finlayson University of California, Berkeley/UTS Haberfield Alexander Jeremijenko Yale University/Toowong Rowing Club Jackson Kench Sydney Rowing Club/NSW/NSWIS Angus Morrison Yale University/Toowong Rowing Club Jack Robertson University of California, Berkeley/Mercantile Alexander Wolf Mercantile Rowing Club Cox: Alannah Gilsmore Adelaide Rowing Club Coach: John Bowes QLD ______Mercantile mourns the loss of Nick Garratt AM

Published 9th July 2019 Mercantile and the rowing community are shocked and deeply saddened by the sudden passing of two- time Olympic rowing coach, and current ACT Academy of Sport and U23 Australian Rowing Team coach, Nick Garratt AM. He was a friend and coach to Mercantile members.

Nick was in Penrith with the U23 Australian Rowing Team, as part of his role coaching the U23 Australian Lightweight Women’s Pair and U23 Lightweight Men’s Double Scull, when he collapsed and died whilst loading boats onto racks on Monday 8 July.

Details of funeral arrangements will be announced in due course. More information can be found on the Rowing Australia website.

Rowing Australia President, Rob Scott said, “We are all deeply shocked and saddened by Nick’s sudden and untimely passing today. He was a passionate rowing coach who worked tirelessly to develop and support Australian rowers from grassroots to Olympic level. He was a greatly loved and admired member of our rowing family and we are all feeling this profound loss. Our thoughts are with Nick’s family, his athletes and colleagues, both current and past, at this difficult time.”

Henley Day 5 – Finals Day

Updated 9th July 2019 Finals day saw Mercantile represented in the final. The crew comprised bow: Will Achermann, 2: Joel Cain, 3: Alex Clarke, Str: Lukas Matic, Cox: Lachlan Goller.

Sadly our Britannia crew did not win but finished a close second in a gritty and well executed race. They raced their race as planned and they finished their campaign far better developed than when started. It has been a great exercise for them.

The crew departs the boat tents

Final instructions

Captain Bill Webster, Manager Jenny Fraumano and coach Fradge make their way to the start

Awaiting the starter’s call

Off to a good start and early lead

Holding it together well in the first 500m

The early lead is evident

Fighting hard as Molesey push through

Giving it all approaching Stewards’ Enclosure

The margin remains close

The strain shows

Passing the progress board, the race is all but over

The crew makes every stroke last as the finish looms

Last couple of strokes and the form is maintained

The race finishes

Some other images follow to provide reflections of finals day at Henley Royal Regatta.

Spotted in the crowd, Andrew and Susie Phillips

Andrew and Susie joined by Margaret and Roger Wilson, and team manager Jenny Fraumano

Bill Webster and Pip Batten, Margot Foster on their left and Leeanne Ambrose on their right

Sean Colgan, our host for dinner on Saturday night – thank you Sean

Gus Maloney and Jack Kelly in those bright blazers

Phoebe Wolf and James Hoban

The Royal Barge in action

Easy Oar on the Royal Barge

Scotch College on their way to the final

Sadly Scotch were defeated by Eton in the final – the last strokes

The American Navy crew save the day in the re-row of the King’s Cup

Then the cox goes for a swim closely followed by the crew

ADF coaches Jeff Brown and Ian Smith discuss the race

Ethan Seder in the 3 seat of this Harvard crew trained at Mercs for a university break and seems quite pleased with his win in the Prince Albert Challenge Cup

The HRR crowds in the Stewards

And again

The boats come in all shapes and sizes

Yes, all shapes and sizes ______Henley Day 4

Updated 9th July 2019 Good and bad news today. The Britannia crew crew won their semi-final against the Ruden, Tennis und Hockey Club Bayer Leverkusen, Germany, but the Wyfold crew was beaten by a crew from Oslo Norway. Details of the final are above.

Some pictures of the events yesterday. Firstly the victorious Britannia crew.

The Britannia crew prepares for their race

Very focused

Getting onto the water

Two life members, Andrew Guerin and Sean Colgan spotted enjoying the regatta

The ducks of Henley taking a prime position

Awaiting the start

Off the start

Starting to take a margin over the opposition

Half way through, a strong lead has been gained

The crew takes a comfortable lead with the township of Henley-on-Thames as a backdrop

The finish is in sight

The crew receiving good support from the Mercantile supporters

Our Wyfold crew unsuccessfully raced N S R Oslo, Norway this morning. Some pictures follow.

Are the VB socks a rebellion to British ales?

The starters red flag seen top left gets them away

Winding up off the start

Middle stages

Middle stages with the township of Henley-on-Thames

At Remenham, Mercs still in front

But shortly thereafter Oslo is moving through

Passing the Regatta Enclosure

Going past the Enclosure

Into the last 100m

The Mercs supporters look on

The last strokes

Looking at defeat in the eye

The ADF crew

Victorian Parliamentarian and rower Tim Smith with Australia’s High Commissioner George Brandis ______Henley Day 3

Published 5th July 2019 A great day for Mercs with both our Wyfold and Britannia crews progressing through to Saturday. A great result. Congratulations to all and we await tomorrow with great anticipation.

Off to the start

Fradge sends off his crew

Pensive in the start

Our Wyfold crew off the start on Friday

First part of the race

Past Temple Island

The Wyfold crew takes an early lead

Mid course

Then extended the lead

Finishing off the race

Our Britannia crew at the start

The first stroke

Our crew takes the lead

The finish

Britannia Four finishing their heat

The support team celebrate

Lukas Matic surrounded by his proud grand parents

Josie and Will Ackermann

The French Military crew defeats the English Military crew

Scenes from Henley

Umpire and drone follow the race

Doing it in style

Interesting boats

Henley scenes

It takes all types

The Australian Defence Force crew cruises through the first round

And again

Scotch Melbourne had to work hard to overcome Shrewsbury School

More to follow

______Henley Day 2

Published 4th July 2019 Day 2 was one of mixed fortunes. The Wyfold and Britannia crews went through to the next round but alas Red Matthews was knocked out of the Diamonds by a distinguished Dutch sculler.

The following pictures tell the stories.

Britannia crew start their journey to their race

Pushing off showing the Mercantile name

The Royal Barge

Fradge makes his way to the start on the umpire launch

Passing Temple Island

The TV boat struggles to keep up with Mercs

Our Britannia crew taking an early lead

The lead is extended with the town of Henley-on-Thames in the background

Wyfold crew off the start

Wyfold crew takes an early lead

They then extend the lead

Comfortable lead by the end of Temple Island

The distraction of the rowing can easily be overcome by Pimms and music

Red prepares for the start

Then gets underway

Red in the early stages of the race

He then grabs a slight early lead

Red’s Dutch opponent eventually prevailed in the evening summer light

Approaching the finish

Mercantile supporters HQ

Those blazers stand out

An Edwardian garden party with a rowing distraction

Outside the Stewards Enclosure, the essentials are still available

Mercs member David Fleming strokes the Harvard crew which is going very well

David’s Harvard crew with the Henley-on-Thames township in the background ______Henley Day 1

Published 4th July 2019 Mercs had one crew racing on Wednesday, our Wyfold crew. They had an easy win over the local Marlow B crew. Today they will be tested by Worcestor at 11.35am London time ( 8.35pm Melbourne time).

Other races today for our crews are:

Britannia Cup v Twickenham 9.45am London time (6.45pm Melbourne time) .

Diamond Sculls – Red Matthews 7.40pm London time (4.40am Melbourne time) Some images form Henley on Wednesday.

Our Wyfold crew leave for their race

The commemorative program,

The crew departing under the watch of our Captain

Underway

Pushing away off Temple Island

Settling in with a comfortable lead

The lead is consolidated

Our crew settled into their race with the Henley-on-Thames in the background ______Henley Royal Regatta Preview

Published 2nd July 2019 Mercantile has three crews at the 2019 regatta with a crew in the , the Britannia Challenge Cup and Red Matthews in the Diamonds.

The first crew off is our Wyfold crew who race at 10.15 UK time (7.15pm Melbourne time) on Wednesday. You can also follow the race on the Henley Royal Regatta YouTube channel. This crew comprises Angus Maloney, James Hoban, Jack Kelly and Carl Tomczak, coached by David Fraumano.

Our crew training on the course on Tuesday On Thursday we will see Red and our Britannia crew race.

Our Britannia crew training on Tuesday ______Possibly more Mercs members in the Australian Under 23 team

Published 1st July 2019 As rumoured in the June news, Jack Robertson and Alex Wolf have been named in the provisional Australian Under 23 men’s eight with the aim to race at the World Under 23 Rowing Championships. This US based crew has not yet been selected as they have not yet made the qualifying time.

Jack is currently studying at the University of California (Berkeley) and Alex was training back here in Melbourne before being called up to the US trials.

Go Mercs ______Foundation Trustees announce further grant from the Cooper Account

Published 1st July 2019 The Foundation Trustees, Andrew Guerin, John Harry, Jeff Lawrence, Warwick Hutchins and Tim Frederico, have announced another grant of $1,000 to be made from the Cooper Account of the Foundation to Imogen Purcell who has been selected into the Australian under 23 four.

Imogen training in the US

This grant is in addition of similar grants made to Mitch Hooper and Ben Canham.

______From the Archives – Mercs fundraising in 1883

Published 1st July 2019 Ever wondered how our Club forebears raised money? The following images show that they did it in style and can provide our current members with some good ideas. This fundraiser took place only three years after the Club’s formation.

Page 1 of the concert program – not the advertisers who wanted to be associated with the event

Page 2 of the concert program

The obligatory raffle of course

Yet more advertisers on the back cover