NOVEMBER 2020 NEWS
Provided by your faithful correspondent Trident.
Past News can be found via the links on the right of this page
Above: Captain Meg Hester on the water rather than the bike- see below for that story
News covered this month:
• Mercantile's COVIDSafe plan changes • President's Christmas Luncheon moved to Sunday 6th December • Saturday mornings return to normal • Club rowing takes off • Congratulations to those members invited to the senior trials in December at Penrith • Mercs goes coastal • Profile of Andrew Evans • Profile of Robert Strang • Vale Andrew Evans and Robert Strang • 2020 Colgan Foundation Virtual Oceania Indoor Rowing Championships • Amanda Bateman, RA's athlete of the month • Changing room lockers are now available for rental • Bulletin I National Championships • Vale Bill Bailey • Big boats are back • 30 year reunion for Oarsome Foursome • Where else would you have an outdoor meeting during COVID? • Captain Meg Hester v Road. Road wins • Big boats are back • Patrick Boomer at the European Coastal Championships • Drink wine to help the Club, now that is an idea • More disruption from Peppercorn lawn • 2020-21 dates • New member profiles
Mercantile's COVIDSafe plan changes
Republished 26th November 2020
Congratulations, we have entered the final step of easing of restrictions as of Sunday 22nd 11.59pm.
The updates to our operations include;
• Rowing clubs and training facilities remain open. Outdoor sport limited to groups of 50. We will still be coordinating times with St Catherine’s to ensure we don’t breach this. • Toilets remain open. Changerooms are now open including showers (max capacity of 10). • Face masks are not mandatory while exercising outdoors. By law you must carry one with you at all times and wear it outdoors if you cannot maintain 1.5m social distancing. You must wear a mask when you are in the rowing club. • The gym remains open with a max capacity of 33. Equipment must be cleaned between users. The gym door and windows must remain open for ventilation. • Saturday brekky and Thursday Barrel nights are resumed with a max capacity of 70. You must be seated at a table when eating/drinking and put your mask on if you are not.
Please continue to;
1. Sign in and out using the QR code system 2. Hand sanitise upon entry and exit 3. Practice social distancing and good hygiene 4. Clean equipment and disinfect oar handles and gym equipment
Meg Hester Captain
Go Mercs!
President's Christmas Luncheon moved to 6th December Updated 25th November 2020
You are invited to celebrate Christmas as a club at our COVID-safe Lunch on Sunday 6th December at 12pm. We will be seeing off our active athletes before their December camp and reuniting after such a long, hard year!
Bookings can be made through Trybooking. Click on the invitation above to go staright through to the booking site.
Saturday mornings return to normal
Published 28th November 2020
Saturday morning breakfasts return to normal after COVID. A cpouple of images from today.
Great to be back to a normal Saturday morning
Club rowing takes off
Published 28th November 2020
Meghan Hester and her team are doing a great job getting club rowing working well.
On Thursday night this week four eights, a four and a double hit the water in a superb display of club rowing. It comprised a women's and a men's club eight, a mixed masters eight, a masters men's eight, a club four and a master double. There was a great get together after the row with a sausage sizzle and the bar open. A great night was had by all.
Carey legends Chris Drummond and Andrew Rees enjoy a well earned beer after their row on Thursday
Congratulations to those members invited to the senior trials in December at Penrith
Published 25th November 2020
A big congratulations to : Red Matthews Katrina Bateman Georgie Gleeson Ben Canham Alex Wolf Alex Viney Alex Vuillermin Fergus Hamilton Jack Robertson for their invitation to the NTC Time Trials in December at Penrith. It is a great reflection of the work they have done and progress made in really difficult times. We wish them well for the racing.
They will join other Mercantilians already at the NTC's: James Rook Kat Weary Amanda Bateman Jess Morrisson Gus Widdecombe Liam Donald
Great work and Go Mercs.
Mercs goes coastal
Published 20th November 2020
So what is coastal rowing?
Coastal Rowing is the extreme version of rowing, and involves rowing on large lakes and the sea. It is one of the fastest growing communities of rowers with excellent opportunities given that flat water is not required.
Coastal rowing in Europe The standard boats are singles (solo), doubles and coxed quadruple sculls. Coastal Rowing is comprised of two event formats, one is the endurance event which ranges between 4 –6km around a buoyed course, and the other is the sprint event known as “Beach Sprints”. As the name suggests, the race begins on the beach with a rower running out to the boat to its’ waiting crew and racing a distance of 500m, which can involve a buoyed slalom course, before returning to the beach and running to the finish line.
The pinnacle events on the international Coastal Rowing racing calendar are the club-based endurance style World Rowing Coastal Championships and the nation-based sprint style World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals. Coastal Touring is the recreational or social aspect of the discipline.
The IOC and World Rowing are promoting Coastal Rowing as a future Olympic discipline and exploring its’ potential following its inclusion in the Youth Olympic Games in Senegal, and recently held Europe’s first Coastal Rowing regatta; the European Coastal Rowing Challenge in Livorno, Italy. There is still consideration around whether a potential Olympic discipline will be the Beach (sprint) or Coastal (endurance) format. At the recent FISA Extraordinary Congress the Member Federations supported the proposal put forward by World Rowing to include Coastal Rowing in 2024 Olympic Games.
Mercs goes coastal
Mercantile has acquired a couple of coastal quad sculls to encourage the sport. The inaugural row took place on Thursday 19 November with a masters crew.
Mercs enters the water at Port Melbourne
Hugh McVicker testing out the equipment
Anyone who wishes to take up the coastal rowing sport will be need to also join Port Melbourne Yacht Club as an associate member to get access to the boat.
Vale Andrew Evans and Robert Strang
Published 16th November 2020
It is with great regret that we advise of the loss of esteemed Vice-President Andrew Evans. Andrew had a deep love of the Club and was always there when the Club was ever in need.
More information on the life and contribution of Andrew will follow shortly.
It is also with great regret that we advse of the death of Robert Strang. Robert and his son Robert rowed at the Club. More details will also follow.
Rowing Profile Andrew Evans
Published 19th November 2020
As previously advised, we advise members of the loss of Vice-President Andrew Evans, A profile of him has now been added to the member profile section of the website.
Rowing Profile of Robert Strang
Published 20th November 2020
As previously advised, we were saddened to hear of the death of past member Robert Strang. A member profile of him has been added to the website.
Amanda Bateman, RA athlete of the month
Published 15t November 2020
Amanda on the right smiling to the Mercantile camera at World Cup 2 in 2019
Rowing Australia reports as follows.
Victorian Amanda Bateman, is the younger sister of fellow ARTeam member, Katrina. The youngest Bateman sister, there are three, has represented Australia twice at Junior World Rowing Championships and once the U23 World Rowing Championships. In 2013, Bateman raced in the Junior Women’s Quad, finishing seventh overall, while in 2014 she raced in the Junior Women’s Single Scull in Hamburg. In 2017, she finished eighth overall in the U23 Women’s Four at the World Rowing U23 Championships held in Bulgaria. At the end of 2018 she joined the Hancock Prospecting Women’s NTC and was named in the Women’s Double Scull with Genevieve Horton for World Rowing Cups 2 and 3 in 2019. The duo went on to represent Australia at the 2019 World Rowing Championships, qualifying the Women’s Double Scull for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. In May 2020, Amanda was named an AIS Lifeline Custodian, working on the AIS and Lifeline Australia to tell her own personal story/journey by raising awareness of mental health issues, suicide prevention and encouraging people to seek help if needed. You can find out more about why Amanda is part of the program here.
2020 Colgan Foundation Virtual Oceania Indoor Rowing Championships
Published 15th November 2020
The 2020 Colgan Foundation Virtual Oceania Indoor Rowing Championships will be hosted on Saturday 5 December (NZT) and is an open event for all who wish to participate, extending from U15 to 100+, and including masters, lightweight and para categories.
2020 will see the debut of the Colgan Cup – a Trans-Tasman challenge between New Zealand and Australia. The Colgan Foundation, proud supporters of the development of rowing in both nations, is a not-for-profit corporation founded by life member Sean Colgan to benefit athletic, scientific, environmental, and education communities. The Colgan Cup will be awarded to the country with the highest points tally between New Zealand & Australia, based on the following points system:
Entry for an event 1 point First place 6 points Second place 4 points Third place 2 points
Since retiring from rowing after the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Eric Murray has remained heavily involved in the sport, championing indoor rowing across New Zealand in his dual roles with the New Zealand Indoor Rowing Association and Concept2. ‘’Whilst 2020 has delivered challenges many of us could never have expected, sport has continued to provide focus and health around the world,’’ commented Eric. “Initially only seen as a way to improve on-water performance, indoor rowing is now an official sport in itself, as recognised by World Rowing.
“Concept2 and the New Zealand Rowing Foundation are proud to deliver the 2020 Colgan Foundation Virtual Oceania Indoor Rowing Championships alongside Rowing NZ and Rowing Australia. The newly introduced Colgan Cup will also build upon our Trans-Tasman comradery post the Anzac Day Indoor Rowing Challenge held earlier this year.”
500m and 2000m race distances will be included in the event. Age categories as of 28 February 2021 (to align with the 2021 World Rowing Indoor Championships).
Only Concept2 Indoor Rowers may be used for this event. Competitors may use the drag factor of their choice, but this cannot be changed during the race. Competitors will need to provide all equipment needed to compete in this event. This will include;
• Concept 2 Rowing machine with updated PM3, PM4 or PM5 monitor https://www.concept2.com/service/software/concept2-utility • A USB A to B cable • Compatible Windows or MacOS Laptop/Computer with Chrome or Edge Browser installed • The ability to install/use a 3rd party communication system as backup in the event of failure of built in race system communication • A stable internet connection. Direct ethernet connect preferred.
Entries close for the 2020 Colgan Foundation Virtual Oceania Indoor Rowing Championships midnight 29 November (NZT). Race times will be confirmed at the close of entries. Entry fees: NZ$10 for 500m events NZ$20 for 2000 events
For more information on the 2020 Colgan Foundation Virtual Oceania Indoor Rowing Championships, and to enter, click here.
The event is also sanctioned by World Rowing as the Oceania Continental Qualifier for the 2021 World Rowing Indoor Championships (WIRCH) to be held on 27-28 February 2021. The WRICH are held annually, typically near the end of February. The 2021 WRICH, presented by Concept2, will be held virtually and will include two pathways for competitors to earn a place in the Finals: an Open Qualification pathway and a Continental Qualification pathway.
For more information on the 2021 World Rowing Indoor Championships, click here. For any enquiries surrounding qualification, please contact [email protected]
Changing room lockers are now available for rental
Published 15th November 2020
Changing room lockers are available for rent for the balance of the season given that things are reopening.
• Large lockers are now $60/a (were $120) • Medium lockers are now $45/a (were $60) • Small remain $30/a
Go to the shop page on this website and rent your locker.
Bulletin 1 National Championships
Published 15th November 2020
Please find at the link below Bulletin 1 for the 2021 Australian Rowing Championships to be held from 22 to 28 March 2021 at Lake Barrington, Tasmania. https://arc.rowingaustralia.com.au/competitors/bulletins/
Rowing Australia is currently working on an indicative schedule which will be available in December.
Vale William M Bailey
Published 13th November 2020
We have only been advised of the death of Bill Bailey, champion coxswain of the early 1950s. Bill was the senior coxswain of both Mercantile and for Victoria in the early 1950s.
We extend our condolences to his wife Joan, daughters and their sons in law.
A profile of Bill can be found in the member profile section of this website.
Bill celebrating his 1953 King's Cup win
He was a second generation Scotch College and Mercantile coxswain with his father Max also being a noted coxswain. The Bailey name is perpetuated at the Club with the annual Champion Coxswain award bearing Max's name.
Big boats are back
Published 8th November 2020
Alex Clarke has captured the magnificence of getting back into the big boats with his pictures. Great work rowers and Alex.
30 year reunion for Oarsome Foursome
Published 8th November 2020
For us oldies, the 1990 World Championships seems like yesterday. But in fact it was 30 years ago.
It was the year of the formation of the Oarsome Foursome and they won our first sweep World Championship gold medals.
They got together to remember the old days and they still look fit as a fiddle. In fact James has more hair now than he did in 1990!
From the left: Sam Patten, Mike McKay, James Tomkins, Nick Green and Noel Donaldson
The boys trying to look serious after their first big win was in Lucerne There were reports that some amusing photographs of old appearing - some examples of youthful enthiusaism apparently.
Where else would you have an outdoor meeting during COVID?
Published 7th November 2020
Members may not know that our Treasurer Duncan Mackinnon is also the Secretary for the Victorian Boat Race Officials.
When a venue was suggested for the next meeting, fellow umpire Rod Florence said that it could only be in one place - see below.
Captain Meg Hester v Road. Road wins
Published 1st November 2020 Cross training on bikes has claimed more victims including Club Captain Meg Hester. Meg has this weekend had an accident causing injuries which will put her out for 6 weeks. Sadly Paige Barr also suffered a seperate accident. We wish them both speedy recoveries.
High Performance coach Al Matthews added that: We're sure we will still see them training hard and bringing plenty of good vibes around the sheds. Please err on the side of caution with riding and stay off the road unless with good riders and on safe roads, we will use running and swimming as alternate modes a bit more and we will look to get back in the velodrome when its allowed.
Big boats are back
It was great to see the big boats back out on the water this week and Club life make a big step forward to a sort of normality.
Here is a clip of one of competitive crews making it look like they have been doing it without any COVID disruption.
https://youtu.be/c8VgXs7eHzI
Even the oldies got out for a row on Thursday night and after a shaky start, got their boat going well.
Our masters men made it out on Thursday for the first time since March. A Club eight also joined them.
The masters also enjoyed a beer at the Club in a COVID safe way after the row for the first time since March. When one of the masters advised that that he had not had a beer since the last time he was in the Club, his membership was questioned.
Patrick Boomer at the European Coastal Championships
Published 1st November 2020
Club member Patrick Boomer did not get the opportunity to finish his beach sprint or race the long distance event at the European Coastal Championships due to a weather cancellation. He managed to race the heat of the beach sprint but not the subsequent races or the endurance event. Sadly an unsatisfactory weekend. Patrick was disappointed of course but philisophical about the situation, "it was good to get some fresh air and be in the competitive environment again."
Patrick heading out in the beach sprints
The FISA website reported as follows.
Saturday was all about the Beach Sprints – a one-on-one race format where rowers start on land, sprint to their boats, row 250m out to a buoy and back, then out of their boats for a final sprint up the beach to hit the finish line buzzer.
Saturday racing was delayed in the afternoon due to an oncoming electrical storm. Once the storm had passed, the winds had picked up and rowing was once again delayed. The waves became too big for the safety boats to make it out onto the water to supervise. Multiple afternoon races had to be cancelled so that the Sunday racing and finals could still take place.
Then on Sunday morning the Beach Sprint finals had to be cancelled due to heavy winds. A final decision on the endurance race finals was to take place after the Junior Beach Sprint medals, a local category, were handed out. Unfortunately, the winds had picked up making it once again impossible to send out the safety boats to supervise. Medals would have to be determined based on the previous days’ heats.
Drink wine to help the Club, now that is an idea
Republished 1st November 2020 Wild Fire Wines is a premium wine producer located near Warburton in the Upper Yarra Valley. One of the owners, and the chief winemaker, is John Harry, a club member. John competed at senior level in the 60s and 70s and was Captain of the Club; he is also a major supporter and Trustee of the Mercs Foundation.
Wild Fire has agreed to provide the Club with a substantial donation for each case of wine purchased by members and their friends and family. Bill Webster and Julie Orr are co- ordinating the recruitment of Mercs athletes to help publicise the sales effort. The Committee believes this program has great potential to assist our fundraising efforts and is keen for all Mercantilians to get behind it.
The Committee has sampled John’s offerings and is confident that members will find the wines of excellent quality, and good value. Wild Fire won two medals at the 2019 Victorian Wine Show (Riesling and Cabernet) on its first try so its future looks promising.
So, how can you help the Club?
Grab some wine at www.wildfirewines.com.au and enter the code "MERCANTILE" at checkout. This ensures any sales will be attributed to the Club.
Sellers Competition
The Club is also holding an internal competition to incentivise sales. The athlete who sells the most wine in the next 2.5 months to the end of November will win a car pass to the restricted parking at the rear of the boathouse. If you'd like to enter, please email [email protected] to obtain your unique code that your friends and family can enter at checkout. Happy selling, and remember, each sale benefits the Club.
This is an efficient and practical way for members to help the Club - we look forward to the development of the Wild Fire relationship as a solid source of funding for us for many years to come.
More disruption from Peppercorn Lawn
Republished 1st November2020
Advice from the government on the Metro Tunnel works on peppercorn lawn disruption attached. A lot more truck traffic will occur.
2020-21 season dates
Republished 26th November 2020
Your Committee is an optimistic mob and have laid down some social function dates for members, even during a 'state of emergency'. Please keep the dates free.
• 6 December 2020 - Christmas President's Luncheon • 19 February - Henley Eve Cocktail Party at the Boathouse. • 20 February - Henley on Yarra • 27-28 February - Victorian Championships • 13 March - Scotch Mercantile Regatta • 22-28 March - National Championships • 25 April - ANZAC Day Service and Luncheon • 28-31 July - Olympic finals - Brunch at the Boathouse
New member profiles
Republished 1st November 2020
We regularly add new member profiles.
The addition of a member profile of our most noted members, John Bostock received member comment and appreciation. We have had to alter his profile with another story form Bob Lachal's feedback. John was not a champion rower, in fact he probably holds the record for the number of starts without a win! However he is a champion member who loves Club life and the members love him.
Recently we have added profiles of more members of old. H S Alywin, a member of the Club's first ever senior eight win in 1898, Roy Adam who competed at Henley Royal Regatta in 1906 when visiting the UK, George Anderson, a key senior rower from the 1930s, Derek Marley a member who loved club life, Frank R Browne a novice coach and auditor of the Club, Horace Stevens a great singer and rower of pre WWI, F T Brennan a pioneer of the Club, our longest serving Treasurer Alec Clarke, past President Arch Dobbie and past Captain George Horder.