MAY 2021 NEWS Provided by your faithful correspondent Trident. Past News can be found via the links on the right of this page News covered this month: • School Holiday Rowing Camps • Coastal Rowing at Mercs #2 • World Cup 3 simulation regatta • Winter Sculling • Lighting requirements for boats • Olympic Qualification Regatta - Lucerne 15-17 May • Congratulations Emmie Frederico and Paige Barr - members of the under 23 Australian team • Congratulations to Emily Sutherland, Sophie Reinehr and Louise Bongrain - members of the Australian under 21 team • Inaugural Australian Coastal Rowing Championsips announced • Interstate Championships in review • Some memories from the National Championships • Images from the 8th April boat namings • Sean Colgan again makes a generous donation to the Club's Foundation • Congratulations to our senior Australian team members • Club rowing takes off • Coastal rowing at Mercs • Changing room lockers are now available for rental • Drink wine to help the Club, now that is an idea • Member profiles School Holiday Rowing Camps Published 12th May 2021 School Holiday Rowing Camp Monday June 28th- Thursday July 1st Keep active this school holidays, and return to the riverbank, with Mercantile Rowing Club’s School Holiday Rowing Camps. Led by Mercantile Head Coach Mike McKay (Oarsome Foursome, Dual Olympic Gold Medallist) and delivered by national and state team coaches, the camp will help participants improve their technique and skills in a fun and structured program, as well as meet new friends ahead of the upcoming school rowing season. This four-day program combines on-water sessions with off-water education with a host of expert guest speakers including Drew Ginn (Oarsome Foursome, Triple Olympic Gold Medallist). The camp includes breakfast daily, and is best suited to students in Year 10 and Year 11 – rowers and coxes - with at least one season of school rowing experience. The camp program includes: - Daily on-water session in crew boats, with Mercantile High Performance Coaches - Off-water activities, including strength and conditioning, team games, and ergos - Specialist education sessions on nutrition, injury prevention, study, study/sport balance - National Sports Museum Tour at the Melbourne Cricket Ground - Mini-regatta, Presentations, and BBQ on the final day of the camp - Breakfast daily - Camp Training T-Shirt Key Camp Details Dates: Monday June 28th- Thursday July 1st Times: 8:30pm – 3:30pm each camp day. Where: Mercantile Rowing Club, Boathouse Drive, Melbourne Who: Year 10 and Year 11 students – rowers and coxes Cost: $550 per person (includes breakfast daily and camp t-shirt) To register your interest click here for camp 1. Registrations close on Sunday 20th June unless sold out prior. For camp 2 click here to register. For all other enquiries, please contact Meghan Hester on [email protected] Coastal rowing at Mercs #2 Published 23rd May 2021 Ever thought about giving coastal rowing a try? If so email the Secretary and join our come and try days, 9.30am Sunday mornings at Port Melbourne Yacht Club. We can't guarantee the beautiful weather of the past few weekends but you will enjoy the experience. We are even planning a trip to Williamstown soon. Safety briefing The double and quad head out for a session Sunday 23rd May 2021 Alex Clarke and Tom Davidson spotted the camera World Cup 3 Simulation Regatta Published 22 May 2021 Our rowers in national teams will compete on 10 – 13 June 2021 in Adelaide at the World Cup 3 simulation regatta. This regatta features the Australian Senior A, Para, Under 23, Under 21 and Under 19 rowing teams. This is a very important regatta on many levels. It is the last big hit out for our Olympic rowing team who have not been able to compete overseas for competition this year, and is the final regatta for members of the under age teams who also have been unable to compete overseas this year. The racing at the World Cup 1 and 2 regattas has been very promising for our teams and of an excellent quality. It is being conducted in Adelaide and not at SIRC due to the water quality following the NSW floods. An image below from April highlights the issues. Winter Sculling Published 22nd May 2021 The first event of the series is coming soon on the 5th June. The Club has a number of single sculls which can be used. If you are interested in using one, please speak with Meg Hester. Remember that you need to register to enter and also you can register for the series. Information about the Wintersculling series can be found here https://www.wintersculling.com.au/home/ The Schedule is below https://www.wintersculling.com.au/events/ Lighting requirements for rowing in the dark Published 22 May 2021 Bow and Stern lights With the dark mornings now upon us it is crucial that all rowers who are on the water (and coaches on bikes and powerboats) between sunset and sunrise all have adequate lighting for your safety and the safety of others. Rowing boats, in restricted visibility and between sunset and sunrise, are required to exhibit; • Two all-round white lights, one attached to the boat at or near the forward or bow end, and one attached to the boat at or near the stern end. • Bow light - A continuous white light is considered acceptable if it is visible in clear conditions from a distance of 1 kilometre. • Stern light - A flashing white light is considered acceptable if it flashes at least once per second and is visible in clear conditions from a distance of 1 kilometre. • Not withstanding the above, it is considered acceptable for a light to be masked so as not to interfere with the vision of the vessel’s occupants, provided at least one light is visible from any direction (see diagram below) Olympic Qualification Regatta - Lucerne 15-17 May Updated 18th May 2021 Congratulations to the women's quad scull who have now qualified for the Olympic Games after wining at the qualification regatta in Lucerne. The quad contained Ria Thompson who raced for Mercantile before heading up to Brisbane. Sadly the Olympic dreams of Red Matthews were put to bed after the men's double scull failed to qualify. The following story appeared on the Rowing Australia website. Nine boats now set to represent Australia at the upcoming Olympics Australia’s Women’s Quadruple Scull today secured a spot for the Australian Olympic Team at the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The crew won their final today (16 May) at the Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland to book a ninth berth for the Australia in Tokyo. Victory for Caitlin Cronin, Harriet Hudson, Rowena Meredith and Ria Thompson (Copyright RA) Meanwhile, it was not to be for the Men’s Double Scull and the Lightweight Men’s and Women’s Double Sculls who all missed out on qualification despite strong racing in highly competitive finals. Australia will now compete in the following boat classes in Tokyo – the Men’s and Women’s Pairs, Fours and Eights, along with the Men’s and Women’s Quadruple Sculls and the Women’s Double Sculls. In Switzerland today, Australia’s Women’s Quadruple Scull of Caitlin Cronin, Harriet Hudson, Rowena Meredith and Ria Thompson continued the dominant performance they have shown throughout the regatta, backing up their preliminary race win with a victory in their final to secure a berth for Tokyo. The crew, coached by Andrew Randell, led their final from start to finish to cross the line in a time of six minutes 29.93 seconds. Post-race, stroke of the boat, Cronin said, “We knew we had a really good chance. It was about executing our plan, doing all the small things right that we do in training. We are looking forward to moving forward to the Olympics. Onwards and upwards!” The Men’s Double Scull of David Watts and Campbell Watts put in a valiant effort in their final, in a bid to finish top two and qualify for Tokyo. The duo sprinted to the line, closing in on race leaders Russia and the Czech Republic, but the crew ran out of water, finishing in third place, 1.16 seconds behind the Czech Republic. The Lightweight Women’s Double Scull of Georgia Nesbitt and Sarah Pound needed a top three finish to qualify their boat class for Tokyo. In a challenging final, the crew finished in sixth place, with the qualification spots taken by the United States, Switzerland and China. Finally, the last race of the day featured Sean Murphy and Hamish Parry in the Lightweight Men’s Double Scull, the crew needed a top two finish in their final to book a berth for Tokyo 2020. The crew, coached by Don McLachlan, took on Canada, China, the Czech Republic, France and Switzerland and, despite a strong middle thousand, it was Canada and the Czech Republic that sprinted to the line to take the two spots for Tokyo. Rowing Australia Performance Director, Bernard Savage said, “We’re extremely proud of how all of our crews raced in Switzerland this weekend. The Final Olympic Qualification Regatta is an extremely tough event and all our crews made their finals and laid everything on the line in a bid to qualify for Tokyo. “We’re delighted to see the Women’s Quadruple Scull qualify for the Games, taking our total number of boats to nine. Our four crews faced a tough regatta with racing collapsed into two days, instead of the planned three, due to predicted adverse weather. They have all handled themselves impeccably in what has been a challenging tour.