Yabba-dabba-do! Perfect conditions and a tremendously scenic location finished the time trial season for 2021. Again, a smaller competitor number had both our mixed 8 (Andrew, Joe, Marcela, Skye, Jodie, Rowena, Richard and Steve, coxed by Charlie from Shoalhaven) and our WD2x (Rosemary and Suzie) with no competition at the start line. Medals guaranteed. Mike, Terry and Bob joined the Ancient Mariners for the TT and helped create a men's Masters I boat. Super impressive! They were outgunned by the younger crews, coming third of the three starters. In the wash up of the regatta, the overall results were fab for the mixed 8. The crew placed 3rd on time alone (no handicaps taken into account for 'overall'). That is something! Pipped a number of quality crews of all configurations. Some of us made a weekend of the race, others a flying visit, but all-in-all a really lovely location for a Saturday morning row. (RS)
Nepean Time Trial #2 - 12 December
Time trial #2 was held on a flooded Nepean River. The river was two meters above its normal height narrowing the launching area to the size of an 8. Luckily participation was relatively low, as only one big boat at a time could use the ramp. The queue behind the launching boats snaked up the hill and moved at a snail's pace - a vast difference to the pace the boats reached coming back down the river!! Record times were notched-up over the 3.8km course as clever crews used the flow to their advantage. Four ARC boats rowed to the start. Our men's Masters H 8, clipped along with Bob's stroke coach recording an eye-popping average split of 1:46.1 at a stroke rate of 27. The men - Mike, Joe, Russ, Terry, Charlie, Bob and two Leichhardt rowers - coxed by Cons, earnt themselves a well-deserved 2nd place. Steve, Rowena and Cecile, all in singles, also marvelled at their stroke coaches as all devices never dipped below 4.2 metres per second. (For those who don't think this way, our F men's quad would average 4.8m/s and our girls, in a best effort singles race, would average 3.7m/s for 1000m). Steve did a lot right to take out 4th place in his quality field of 12 rowers (... and Richard did all the singles men a favour by having a golfing date!). While Cecile beat Rowena by 1 second on time, Rowena's old bones handicap allowed her to snaffle 5th place in a top notch starting line-up of 13. Cecile finished 8th and everyone was very happy with their swift rows. Shame the service of food and coffee wasn't in flood conditions at the cafe next door!! Ho-hum!!! (RS)
NSW Sprints Championships - 5 December
The Sprints championship is becoming a bit of a favourite for the club. It seems the shorter course is more appealing and that dreaded third quarter of the normal 1000m races doesn't play its mean and tiring hand on our minds and bodies...because it doesn't exist! 500m is very doable! The only spanner was the scattered showers and a cool wind during the day. Richard's tough MM1x division had a silver lining when Nepean's Paul Grady clipped a buoy, which checked his run as he closed in on Richard's lead in the dash for the line. The WM4x of Colleen, Jodie, Marcela and Rowena also took home silver after an anxious race where the starter forget to do the handicap count leaving North Shore and our girls waiting more than they should have. The race cam was used to judge the disadvantage, giving ARC the silver. In other events, bronze medals were won by Richard and Steve in their MM2x, Marcela and Colleen and then Jodie and Rowena in their WM2x races. A couple of close 4ths always leaves the crews wishing they'd gone that little bit harder. For Steve, the Sprints marked his last race day at SIRC as a representative of ARC and, true to tradition, he finished the day popping hot chips into his smiling mouth, as he skipped down the hill eager to share his tasty morsels and his enthusiasm to grateful clubmates. Steve's end-of-day ritual will forever be a fond memory. (RS)
Reindeer Regatta - 4/5 December
A new twist to the events list had the Reindeer spread out over one and a half days. All the Masters and grade big boats did their thing on the Saturday. Sunday morning was reserved for small boats. El Nina produced an overcast day with a slight tail wind, which was a nice change from the drenching rain served up during the week. A much reduced band of club rowers competed compared to the normal all-in group for the last-hoorah of the season; Covid hesitation seemingly taking its toll across all clubs/school groups. The men's F quad - Andrew, Doug, Steve and Richard - finished a close second in a highly competitive race which was Steve's last quad race for the club. It was a day of thirds for: Jodie, Marcela, Rowena and Colleen in their WD grade 4x division, Colleen, Skye, Janine and Petra in their Masters 4x, and Steve and Richard in their Masters 2x. (RS)
Iron Cove Classic #3 - 28 November
The men's eight had its first competitive outing for the season in the third of the Iron Cove Classics (ICC3). ICC1 didn't happen, ICC2 had only nine entries, while ICC3 had eighteen, indicating the clubs are slowly finding their way out of lockdown - still a long way from the 46 entries in ICC3 of 2019, pre-Covid19. With Mike unavailable, Andrew moved from coaching into the stroke seat, while Neil, recovering from surgery, was replaced by Leichhardt rower Denis Tracey. Otherwise, it was the usual suspects. The weather forecast predicted rain and high winds, but the rain held off and even the wind was not too bad. Joe towed the boat around to Rodd Point, and suddenly we were in the boat and ready to go. The familiar voice of the starter (Steve Sherry, in one of his many incarnations) told us to get going and we were off! The stroke rate was a user-friendly 24 or so, the boat was travelling nicely with a tail-wind, and the speed was consistently good until the first big corner at Cockatoo Island, about 3km in. But where were the corner clashes of previous ICCs? None of the trailing eights had managed to catch us, and we were still some way behind the boat ahead. So the corner was a masterpiece, as was the next. The high point of the race took place at corner three, however. Andrew decided that his rowing wind-jacket had to come off. The bow rowers were told to row hard, and without a falter the jacket was off and the stroke's oar safely under control again. We were now into the last 3km of the race, into the wind. The eight behind us, which had been gaining, started to feel the strain, and Cons encouraged us with talk of the boat ahead (a Leichhardt crew, so personal for Bob, Russ and Denis T), which was apparently becoming closer and closer, but also getting in the way. The stroke rate had crept up to 26 or so, and we almost had them at the bridge. We never did quite get there, although Joe in seven-seat later claimed he could see their wake all the way from the bridge. But our speed was consistent over the last 1.5km and we crossed the line going nicely, for a time of 31m 49.7s, which placed us 11th out of 17 crews. On handicap, we finished 7th of 9 men's masters crews. However, our average age was 69.9 years. If one of us had had the good grace to be 70 instead of 69, we would have finished 4th, about 16 seconds off 3rd place. (CM)
Nepean Time Trial #1 - 21 November
The dedication and effort Richard and Steve have put in over the last few months in distance rowing was well rewarded at the Nepean time trial. Richard’s MM1x race was well executed. He passed six rowers and crossed the line first in 16:34.05; an outstanding result in a quality field. Steve’s strong 7th placing (7th out of 18 starters) was not enough to raise an eyebrow of interest in the Nepean Club House when he popped his head in to size up the possibility of joining their masters competition rowing. Andrew completed our MM1x rowers just behind Steve in 9th position. The H quad of Charlie, Terry, Russ and Bob had their event all to themselves. They took delight in holding off the WMD4x of Jodie, Kim, Marcela and Rowena for as long as they could. They managed to stay ahead of the girls until the 2.1km mark, then the boats crossed. The girl’s quad pumped along hitting the line in 15:59.22, but was outclassed by North Shore who beat them by exactly a minute. While Skye and Colleen showed fantastic form, it was not enough to make a dint in the tried and true North Shore combination of Blackwell and McBride. Our only female WM1x rower this year was Cecile. Her strong performance placed her 6th in a field of 11. Besides Richard’s impressive win and the great results of the club all round, the other upsides to the flooded conditions of the Nepean TT were: the river was flowing quickly, the distance was reduced to 4km, the boat launching was much easier than normal as the waters came half-way up the bank, the water was smooth, the rain held off during the race and the cheese toasties were delicious. (RS)
Indoor Rowing Competition - Season Results
In the world of rowers and gym junkies, very few competitors enjoy and seek out erg competitions. Well, we own one of those freaky folk. Yes, Colleen is one of those amazing people who actually likes sitting on an erg and going FAAAAAST! So much so she recently competed in two rounds of the indoor rowing comp, then entered the NSW State Championships…and then entered the National Championships. How can you not admire someone who does that! (RS) Colleen’s results: NSW Indoor Series: Round 1, Women’s 500m, W50-59 age group, Colleen came 2nd. Round 2, Women’s 1000m, W50-59, 2nd Women’s 500m W50-59, 3rd NSW State Indoor Rowing Championships: 3rd in both 1000m and 500m, W50-59. Australian Indoor Rowing Championships: Women’s 1000m, W50-54, 7th (13 starters) Women’s 500m, W50-54 12th Bravo Colleen!
Three Rivers Mini Marathon - Sunday 14 November
After multiple postponements the 3 Rivers Mini Marathon hosted by the Port Macquarie Rowing Club was scheduled for Sunday, November 14. With Regional travel restrictions lifted it was up to the weather gods to deliver. Forecasts looked ugly in the lead up and conditions upon arrival at PMRC on Saturday afternoon did nothing to settle the nerves - strong westerly wind and white caps large enough to swallow a single roaring down the Hastings. Sunday morning dawned calm and clear however. After the compulsory briefing all craft and crews were ready to go. Quads were the first wave, followed in 5 minutes intervals by the doubles then the singles. Other craft (kayaks, stand ups etc) were last away. Conditions were pretty good down the Wilson and into the Maria. Keeping to the leeward shore provided calmer water but also the risk of submerged obstacles as Cecile and Ken discovered – unfortunately getting stranded on a log about 7kms into the row and having to wait for assistance while watching others row past. Avoiding the sand bars while keeping a good line through the latter part of the Maria and into the Hastings was key to avoiding delays and a fast run home down the Hastings with a good tide and tail breeze was a satisfying way to finish the 25km journey. Richard was 4th fastest single in 1:56 with Steve beating half the field finishing 6th in 2:06. Cecile and Ken would have been around 2 hours but for that log! All in all a fun row, but without the atmosphere of past events – no beer tent and no jazz band this time. All credit the PMRC team for persevering and holding the event. Hopefully they will do so again in 2022. (RJ)