Issue 13: 01/07/2010

Thursday, July 01, 2010

This issue:

• Grant Bailey’s stellar start
• Youth Cup preview
• Lower Clarence making waves
• NSW masters triumph at the Australian Masters Games
• Pan Pacific Games head to the Gold Coast
• NSW rowers compete at the World Cup in Slovenia
• Three Rivers Mini Marathon hits Port Macquarie

Grant Bailey makes sterling debut at World Cup

Bled, Slovenia

Grant Bailey (NSW) showed no signs of nerves as he celebrated his international rowing debut by winning the silver medal with Kathryn Ross (VIC) in the Trunk and Arms Double Scull at the World Cup in Bled, Slovenia.

Bailey and Ross had only newly come together to form an Australian crew and showed great mettle to hold off a mid-race challenge from Italy, who claimed the bronze medal, as all competitors battled the rainy conditions.

After the race Bailey reflected on his first international competition.

"As soon as I heard the finish horn I was frantically looking around to see our position, and when I realised we finished in second, I was over the moon!" Bailey said. “"I was nervous and excited to have a chance to potentially take my first international medal, and I just wanted to get out there and show the world what I was capable of."

Felow New South Welshman Ben Houlison finished fifth in the Arms and Shoulders Men’s Single Scull to round off the Australian performances.

Bailey and Houlison will now return to Australia and begin their preparations for the 2010 World Rowing Championships in New Zealand, 31 October-7 November.

 

2010 Youth Cup: get to know your NSW Team

July 9-11, SIRC

The Sydney International Regatta is often the site that launches an athlete’s rowing career, and the Youth Cup is no exception. Providing a platform for Australia’s greatest young rowing talent to come together and represent their states, the Youth Cup always offers photo finishes and scintillating times.

Queensland convincingly won the Youth Cup championship last year, but in 2010 the NSW crew is bursting with talent and enthusiasm, and the Blues are likely to give the Reds a run for their money.

So as RNSW prepares to host the interstate rowing battle, we’d like to congratulate and wish good luck to the following athletes for their selection in the NSW team:

Get your game face ready for the Pan Pacific Masters Games

6-14 November, Gold Coast

The 7th Pan Pacific Masters Games will be held from 6 to 14 November 2010 on the Gold Coast. The event is a celebration of master's sport and an opportunity for athletes and sporting enthusiasts to enjoy the excitement of competition in a friendly environment.

Organises this year are making particular effort to maximise the number of rowing participants, targeting competitors aged 27 years and above.

So if you’re a masters competitor searching for some friendly international competition, visit http://www.mastersgames.com.au/.

Fischer out of water: Clarence valley rower Brendan Fischer to represent Queensland at Youth Cup

July 9-12, SIRC

NSW rowers will be torn between two camps when Clarence Valley athlete Brendan Fischer rows for Queensland at the upcoming Youth Cup.

Though the majority of his youth rowing was for the Lower Clarence Rowing Club Fischer has recently moved to Queensland to further his university studies.

Throughout high school Brendan rowed for the Lower Clarence Rowing Club and Maclean High – two rowing clubs that have produced some of the greatest young rowing talent in recent years. 

He has also been part of the North Coast Academy of Sport rowing squad and recognises that the guidance and specialist training programs of his Lower Clarence coach Harold Kratz and Academy coach John Kincade have helped him make the leap into elite rowing.

As a new member of the renowned Commercial Rowing Club in Queensland Brendan's rowing history was unknown and some young Queensland rowers who may have been confident of selection were very surprised by the ability of the rower from Lower Clarence.

 At the Youth Cup regatta Brendan will compete against his former North Coast Academy team mates from the Clarence Valley, including Johanna Tarrant, Sarah Jones and Cameron Kitcher who will be competing for the NSW Youth Cup team.

Master stroke: NSW rowers lead the way at Championships

June 3-6, Champion Lakes, WA

The Australian Masters Rowing Championships regularly bring together some of the most enthusiastic competitors form around Australia.

Rowing WA welcomed the masters rowers to the newly constructed Champion Lakes Regatta Centre. The $34 million facility was completed in 2007 and is the newest purpose built rowing course in Australia.

NSW rowers were quick to take advantage of the prestigious surroundings as Drummoyne Rowing Club recorded a quinella in the Women’s A Single Scull as Tamsin Brew finished in first, ahead of team-mate Kathleen Hextall.

Not to be outdone, the Manning River/Balmain composite crew of Janine Lippi and Amanda Cavill won the Women’s C Double Scull by a convincing 3.24 second margin.

Leichhardt pair Anne Parbury and Angela Conry have long dominated the NSW Masters scene, and they extended their reign interstate with a victory in the Women’s E Coxless Pair.

The most absorbing race of the regatta was the Women’s interstate eight.

It took close examination of the finish to determine that NSW had finished second in the tightest race of the regatta.

NSW Women’s interstate Eight finished second by the narrowest of margins

NSW rowers find success at World Cup

Munich, Germany

NSW rowers have played a central role as Australia has produced a great performance to win gold in the men’s four at the World Cup event in Munich, Germany.

The Australia 2 crew featuring Joshua Dunkley Smith (VIC), Nicholas Purnell (NSW), Sam Loch (NSW) and Will Lockwood (VIC) upstaged their more fancied rivals to claim the gold medal in calm and cool conditions.

Australia 2 entered the race off good form in the heat and semi-final but faced reigning world champions Great Britain in the final, as well as the other Australian crew of Francis Hegerty(NSW), Cameron McKenzie-McHarg (VIC, James Marburg (VIC) and Matt Ryan (NSW), the current silver medallists at World Championship and Olympic level.

Australia 2, stroked by Dunkley Smith, led the race from start to finish to beat home the USA in a time of 5:59.91, while Great Britain won the bronze medal. Australia 1, stroked by Hegerty, finished in fourth place, two seconds shy of the British crew.

The Australian Senior A Rowing Team departs Australia this Sunday (13 June) to compete in two World Cup events in Europe.
 
The 39-person Australian Senior A rowing team has competed at the second World Cup event in Munich, Germany (18-20 June) and will travel to Lucerne, Switzerland to compete in the third World Cup event. Far form getting a European summer holiday between the regattas, the athletes will complete a 15-day training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport’s European Training Centre in Varese, Italy.
 
Following the conclusion of the World Cup tour, the team will return to Australia ahead of the final round of selection trials for the World Championships.
 
The trials will be held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre (August 23-26) and will provide an opportunity for a number of athletes that missed the previous selection trials through injury, to vie for World Championship selection.

The 2010 World Rowing Championships will be held in New Zealand (31 October - 7 November).

Three Rivers Mini Marathon hits Port Macquarie

August 8, Port Macquarie

The Three rivers mini marathon is back again, and with the help of event sponsor Rydges Port Macquarie the regatta is certain to go off with a bang.

Canoe, kayak, dragon boat, scull – whatever your vessel, there’s a place for you in the mini marathon.

Competitors can register for a pre-race cocktail party at Rydges on August 7, and enjoy jaz music from the Blue Note Ensemble.

If the party atmosphere isn’t enough, the course is certain to appeal to all rowers, scullers and paddlers Beginning at Wilson River Bridge, Telegraph Point, competitors will trace along the Maria River before finishing on the Hastings River at the inviting Port Macquarie Rowing Clubhouse.

Find all the latest information at the Port Macquarie Rowing Club’s website.

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