Brisbane & GPS Rowing Club News
PLENTY OF HANDS ON DECK
CHRIS Baker is putting together a new pontoon cleaning roster. The club will appreciate as many hands as it can muster so that the pontoon remains in top condition for members’ use and so that the burden does not become too onerous on a few. The pontoon is state of the art. Let’s keep it that way. Contact Chris on Chris.Baker@breezway.com.au.
NEED A BOAT FOR ROWING?
THE club is drawing up a new boat allocation list that will be displayed on the noticeboard near the side entrance. It is a club rule that a club boat cannot be used unless it has been allocated to you. If your name or crew is not on the board and you need a boat, contact the club captain Peter Howard on howardp@bigpond.net.au.
REPORTING BOAT DAMAGE
ALL boat damage or breakages must be recorded immediately on the whiteboard above the workbench and by email to the club chairman Ian Holzberger on irh@metalsexploration.com. This will enable the club to arrange for repairs with the least delay so that the boat or equipment can be returned to use as soon as possible.
GREEN AND BLUE WITH A GOLD HUE
FEW days could have been any prouder for Brisbane & GPS than the feature days of the International Rowing Regatta at Penrith, when Queensland contested the Interstate events and then when Australia took part in the World Cup regatta.
Jess Hall was a member of the Australian quad (pictured below with Jess in two seat, second from right) which won the opening event on the World Cup program. The Cup regatta was the first step in international racing in the journey towards the 2016 Olympics in Rio and the Australian quad was a young crew that Rowing Australia was boating at the top level with a view towards developing through the four-year Olympic cycle. Here is how Cora Zillich reported the event on the regatta website:
The Women’s quadruple scull set the tone for the day by winning a gold medal in the first race in a time of 6:21.94 beating the USA by almost five seconds (4.57). USA raced with four Olympians on board, including three Olympic gold medallists and one bronze medallist. New Zealand came third. This capped off a long week and marked the successful Senior A team debut for scullers Sarah Perkins (VIC) and last year’s Under 23 World Rowing Championships in this boat class Jessica Hall (QLD), Madeleine Edmunds (QLD) and Olympia Aldersey (SA). Aldersey said: "The first part of our race we stuck to our guns and stayed confident. I looked around at the 750m mark and realised that we were in front so we just had to work hard and stay in the rhythm. I was a bit surprised by our dominance, but we had a great preparation, and we’re all young, so it is all just very exciting”.
In the Interstate events, Brisbane & GPS provided representation in all three Queensland crews in the women’s classics: Olivia Brusasco, Jess Hall, Eleanor Wilson and coxswain Georgia Fitzgerald in the Queen’s Cup eights race; Alana Hewish and Alice Doring in the Victoria Cup lightweight quad; and Sammi Sheehan, Sarah Zillmann, Rosy Cartmill, Tyler Ferris, Sophie Macfarlane, Natasha MacDonald and Caitlin Cronin in the Bicentennial Trophy youth eight.
The youth eight, which was coached from the club by Susan Shakespear, showed a lot of grit to take the bronze medal behind the highly rated NSW and Victorian crews. The Queensland crew had no fewer than seven Brisbane & GPS rowers – which was a remarkable representation for a single club in an interstate boat.
In the women’s eight, Queensland was a sterling second for the fourth year in succession to Victoria which maintained its run of success in this event for the ninth year.
DIGGING FOR METAL AT THE NATIONALS
THE interstate and World Cup programs concluded an enjoyable week for Brisbane & GPS at the Nationals, at which the club won four gold, two silver and two bronze medals in the championship events. Our medal winners were:
GOLD: Jess Hall (Open 4x), Eleanor Wilson (U23 2x), Rosy Cartmill (U19 2x), Rosy Cartmill, Caitlin Cronin and Tash MacDonald (U19 4x).
SILVER: Eleanor Wilson (Open 4x), Rosy Cartmill (U19 1x),
BRONZE: Sophie Macfarlane, Sammi Sheehan, Rachel Haines and Rachel Madigan (U21 4-). Alice Doring and Alana Hewish (U23 lightweight quad).
In the U19 4x, Rosy, Caitlin and Tash combined with Eleni Kalimnios of the Huon club near Hobart to give Brisbane & GPS its fourth win in this event in the past five years. Rosy and Eleni, who were crewmates in the Australian U19 quad at last year’s world championships, also partnered to win the gold medal in the U19 2x. These results added to the reputation developed by the club in recent years in which it is acknowledged as a nursery for promising scullers, and this was evident when all five of the club’s single scullers – Rosy, Caitlin, Tash, Renee Pihan and Julia Salisbury – qualified for the semi-finals of the U19 event.
Brisbane & GPS also got among the medals at the NSW championships the month before the Nationals. The club made the road trip looking for some solid competition ahead of the Nationals and won three gold, four silver and three bronze medals at the regatta to finish fifth on the clubs point score behind Mossman, Sydney University, Sydney RC and Melbourne University. We’re keeping good company being ranked with those clubs.
CALLED UP FOR THE NEXT TEST
FRESH from the club’s successful Nationals campaign, Jess Hall and Eleanor Wilson have been called up for the Australian team selection trials at Penrith starting on April 23. Jess has been invited to trial for the Senior A sculling boats and Eleanor for the U23 sculling boats.
Their invitations were not unexpected after both raced well at the Sydney International regatta. Jess and her crew’s success in the Australian quad in the World Cup event beating the highly fancied US crew may tempt the selectors to take all four women away in the senior A team despite the fact all four are still eligible for the U23 team Eleanor won the U23 double sculls title and was runner-up in the U23 single sculls, and won silver in the senior A quad when placed second to Jess’s crew.
For an insight into one of Jess’s crew-mates from the Nationals go to http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/olympian-feat-beckons-as-rower-eyes-win-in-rio/story-e6frg7mf-1226609211625.
For the U19 team trials, the club will have three scullers competing for selection – Rosy Cartmill, Caitlin Cronin and Tash MacDonald. All three will race initially in singles, and Rosy will partner Eleni Kalimnios in a double while Caitlin will trial in a quad.
MASTERS OF THE LANES
OUR Masters took their turn to shine, emerging from the State Masters championships with eight gold, five silver and eight bronze medals at the two day regatta held on the tricky Kawana course. This placed the club fourth on the medals table behind Toowong, Commercial and Sunshine Coast. Brent O’Keefe, Rod Hewitt and Janine Reid led the blue and green assault.
Our new Queensland champions are:
F-J 4x: Ian Mathieson, Ian Holzberger, Brent O’Keefe (with Ralph Krippner)
A-B 2x: Janine Reid (with Christine Taylor)
F-J 2x: Ian Mathieson & Ian Holzberger
Mixed A-B 2x: Janine Reid & Rod Hewitt
D 4x: Brent O’Keefe, Jonathan Brett, Rod Hewitt (with Geoff Perebom)
F-J 1x: Ian Mathieson
D 4x: Janine Reid (with Jo Cook, Jenny Hart & Karen Smith)
D 2x: Brent O’Keefe & Rod Hewitt
E 4x: Brent O’Keefe
MAKING THEIR MARK IN MAROON
CONGRATULATIONS to the club’s new State Masters representatives Janine Reid, Brent O’Keefe and Rod Hewitt and coach Liz Ralston who will compete in Queensland crews in the interstate events at the National Masters regatta from April 25 to 28.
Janine, a comparative newcomer to our sport, will be a member of the State women’s quad, and Brent and Rod will be part of the men’s quad. Liz was selected as coach of the women’s eight. Rod, who was brought up as a sweep rower, only recently switched to sculling and when the January flood rains closed the river and disrupted his and Brent’s preparation to trial as a pair for the men’s eight he gambled by opting for the sculling boat.
Their selection brought the number of Queensland representatives in the club this season, including reserves and coaches, to 22. That is precisely one-fifth of our membership.
WHAT’S IN A NAME
SOON you will see several new names on boats around the shed, as the club honours some of our hard workers and high achievers. The men’s Sykes eight acquired late last year will be named the Andrew McNicol after our club secretary, learn to row coordinator and regatta convenor, the hitherto unnamed Sykes pair/double will be the Amy James after our 2011 U23 lightweight National team representative, and the new Carmody single scull will be named after Liz Ralston, our Masters coach and a former club membership secretary.
OFF TO THE RACES
SCOTT McMillan of Alliance Airlines won the club’s Day At The Races raffle. The winning ticket was No 240. Congratulations to Scott and we hope you and your guests back a few winners as you enjoy your prize day out at Eagle Farm racecourse.
LIGHT UP
OUR chairman Ian Holzberger attended a seminar hosted by Rowing Queensland in which Water Police outlined the new requirements about lighting on rowing boats. Here is a repeat of the message that the authorities requested by conveyed to all rowers:
Rowing boats require the following safety equipment between sun-down and sun-up or in periods of low light:
· 360 deg visible flashing white light. This can be achieved with two flashing lights one bow mounted and the other stern mounted or a single light on a pole which is higher than the rower. This requirement applies to all rowing craft, singles through to eights. Hat mounted lights are not considered adequate as when the rower looks around (which is very frequently to row safely according to the Water Police) the lights are obscured.
· Every boat is also required to carry a torch independent of the bow and stern lights which can be used to signal other craft to warn of danger or to attract the attention of other craft.
HELPING HAND FOR NEWCOMERS
BRISBANE & GPS has been approved for the Queensland Government’s Get Started sporting program which provides financial help for young people who can least afford the costs of joining a sporting club. According to the program’s guidelines, eligible children and young people are provided with a voucher of up to $150 to help pay for club membership and/or participation fees.
The club has also been granted $2789 for coaching accreditation and equipment to support rowing in our district under the Government’s associated Get Going program.
BOAT CARE
MEMBERS are reminded to take thorough care of all boats. After each row, your boat must be cleaned thoroughly inside and outside with detergent and then hosed down. Slides must be washed out thoroughly to prevent the build-up of grime. And don’t overlook riggers and gates. They need to be washed and wiped as well to maintain in good working order.
Use sugar soap instead of detergent at least once a week. You will find a container of sugar soap near the tap or on the ledge behind the sculling oars.
Oars and handles must be washed in a similar process. Use detergent and then wash down.
Please cover all gates with the supplied blue mittens before taking a boat into the shed. These mittens must not be removed until a boat is taken outside of the shed.
Take care when moving the various scull trolleys around so that they do not strike or scratch other boats. The scull trolleys have been labelled for their particular bays, riverside or parkside. Please make sure they are returned to their designated bays when packing up.
SUMMER OF FUN
THE club’s Junior Development Squad (pictured below) got together for one more row and a quiet farewell to the summer club season last month. The girls now turn their attention to the Brisbane schoolgirls’ season when they will find themselves in rival boats as the squad was drawn together from seven BSRA schools. Jeff Webb coordinated this year’s JDS with help from Bob Alexander, Joe Pattison, Michael Malakellis and Karen Dobeli – while Courtney Talbot and Gabby Kukla took the U17 Nationals squad which was drawn from the JDS nominees.
Good rowing everyone,
Peter Howard
CLUB CAPTAIN