It’s an exciting time around the Mosman boat shed, with lots of great news and interesting developments. We have just finished our first full summer season with the new boatshed and pontoon in full operation. The facilities and surrounding water are among the finest of any rowing club in the world. The results of our athletes are reflecting this.
Australian Team Selections
Many Mosman based athletes competed in the recent National Selection trials.
The big news has been the selection of the coxless four for the World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic in August. Tom Laurich has worked hard with a very committed squad from various boys’ schools over the past two years. A well-deserved reward has been Tom’s selection as coach of the four, which includes Mosman’s Michael Bernerius, Tom Gunton and Aaron Wright. They will be joined by Louis Snelson from Sydney RC. The crew will be training out of Mosman this winter in preparation for their trip to Europe. Of course, Tom, a dual Olympian, is himself a product of Mosman’s junior development program.
Eliza Flint and Lachlan Hanbury-Brown have been selected for the National Talent Identification Squad tour to New Zealand.
Jess Buttel and Emily Brown from Queenwood School have also been selected to join the NTID tour.
In the Senior A category the competition is starting to heat up as a number of Olympians return from a break after Beijing. Dan Noonan, stroke of the World record setting quad scull from Beijing and the silver medal crew from the 2009 World Championships has again been selected in the Senior A team. Hopefully Dan will continue to lead this crew towards a gold medal in London in 2012 after coming so close to defeating the reigning Olympic and World Champions from Poland over the last two years. Another member of the sculling squad, Nick Hudson from SUBC, has become an adopted son of Mosman. He has been training with Dan at Mosman under the guidance of Nick Garratt, and undoubtedly owes his selection as the single sculler in large part to the benefits of that training - an indication that the coaching and facilities at Mosman are highly regarded and much in demand.
I extend my congratulations to all these fine athletes and wish them every success this year.
School Rowing
With Queenwood, Redlands and Loreto Kirribilli rowing out of the new shed, the availability of top class facilities, boats and coaching contributed towards a very successful and enjoyable season. There were huge improvements throughout all years.
Loreto capped a magnificent season by winning the National Championship. Our congratulations go to the crew and the coaching staff led by Simon Spriggs and supported by Chris Holliday.
Not to be outdone, Queenwood put in a stirring performance to win the Head of the River. This broke a remarkable winning streak of twelve years by the Mark and Gill Campbell coached Pymble crews. Again, our congratulations to the girls, the Head Coach, Alfie Young, Gonzalo Briones, the coach of the senior eight, as well as Tony Blay and Adam de Konig for their success with the junior crews.
School Boy and Girl Winter Squads
To build on such a very successful school season, Mosman is running squads for boys and girls from the Club and from the various schools.
Firstly, I will deal with the two programs for year 12 and year 10/11 girls. On April 21 we held an opening night for many enthusiastic girls and parents and heard the outlines of the courses from Nick Garratt and Gonzalo Briones. The courses will start in the week commencing 3 May. The year 12 program will recognise the study demands placed on students but build towards winning the NSW and Australian Championships in the Under 21 eights in 2011.
The year 10/11 squads will offer a number of opportunities for Youth Cup selection and assistance with National selection, as well as continuing to build skills before the girls return to the school programs next summer. The large enrolments already indicate the enthusiasm of the girls towards a squad that enables them to train and race with the Club.
At the opening night there was also a very compelling and persuasive talk by the highly regarded rowing identity, Terry O’Hanlon, highlighting the benefits of Mosman when compared with “scholarships” being offered by another club in an attempt to attract promising athletes. Terry, a former international coxswain, was able to speak with the benefit of experience as a school and elite coach, father of an SUBC and Australian athlete, and NSW selector. In summary, Terry’s message was that girls (and boys) were better off financially at Mosman than at SUBC, even putting aside the advantages of our vastly superior facilities, water and coaching staff. This message was very well received. One parent said that it was the best presentation she had ever heard about the “scholarship” system.
Next, and just as important, Tom Laurich will be starting another squad of Year 10-11 boys, as well as continuing with his very successful year 12 squad. Testing for these squads will be announced shortly, with a view to identifying suitable candidates with the potential to go on to selection in representative crews.
CBA Regatta
Sunday 2 May was the Regatta day, and once again we were blessed with perfect conditions at Davidson Park. The Regatta featured 18 crews representing various divisions of the Bank. Before it even started, competition for places in the Regatta was fierce, as the number of applications well exceeded the available 18 spots.
From the opening night on 25 March, over five weeks of training, to the Cocktail Party on 30 April and then Regatta day itself, Mosman volunteers put in a mighty effort to ensure the success of the Regatta. As usual, the stalwart Tony Blay put in the hard yards in preparation at the front end of the Regatta, before taking a very well earned break away from Sydney (Please come back soon Tony- we all miss you!). Club Captain, John Dollisson and Head Coach, Nick Garratt, Will Liley and Linda Reed did the lion’s share of the work. Without their virtually full time efforts the Regatta would not have run as smoothly as it did. Also deserving special mention is our tireless Secretary, Anne Taylor, who organised and cajoled volunteers into pontoon duty, breakfast duty and numerous other tasks. A special thanks to the coaches for putting in the time to get the crews to the finish line. Also special thanks to our video crew of Jim Aroney, Dennis Wong and Peter Spasojevic for the difficult task of marrying up both the training and final videos.
Regatta Day turned out to be a huge success. The CEO of the Bank, Ralph Norris, competed in the Executive Committee crew, and from the smiles and enthusiasm at the end of the day we hope to see them back again next year. Already the Bank is talking of having up to 22 crews competing next year, which will be the official 10th anniversary of the program.
The CBA regatta takes up a lot of time and volunteer resources. However, it is critical to the Club’s continuing success. The funds raised through the Regatta will enable us to continue to purchase the best racing and recreational boats for use by all members. It is very pleasing to see the extent of the assistance provided by such a large number of club members – it is a true demonstration of Club spirit and I thank everyone who contributed to the success of the Regatta.
Centenary Dinner and Book
Here is an article from the Sydney Morning Herald of 19 August 1910 (that’s right, almost 100 years ago!) about the formation of Mosman Rowing Club:
The chairman said that the question of a site had been before the committee of the local council, which had recommended for adoption by the council at its next meeting the granting of a location some 100ft to the west of Bogle Street at the head of the bay.
On the notion of Mr Myles Ariel (hon. treasurer) and Mr W. A. Moore (hon. secretary) the following were elected as a provisional committee -Messrs F.Proctor, T 0′Neill, I. Graham, W. A. Blackstone, J. Blackman, C. Mule, Dr Brissenden, J. M’KIllip, H Thompson, W. M. Hinton II, R. Clarke, N. Nicholson, W. Oxby, Braddock and P. Story.
It was decided that the membership fee should be £3 3s. per annum; and it was announced that 50 members had already been enrolled and £60 subscribed. A number of additional names were added to the list, and arrangements were made for a meeting early next month.
The Club was ultimately formed on 1 April 1911, and so next April is our Centenary. We are planning a grand Centenary Dinner on Saturday 2 April 2011. Please put the date in your diary now- further details will follow.
Another exciting development is the publication of a Centenary book commemorating the history of the Club. We are already working with publishers and will be asking all current and former members to contribute any photos, documents and other material, which will be of use in writing the book. A formal request will be sent out shortly.
Recreational Rowing
Amid all the excitement of National selections and the CBA regatta we have not forgotten the important role of the recreational rowing group. Linda Read is, as always, as a smiling and encouraging coach to many crews. While Tony Blay takes what we hope is a short break from coaching, we are working to ensure that there are well-qualified coaches available to ensure that the needs of the recreational group are being covered. Jane Davidson has agreed to look after Recreational Rowing and report progress to the Committee on membership, coaches, boars etc. Her email is Jane Davison jpdavison004@yahoo.com.au
Masters Championships
After the intensive preparation for last year’s World Masters Games, it seems that many masters are taking a slightly more leisurely approach to racing this season. Attendances at regattas have been down on the last few seasons, but there has still been some very high quality racing.
The usual dedicated squad of Masters men and women have continued to prepare for the upcoming State Championships in Grafton on the weekend of 15-16 May, under the careful guidance of Steve” Rocky” Gordon. Steve continues to encourage all with his comprehensive weekly programs covering rowing as well as what some Masters regard as exotic arts such as stretching, weights, cycling and other forms of cross training.
A squad are also preparing for the Australian Masters Championships at the new Champion Lakes course in Perth in June. Keen newcomers such as Sean Abbot and Jones Matos Da Silva will be joining some seasoned campaigners for the trip to Perth. Paul Webster, Mark Campbell and the writer have been selected in the NSW Masters quad scull, in the hope of breaking the Victorian’s nine-year winning streak in that event.
Boat Maintenance
We all like to turn up at the shed and have good, well-maintained boats to row. It does not happen by accident. It requires an enormous amount of time and money to keep our fleet in good order. Jim Aroney has volunteered to take on the very important role of Convenor of the Boat Maintenance Committee. Messages have already gone around seeking volunteers to assist Jim in this task. I urge all of you volunteer to spend some time learning how to fix and maintain boats .It will give you a new appreciation of the amount of work that is required, and also give you a sense of satisfaction when you see a job well done. Please contact Jim Aroney at simplydental@unwired.com.au , or the Secretary, Anne Taylor, to register your interest.
Club Room
While everyone has been enjoying the new boat shed and gymnasium, a new Club Room and kitchen (generously donated by Kerry Braslin) has been created upstairs in the old boat shed. We will shortly install a large screen TV for sporting events and social functions, and to use this room for smaller Club meetings.
Conclusion
As you can see, there is still plenty of activity around the club over the winter. Come down and compete in the JB Sharp Regatta series at Iron Cove, continue your winter training, and enjoy the camaraderie of your great Club.
I welcome any suggestions or comments – at Williams@tenthfloor.org or call me on 9232 3839 or 0408 372 396.
Mark Williams
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...Other Posts you may like:
- No Similar Posts