Grafton Rowing Club Newsletter - November, 2000

“THE CLUB IS FOR EVERYONE OF ALL AGES YOUNG AND NOT SO YOUNG TO ENJOY A ROW, A PADDLE, MEET NEW FRIENDS AND ENJOY A DRINK OR TWO AND  SOME PLEASANT COMPANY”

MURWILLUMBAH REGATTA AT MURWILLUMBAH, 15/10/00

RESULTS:

Congratulations to all who rowed, particularly those having their first race ever. Well done.

It was a very long day with 78 races and 8 extra Queensland clubs joining in. There is normally 50 races and the usual clubs from the Northern Rivers. It was great to have the other clubs join us and make us work for our wins. It made for an exciting day, especially with the vet eight race. Mur'bah doesn't have a wide river, so it was amazing to see 9 eights across the river and, by that time of day, the wind was blowing 1 metre waves, so the crews battled to get a "straight" line without bumping each other. It was more like Crash Derby on water.

The first start was great apart from the invitation 8 running into the bank, so back all the boats came (mind you some had already traveled 200 metres down the course). But then - WAIT! - there is a 2000 metre race on its way down, so 64 men, and the odd female coxswain wait and wait and wait ....... for a rowover! One lone boat rows its way through the waiting 8's along the course yep, you can imagine the comments being exchanged by all the 8's, some I cannot report or repeat on paper (64 men waiting for 4 women??)

For the second start, with the regatta now running three quarters of an hour late due to the rowover, and false???? start, Lismore and GRC had their usual "bumper to bumper" Oar to Oar clash on the water. Who put these crews close together again?????? Seems its a bit of a tradition, oh well, all the boats made it to the finish line in one form or another, some crews were not happy little rowers, others glad to see land, as they were starting to feel a little seasick from being on the rough water for so long.

LISMORE REGATTA AT CORAKI 29/10/00

This was the same weekend as the Asian Pacific Masters on the Gold Coast, so this regatta was light on for crews in some events, but all clubs had rowers competing. Pine Rivers from Queensland joined us again to make us work that bit harder for our wins.

RESULTS:

Coraki put the best weather on - no wind and flat water, and some cloud so sunburn wasn't too bad, plus the regatta ran ahead of time, hoorraayy. GRC were back home early, unloaded and re-rigged in record time.

A uge congrats to all those who won adn especillay to the new comers and new crews who had their first race ever and recorded a win... "Oh what a feeling..."

Look out - the Bumble Bees are coming to get you - watch out for their sting!?!

ASIAN PACIFIC MASTER GAMES 29/10/00

By the River Rats

We knew we had to really try hard as we were farewelled by our loyal cox "Dawsey", early Friday morning with "kick some butts you guys".

The results are now history. However the whole event would not have been possible without the encouragement and assistance from many club members. Please accept "The Rats" sincere thanks.

We all had a great time. Geoff, (In charge of breakfast preparation and Coach), Pat in charge of red wine and the smoke room, Steve, Procurer of the Coxes, and good will, Tony was crew organiser and 6 star accommodation manager, the usual position of selecting restaurants and entertainment fell on me. Pat however suggested we not enter the dancing comnpetion as he didn't want to tell Ken we couldn't row well because our legs were tired. It was difficult to comply because you can imagine the number of offers we would have received.

We soon discovered Grafton is a very well respected Rowing Club. When dressed in the Grafton colours we were approached by many to enquire after Thomo and Maughany. We tried to get some good gossip on these two blokes, but the old timers we saving nothing except "they were bloody good oarsmen".

There were several highlights to our trip, two that stand out was Steve's selection of our "Dawsey" replacement, Kate Ripper. Kate is a delightful young lady from the Gold Coast. Hen College does not have a rowing club, so she joined another club. With young people like Kate coming up through the ranks our sport will continue to strengthen. Another worthy of mention was the "Rats" pre-dinner medal. Pat assured us Ken wouldn't want us to change our usual habits. We had a quiet evening, good fellowship, some good red wine, listened to quiet music and in bed before midnight.
By The Rat Minder (John Brien)

PS, Pat can speak fluent Italian, beware don't go to an Italian restaurants without him. However if you take Steve, grab the menu and order for him.

GRC are very proud of the "River Rats" and Geoff for not only joining with the competition of the Asian Pacific Games, but they also won a truck load of medals - some are now wearing neck braces, due to the amount of heavy metal hung around them. Onya guys, a huge well done

JUNIOR ROWING

Competition is really "Hotting Up" in the Junior ranks with a number of membecrs tasting success and the commitment which flows from success. Brenton Tunsted has found a mentor in Luke McBeath and the two have been training solidly of late. Luke continues to dominate the open sculling events and now Brenton has begun to make his mark in the U16 division. The two have combined to make a formidable double in the Youth and Open divisions. Ryley Edgar has also been teaming up with Brenton in the U16 division. Ryley is also a strong sculler and this combination looks like its going to be very successful.

Our U16 girls division has been depleted for a while now and this has been very hard on keen rowers like Jessica Dawes. Jessica has had to team up with rowers from all over the Coast in order to fill her race program. This situation has now improved somewhat with the return of Stacey Fletcher to regular competition. Stacey is a talented athlete and the two combine well. I'm guessing that Jessica used her well honed "hustlting" techniques to put U14 Clare Ward and Hannah Tunsted into an U16 quad with Stacey and herself at Coraki. It was a great row. Congratulations to all.

The U14 division has no shortage of rowers ... girls at least. We are currently fielding three girls quads and eight scullers in this division. We're in the happy position of running out of boats and it will soon become necessary to limit the number of entries in this division.

Congratulation firslv to the quad of Amy Hatton, Tahlia Lollback, Clare Ward and Hannah Tunsted. Individually and together they have begun to find form. They look very strong and disciplined on the water. I'm sure that their winning streak which began so well in Coraki will be a long one. The second quad of Jamie Macrae, Amy Mclennan, Elizabeth Ensbey and Cassie Sampson have been fine-tuning their technique and are also looking good. There is no doubting the determination and mental toughness of this crew. It looks as though this division will he fiercely contested by the blue-and-white for quite a while. Alas, but misfortune has beset our third quad. Karla Golding has been sporting a cast over her broken wrist (courtesy of hockey). This has badly disrupted the program of the quad which dominated this division throughout the last twelve months. Natalie Dawes and Leigh Pritchard continue to put in credible performances in the sculls while Peta Pritchard, Carlie Pascoe and whoever we can find to make to up the quad and double. However the disrupted training has sapped a little confidence from these athletes and all are looking forward to the return of Karla.

Finally, a BIG welcome and well done to Mitchell Hayes and Brett Wicks. These two boys made their debut at Coraki and are very keen to do well. They can often be seen pacing each other up and down the river in their sculls or charging off in a double Keep up the good work lads.

by Coach/Teacher/Mentor      Graham Davis

REGULAR STUFF and REMINDERS

BOAT LOADING
It has been noticed that boat loading has been GREAT, everyone deserves a pat on the back, with everyone pitching in, the whole exercise is done quicker. Just a reminder, though.... Are you rowing? Do you have a crew rowing? Then you MUST HAVE YOUR SPANNERS WITH YOU
Some rowers who have been rowing for sometime, (Juniors) - it should be no surprise that at boat loading and un-loading you do need spanners, standing around watching and chatting doesn't help get the rigging and de-rigging done.

SEAT MONEY
Well the transition has been a little painful, confusing and NEW
yes the fear of the unknown and change, after some whinging and some 'how does this work again?" it seems that the seat money saga is near an end, 98% of club rowers have mastered the idea of "paying as you row", ie: you pay for your seat nomination by indicating on the front of the envelope names, races entered, and amount enclosed, it was noticed that our new members grasped this perfectly. Thanks guys, we knew it would work

SOCIAL TUESDAYS
Tuesdays have been busy busy busy, with all members and new members arriving for a row, paddle, the famous BBQ and drinkie afterwards, so come along and join us, all are welcome, rain and shine, the only weather hiccup is a storm, but the drinkie and socialising still occur, so see you there

MONTHLY MEETING HELD 19.10.00
Discussed were letters received, "In Appreciation" certificates and letters that had been sent to all our great sponsors
Water Brigade is winding up, and have donated funds to GRC for a scull which will be named after the Water Brigade
Don spoke of the difficulties of doing GRC Secretary and Northern rivers treasurer, so his functions are shared between Ann and Amanda
Ken requested the "Allira" needs to be retired to "Boat Heaven", we should look to purchase another quad, Ken also advised we are short of oars, the need for sweep oars and sculling blades are required urgently.
Neville asked about a cox-box for the eight, as it is difficult to hear instructions down the boat from the cox
Greg advised St George RC will be holding a training camp at our shed from 27.12.00 till
11.1.01
Everyone is welcome to the meetings; it just could be YOUR IDEA we are waiting for

XMAS PARTY 18.11.00
Saturday 18.11.00 on the River Explorer, start time 6:30pm until 9:30pm
3 course meal, buy your own drinks, don't forget it's a "Black and White" theme,
wearing other colours will incur a fine, and you will stand out in the crowd

QUOTABLE QUOTES
Geoff asking Nev, "what happened in the handicap pair?" at Mur'bah
Nev's reply, "I was rowing in a daze for half the race"

Andre at Coraki "what happened, why didn't we win?
gotta luv em~

DIP AWARD
Well, Kim has gone for a dip out in the deeper end, and in front of the shed, so we could watch, not a bad entry Kim.

Marg went for her initiation dip out in the deep end - it was a slow entry, degree of difficulty was unusual, you see when you turn around to see who is there, you have to hold the blades, especially when you are in front of the waiting crowd at the shed.

Well ladies that makes up for no-one owning up last month, well done

ISLAND JUMPING
Ok, the Islands do jump out behind you, two of our regulars on Tuesday had this happen to them recently while they were just calmly rowing up the river, minding their own business, and BAMM they were in the island, where did that come from?
all was ok. apart from a bit of hurt pride, and being very careful to get out of the island without falling out as they were laughing so much. Onya girls

SMASH DERBY ON THE CLARENCE
It was a beautiful spring morning, the water again flat, not too hot, the River Rats are honing their skills in rowing before the big event at the Asian Pacific Masters. The guys were going great when, WHAMM - a single sculler hits them from nowhere. So ends training - the single got off lightly, no real apparent damage, but the quad has a broken rigger and blade, Oh no; what do we tell Ken? Maybe he won't notice! we'll tell him a big shark hit us? But they came clean, damage assessed, and the River Rats live to row another day, and win hoorraayy

UPDATES

MISSING IN ACTION
GRC will be missing Ken while he is away for a while receiving treatment, so the club will do him proud in his absence, but just how long is that list of things to get done while you are away Ken? I heard it stretched the length of the shed. Oh No, I can hear Ken now, "that will keep them out of trouble while I'm away?" he heee heee he

LEARNERS ON SATURDAYS
Since our Shopping world display on 2.7.00 when a small group of us got together to bring rowing into focus again, our success has been just terrific. The club has some wonderful new members and some are competing in regatta's with wonderful results.
The need for the change from Sunday to Saturday is due to the Regatta season starting. So now I learnrs won't miss out as much we have moved the day to Saturday, instead of Sundays; this way, the learners will have more lessons, and graduate to the Tuesday sessions
Also the need for a roster of competent rowers required for a Saturday will be ongoing - if you can help out just let us know, we do appreciate it, some of our new members are most welcome to assist, come on Vercoe, Addo, Drew, Troy
NEW TIME SATURDAYS 9A\M $5 PER LESSON, FIRST ONE FREE
remember to have a change of clothes (just in case) and a drink with you

WHY SHOULD I START ROWING ????????????????
Experience a complete total body workout.
Rowing provides a total body workout that works more areas of the body than any other sport. You work the heart, lungs and circulatory system and at the same time, shape and tone the muscles of your legs, back, shoulders, buttocks, arms and stomach. You achieve all this through a wide range of motion that also improves and maintains your flexibility. and because rowing is an impact-free exercise you protect your joints too.
NOW ARE YOU READY TO ROW?????
Ladies how can you say no, it really does tone those difficult areas such as the buttocks, thighs and stomach

RULES OF THE RIVER
Always have land close to you, just in case you do go for a dip, heading west row past the Crown, then cross over to Susan Island for your homeward trip
DO NOT ROW IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RIVER especially if you are in a single scull, as accidents do happen, unless you have mirrors

REMINDERS
We all use the boats and club in one way or another, so can everyone also pick up their rubbish, use the bins, especially in the toilet/shower areas, come on girls, its a disgrace in there

WELCOMES
Glad to have you aboard Jenny, Cheryl, Lyn, Maree, and Troy who have all come back after a spell from rowing and we are glad to see your smiling faces
Our New Members, Michael Vercoe, Nathan Adamson, Kim Mcbeath, Val Domen

GRANDPA
Also Welcome to Charles Noble born 1.11 00, 9lbs, a toddler already, and such a cutie, know Grandad is really proud of the new addition in the house, so long as Grandad can get his sleep? We don't want a cranky grandaddie in the quad. Congrats to all so that's two in the Bruce, Bruce, Noble, Collins quad that are grandads, hmmmmmm

GRC PHOTO ALBUM AND SCRAPBOOK
Please have a look, there are a lot of photos in our Olympic Album, if you have any photos or items you wish to place in them, let me know, and I will put them in there for you - its always great to look back at the records of events, wins and results, and the hislory of the club

GRC SINGLETS
Available for $25.00, see Ann

This newsletter is brought to you by Don “Double Spaced” Noble and Ann “I’ll Paint That” Collins. If you have anything to add to the next newsletter, please let Don (66426929) or Ann (66433347) know.

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