ARC22 Message from the CEO

CONGRATULATIONS AND THANK YOU

Like many Victorians, I left Nagambie with a sense of pride (and a blanket of exhaustion) to what we, as a community managed to pull off with only 12 days notice. It must not be forgotten that generally, a state is afforded at least two years to prepare to host a National Championships, but we as a community did it in less than two weeks.
 
To host the nation’s athletes for what was the biggest Nationals on record (despite COVID impacting entries during the week) is testament to the efforts of our Victorian community. Right from the word go, everyone stood up and asked how they could assist.
 
To firstly our Umpires who worked with their state counterparts and RA technical team ensuring that from a technical point of view, we could deliver a course that was as compliant to the national standard as possible. Not only providing technical advice and support, our umpires joined the Jury and the skilled and unskilled volunteer army to both set up and pack down the venue and fulfil many roles through the week of racing. Their sense of humour, attitude, pragmatism, diligence and compassion was a consistent thread of their work which we in Victoria have become accustomed to, but for our interstate guests (athletes, coaches and umpires) provided an insight as to why and how, our Umpires are considered the best in the country. Thank you team!
 
To hold any large event, volunteers are integral to its success, let alone its core operations. 600 volunteer shifts were needed to be filled at Nagambie to ensure the event progressed safely and smoothly, both on and off water. With a call to arms, 92% of the volunteering roles were filled which is an amazing testament to our community. Volunteers were not only from the local Strathbogie Council and Shepparton areas, but from across the state; Gippsland, Geelong, Ballarat, Melbourne, with many taking leave, finding accommodation and supporting themselves to support the athletes. Our schools also joined the ranks with Brighton and Caulfield Grammar Schools providing medal bearers for the podiums and Melbourne HS boat holders. The support of Perfect Balance Rowing in incentivising our community to volunteer cannot be underestimated. We’re still crunching the numbers, but we’ll be able to inform you of the winner of the Swift Single next week. Thanks Al and KJ.
 
The Nagambie RC, Strathbogie Shire, and Shepparton council provided significant financial and local personnel support, so thank you. The APS community must also be thanked. A number of schools provided accommodation for our volunteers post the (successful) Head of the River which allowed us to “bump-in” infrastructure for the venue as soon and as quickly as we could. On Sunday morning, as we were still racking the boat park, boats were being placed on the racks before they were pegged to the ground. The APS were also extremely accommodating as we were able to bump in during and around the normal Head of the River operations. Those few hours were crucial in ensuring that at 8.00am on Monday, the first race was away as scheduled.
 
The team at Strathbogie Shire lead by CEO Julie Salomon, with events coordinator Libby Webster and course manager Brett (Bonza) Fothergill were faultless in their unwavering support and positive attitude. Without their support, we would not have had the venue and much of the supporting infrastructure in place, so therefore, a huge thank you.
 
To the team at Rowing Australia, who pivoted so quickly and entrusted us in supporting you host the national and Interstate Championship regatta; thank you. The cooperation, professionalism, trust and collaboration (and at times good humour) within the event team was outstanding, as without it, we could not have run the event as successfully as we did.
 
To the RV staff and board who too rolled their sleeves up fulfilling an array of roles and enduring some pretty long hours; thank you.
 
To the racing itself, congratulations all. The performances through the week by many Victorians need to be called out. To our school crews who dominated the regatta including the Ballarat and Clarendon sweep girls taking home two golds after an outstanding local season; well done. To the Gippsland Grammar sculling squad; two gold and a silver, a fantastic and well-deserved reward. Our school eights dominated their fields so well done to all entries, medallists and gold medallists, especially Melbourne Grammar and St Caths for taking out the boys and girls eights respectively and Ruyton the schoolgirl quad. Being on local water also enabled some of our smaller schools and clubs to compete and get a taste of racing at the national level with some great performances on display, especially in the Club races, so well done.
 
Our High-Performance Pathway Clubs of Mercantile and MUBC performed extremely well with 48 medals between them, ably supported by Corio Bay, Barwon and Banks adding a further 21 medals. There were many fantastic performances on display from our many NTC and underage elite athletes . Well done to you, your families and your coaches.
 
Our interstate team cemented 2nd position behind NSW (again) with outstanding winning performances by our Queen's Cup crew and Jess Gallagher in the PR3 single. All our medallists and finalists through the Interstate regatta contributed positively to the team and have no doubt taken away many learnings for their futures. To Noel Donaldson, our selectors Minnie Cade and David Pincus, and crew coaches who dismissed club loyalties and worked well together for the Big White V; thank you.
 
For our underage athletes shortly to be invited to the national team trials in Canberra, all the very best in your efforts to secure a spot on the Australian team.
 
We’ve a few more regattas to go this season, so please support them whilst we build to hosting the Australian Masters Rowing Championships in Ballarat, May 19-22.
 
In conclusion; to the entire community who facilitated the Nationals by competing or supporting; thank you.
 
Cheers, Ian