WELCOME TO RV E-NEWS

Rowing Victoria welcomes the Victorian rowing community to 2024 - we hope you are feeling refreshed and ready to race!

We start the year in familiar fashion with a trip to Lake Moodemere for the MRA Rutherglen Regatta! With great entry numbers, we look forward to seeing you all racing and supporting our regional clubs.

Read more below.

Stay Safe, Stay Rowing!

Rowing Victoria

        UPCOMING EVENTS

SAFETY NOTICE

Due to Nagambie Lakes and Upper Yarra River currently in minor flood, please be aware of an increase in river traffic as Clubs and Schools relocate their training camps.

All waterway users are reminded to follow the respective waterway guidelines including the below:

Clubs and Schools with trailers and equipment in Boathouse Drive are reminded to keep the driveways clear for construction and City of Melbourne vehicles to access.

BARWON REGATTA

A friendly reminder that a full range of masters rowing events have been scheduled for the Sunday 28th January at the Barwon Regatta on the mighty Barwon River rowing course, along with the normal Club and Grade events.

This will follow the Saturday 27th January 2024 Barwon School & Underage Regatta where many schools will have their first racing for the year, including some schools from Interstate.

There will also be an inaugural annual trophy (for the winning club’s trophy cabinet) presented on the Sunday to the best club performance for the day.

School and underage (Saturday) entries are now open, with Sunday entries to open following the Ballarat Regatta. Entries close January 22nd.

PATHWAY CAMP - RECAP

It was great to welcome aspiring rowers and coxes from 15 different schools and clubs to Boathouse Drive earlier this week, for the Rowing Victoria 'Pathway Camp'.

The camp provided athletes the opportunity to get a taste of the high performance environment in the lead up to the selection of the Pathway State Team, who will compete at the Pathway Regatta in April.

Following Victoria experiencing summer rain, the Yarra was not as pristine as usual. Nevertheless, the sun was shining and the group were able to complete two water sessions in eights, quads and fours, supported by 7 coaches.

The group were up and about as they met each other, some for the first time, and quickly made connections both in and out of the boat. Coaches enabled rowers to work together with good shape and move boats with increasing precision as the day progressed.

During the lunch break, Lucy Burnell (MUBC) ran a session with the coxes while Harry Fox (MUBC) spoke with the rowers about his journey from school rowing through to sculling for Australia at the U19 and U23 World Championships. Al Matthews (Mercantile) addressed the group and was able to call on his vast experience to highlight the different unique pathways rowers can take over their journey.

Rowing Victoria sincerely gives thanks to the coaches for volunteering their time; Nick Bartlett, Alex Watson, Blair Baggott, Noel Carter. The day would not have been possible without the support of Mercantile Rowing Club, Melbourne University Boat Club, and Banks Rowing Club who allowed us to use their equipment and facilities.

Special gratitude is given to Dan Buckley (MUBC) and Al Matthews for managing the allocation of equipment, coaching and helping to facilitate the day. A special thank you also to Emilie Coghlan (MUBC) who jumped in and coxed during the morning session.

Nominations are open for all U18 athletes through to 5th March, whilst coach nominations close on 9th February.

Please direct any questions to Delwyn Oliver on delwyn@rowingvictoria.asn.au.

ARC ENTRIES OPEN

Entries to the Australian Rowing Championships are now open!

This years ARC will be held from 18 March – 24 March 2024 at the Sydney International Regatta Centre, NSW.

As notified in Bulletin 1, the compulsory induction for all team staff and competitors will be completed via Rowing Manager. As entries are processed, emails will be sent via Rowing Manager to confirm the email address is accurate in the system for each rower - if your athletes’ email addresses are not correct, please update these as soon as practical. The induction will not be implemented until early March and an email will be sent with details/instructions at that time.

Please note the rules around the club events – if you have rowers that need to withdraw national team nominations to ensure eligibility, please ensure this is done by 31 January.

 Tent Site bookings are open now and can be completed at this link.

Once you know the details of your trailer arrival, please register this here to assist traffic management and unloading.

SIGNIFICANT SPORTING EVENTS PROGRAM

The Significant Sporting Events Program helps sporting, community and event organisations to deliver significant sporting events in Victoria. Event Assistance Grants are available to event organisers seeking funding support to assist with general operational costs associated with hosting events while Event Development Grants are available to develop or expand events, or for events with high operational costs.

Funding available between $20,000 and $150,000.

Applications close 29 February 2024.

RIVER SAFETY - BOW & STERN LIGHTS

With the darker mornings and evenings now upon us, it is crucial that all rowers who are on the water (and coaches on bikes and powerboats) between sunset and sunrise have adequate lighting for your safety and the safety of others. 

Rowing boats, in restricted visibility and between sunset and sunrise, are required to exhibit;

• Two all-round white lights - one attached to the boat at or near the forward or bow end, and one attached to the boat at or near the stern end.
• Bow light - A continuous white light is considered acceptable if it is visible in clear conditions from a distance of 1 kilometre.
• Stern light - A flashing white light is considered acceptable if it flashes at least once per second and is visible in clear conditions from a distance of 1 kilometre.

Not withstanding the above, it is considered acceptable for a light to be masked so as not to interfere with the vision of the vessel’s occupants, provided at least one light is visible from any direction (see diagram below).

SAFETY REMINDER

Rowing Victoria would like to remind all members the importance of using our equipment and waterways safely and appropriately.

Please follow traffic rules, including correctly using designated turning zones. By following these rules, our waterways are safer for all. 

We have also been made aware of a number of incidents where rowing coaches have been sighted either riding without helmets, using megaphones at incorrect hours, or using mobile phones while riding (both in conversation or filming their crews).

For your own safety, to avoid fines, and to respect other members of the community, we ask that you please ensure you are obeying the law and not partaking in the behaviours above.

WATERWAY ACCESS & INCIDENT REPORTING

Could all waterway users please ensure they are acquainted with their local waterway rules; traffic direction, turning points, stationary obstacles etc.

So that RV, Maritime Safety Victoria and now, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority can support the community in providing safe waterways, please register all incidents via the RV Report an Incident tile on the home page of the RV website.

A consistent management of reporting will assist us in ensuring we are kept safe on the water and the chances of equipment damage is mitigated.