WELCOME TO RV ENEWS

Thanks to all who attended a terrfic Barwon Regatta. 320 races at 3 minute intervals across two long days, which ran to the minute over 1,000m and 1,500m. Seamless! We'd love to hear your own thoughts via the feedback button below! Your feedback from this and the ongoing reviews will help RV and the Competition Commission shape racing and regattas moving forward.

Another great display of racing, with a particularly impressive performance from The Geelong College. A special mention to all our competing schools for an exciting return to racing, we look forward to your continued energy in the coming weeks! Be sure to check out your club or school's premiership points below!

Starting tomorrow, we have the first double regatta weekend of the year, with a busy regatta schedule coming up. We encourage you to get your memberships and entries sorted early to minimise difficulties!

Finally, the Change our Game grant has now opened! We encourage clubs to read more about this under 'Programs & Grants'.

Stay Safe, Stay Rowing!

        UPCOMING REGATTAS

MIXED EVENTS QUESTIONNAIRE

Following community feedback, additional mixed events have been added to the regatta schedules. To provide relevant opportunities across these boat classes, we’d like to understand your racing preferences. Please tick the appropriate box via the survey below:

CONGRATS WORLD ROWING UMPIRES

Congratulations to the following World Rowing Umpires, including two of our own, for being selected to serve on World Rowing Juries in 2022: 

CHANGE OUR GAME - COMMUNITY ACTIVATION GRANTS PROGRAM

The Change Our Game - Community Activation Grants Program is NOW OPEN!

Grants of up to $10,000 are available to run one-off events celebrating the role of women in sport and active recreation. 👏🏼

All RV clubs should be eligible. For more information and applications:

FEMALE PERFORMANCE & HEALTH MODULES

The AIS have just released 6 brand new online Female Performance & Health Initiative education modules! ♀️

This is a terrific resource for female athletes to learn more about their own health and performance, as well as coaches to gain a better understanding of their athletes! 

Find out more about what this award-winning #eLearning resource offers athletes, as well as coaches and medical practitioners: 

FREE CLUBMAP WEBINARS

For committees looking to further develop their club, or maybe to get another perspective, CLUBMAP are running a free webinar series kicking off on Feb 7th!

The first FREE webinar is all about Committee Structure and Operations, a crucial aspect of any successful club.

To celebrate the launch of the webinar series, they are offering a FREE workshop valued at $2,499+gst. For more details and to apply check out this Facebook Post.

ROWING VICTORIA - COACHING GRANTS

Rowing Victoria is determined to assist all Clubs and Schools in delivering a quality rowing service for all participants and recommends that all coaches hold a RA coaching accreditation.

To assist, Rowing Victoria is allocating a pool of $5,000 to be allocated across the state to assist individuals in completing a Level 1 or 2 NCAS qualification. Up to $350 will be allocated per individual.

To apply for funding, applicants must:

• Be members of Rowing Victoria.
• Submit an Expression of Interest by midnight Friday 11th February 2022.
• Demonstrate Club/School support.
• Pay for the course. Coaches will be reimbursed by RV after successful completion of the course.
• Complete the course by 30th June 2022.

Successful applicants will be notified by Friday 25th February 2022.

SPORT AUS - LOCAL SPORTING CHAMPIONS

The Local Sporting Champions program provides financial assistance for coaches, officials and competitors aged 12-18 participating in state, national or international championships.

If successful, applicants will receive $500-$750 towards the cost of attending their championships:

• Base Grant: $500
• Applicants travelling 800km - 1999km to their nominated championships: + $100
• Applicants travelling internationally or greater than 2000km to their nominated championships: + $200
• Applicants residing in a rural electorate: + $50

Round 4 is open until: 11:59pm (AEDT) on 31 March 2022.

NATIONAL WATER SPORTS CENTRE CLOSED - BLUE GREEN ALGAE

Unfortunately due to the warmer weather and lack of rain, Parks Victoria have advised that a Blue Green Algae bloom has now reached toxic levels and the NSWC waterway is closed to all forms of on water activity until further notice. Further information and updates can be found below: 

COVID MANAGEMENT

All Clubs have been provided with updated posters to remind us all of the current requirements re: vaccinations. As a gentle reminder, don’t forget that:

• Proof of vaccination (or a medical exemption) needs to be shown by all people above the age of 18 who are accessing the rowing shed for any activity other than rowing, e.g. accessing the gym/ergo room or social rooms/bar.
• At the moment, U18s do not need to show proof of vaccination to access gyms/social rooms.
• Check-ins are still required by all.

It’s vital that we continue to follow all the Gov’t guidelines so we stay safe and can continue rowing. These guidelines are as follows:

• If you are feeling unwell with COVID like symptoms, stay away from your Club, get tested and isolate until you receive a negative test result.
• Those in attendance at a rowing club social room, gym or ergo room MUST be fully vaccinated or have a medical exemption. NO VACCINATION, NO ENTRY.
• Vaccination status must be checked (and enforced for entry) to enable access to the above environments.
• QR codes must be used every time a club member enters the club to either use the above facilities, enter the toilets/ changerooms and/or row.
• Please disinfect shared equipment between use.
• Please ensure hand sanitiser is available.
• If you cannot socially distance, please wear masks.

Let's all play our part to ensure we can enjoy an uninterrupted regatta season and Stay Safe (and Stay Rowing!) together. 

WATERWAY ACCESS & INCIDENT REPORTING

With lockdowns lifted and access to the waterways now open to all, our rivers and lakes are becoming increasingly congested. Could all waterway users please reacquaint themselves with their local rules; traffic direction, turning points, stationary obstacles etc.

It's more than likely that the increased water traffic will also lead to an increase in the number of incidents. 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.

YARRA RIVER DREDGING SCHEDULE

Parks Victoria's dredging operations will continue for the next few months. Although current river access is limited, please be mindful of your surroundings whilst on the Yarra. Dredging operations will be also suspended/cleared for regattas.

24 January – 24 February 2022

• Dredging at Botanic Gardens Landing, disposal site adjacent to Botanic Gardens.

• Landing Botanic Gardens Landing closed – exclusion zone around works at dredging site and disposal site.
• Anderson St Fishing Platform will also be unavailable for use during this time.

• The dredging will increase the water depth at the site and thereby improve safe navigational access to and passage through the area.

• An exclusion zone approximately 200m long and 30m wide will be established and marked by buoys and signage. The exclusion zone will move as required within the works area.

• Please ensure to stay clear of the exclusion zone and to give way to all traffic travelling in a downstream direction past the exclusion zone.

• Works will be carried out within the works area as shown in the map below.

BIKE USAGE ALONG THE YARRA RIVER

With the great number of coaches coaching from bicycles along the Yarra River it is important to ensure that this is always done in a safe and considerate manner to all other pathway users.

A friendly reminder:

• Helmets must be worn
• When stopping, pull completely off the path
• Do not block the path
• Do not use mobile phones while riding