WELCOME TO RV E-NEWS

Last week, a number of Victorian Masters athletes made the trip to Penrith to compete at the Australian Masters Rowing Championships. Excellent racing saw an abundance of medals return to Victoria!

Following the Masters action, we now cast our eyes to international racing, with the International Para Rowing Regatta kicking off a series of racing for our Australian Rowing Teams!

Read more below.

Stay Safe, Stay Rowing!

Rowing Victoria

        UPCOMING REGATTAS

AUSTRALIAN MASTERS ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Well done to all Victorians who competed at the 2023 Australian Masters Rowing Championships in Penrith from Thursday 1st to Sunday 4th June.

A massive congratulations to our Victorian State Crews on their success in the interstate races!

🥇 Women’s 4x

(Fiona Milne, Lee-Anne Martin, Helen Pearce, Tanja Nishibata)

🥈 Women’s 8+

(Catherine Carr, Zoe Ryan, Emily Harridge, Fiona Abbott, Linda Skidmore, Geraldine Goss, Bea Klein-van Mullekom, Rebecca Gribble, Cox: Charlotte Lawrence)

Our Men’s 4x & 8+ also rowed hard to finish 5th & 4th respectively.

It was fantastic to see 19 of our clubs competing at the AMRC over the weekend, with almost all achieving podium finishes. Congratulations to Melbourne RC (2nd) and Carrum RC (8th) on their top 10 finishes in the Club Point Score.

Congratulations also to Rodney Stewart (Melbourne RC, 1st), Tanja Nishibata (Melbourne RC, 2nd), and Heinrich Venzke (Banks, 7th) on their top 10 finishes in the Individual Point Score.

Images: Rowing NSW & Clubs Pictured

VIRTUS GLOBAL GAMES

This week, athletes from around the world have been competing at the Virtus Global Games in Vichy, France. The games are the world's largest elite sports event for athletes with an intellectual impairment.

Aaron Skinner from Nestles RC was one of five athletes selected to represent Australia in both on-water and indoor rowing. Aaron and his team rowed brilliantly on the stunning course in the middle of Vichy, claiming a total of 7 Golds, 4 Silvers, and a Bronze. Individually, Aaron claimed 1 Gold, 2 Silvers, and a Bronze:

🥇 1000m Mix 4X+ - Gold

🥈 500m Mix 4X+ - Silver

🥈 500m Mix 2X - Silver

🥉 500m M1X - Bronze

The Indoor events were conducted on Thursday and Friday, and despite not medaling, Aaron set a new C2 Australian record in both the 1000m and 500m events. 

Well done and congratulations to all involved in these fantastic results!

CLUB RESOURCE HUB

We are excited to share that our new Club Resource Hub is now accessible on our website (under Education).

The hub will be the centralised location for members to access helpful resources in a range of relevant areas.

We will endeavour to update and add to the hub going forward to provide as much assistance as we can.

RV GENERAL MEETING & MASTERS FORUM

Notice is given for the upcoming RV General Meeting & Masters Forum to be held at 6pm Wednesday June 14.

The meeting will be held both in person at Power House Rowing Club and online via Zoom.

VICTORIAN OLYMPIC MOVEMENT UPDATE

Following a restructure of the Victorian Olympic movement, a number of Rowing Victoria alumni have been appointed into roles within the Victorian Olympic Advisory Committee (VOAC) and Australian Olympians Association Victoria (AOAV).

The purpose of these groups is to promote the Olympic Movement in Victoria. Rowing Victoria would like to congratulate the following individuals on their appointments:

CLUBMAP WEBINARS

CLUBMAP will be hosting another webinar on Monday June 19th - COMMITTEE STRUCTURE: SHARE THE WORK LOAD.

Discover ways to develop the right structure to share the load at your organisation, reduce burnout and increase the lifespan of volunteers.

Clubs don't spend enough time on their committee structure, and find it hard to move forward as a result.

Successful community sporting clubs share the load.

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.