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Events - Up and coming as well as regular events for the club and it's members.

 

 

News -  The latest on what's happening at the club.  You don't have to be a member to 
                          read it, but i guess it probably helps !

Yes, ex' captain and beer fridge patron Liam Ward is back in town for a brief visit.  He'll be down at the clubrooms on Sunday 7th Jan for a few quiet ales at 5pm for anyone who would like to catch up.

 

Now remember a while back about a certain red hatted Santa 'look alike' who went for a swim ?  Well, we can confirm the hat had nothing to do with the out of boat experience.  How do we know this ?  Because our intrepid sculler, sans hat this time, went for another two swims today !

Anyway, i hope everyone had a great Christmas and a happy New Year.  If anyone's looking for a challenging New Years resolution, may i suggest doing two Sundays of boat maintenance, coaching a pub and club crew and giving me some news to put on this web page.  Hey, i can dream can't i ? 

 

Well, there was no 4 iron challenge after all this year on Boxing Day.  Instead it was replaced by Tim's latest toy which looked suspiciously like, well, a round, clear plastic thing.  Apparently when you threw it the right way, it went huge distances and so it did.  In fact it seemed to have no trouble at all making it from the roof of the clubrooms, to the roof of the boatshed and then back to the clubrooms.  Occasionally it even went to the people who were waiting to catch it on the grass or came dangerously close to taking out one of the spectators in the clubrooms.  On the plus side, we spent so much time on the roofs retrieving this damn thing that we can definitely confirm the gutters don't need cleaning this year.

Judy Parsons even dropped in from NZ to join the fun and say hello.  She's decided to trade the scull in on a 43ft ketch based on some flimsy excuse that she can fit more than one person on it and venture out into oceans and stuff like that.  All in all, it was a pretty relaxing day.

 

Head on down to the club around midday on Boxing Day for a few beers and a chance to have a go in the annual 4 iron challenge.  Immortality awaits he/she who can strike the mighty blow that will get to the other side etc etc.....  BYO 4 iron and range balls and also any food you're thinking about eating.

 

The Christmas season appears to have started early this year. Spotted out on Sunday morning atop one of our club scullers was a red Santa's hat (no names to protect the guilty). However, whether it was the effect of a pre season tipple the night before, a tsunami or the Ascot racing Carnival next door - with less than 500m from the clubhouse our by now red faced, red hatted and extremely wet not so little helper had to be plucked from the river by a passing coaching dinghy (well done Steve for an excellent rescue). Our merry helper put on a brave face under his bedraggled hat and continued on up river and around the island before making it back without further incident. It remains to be seen whether the hat makes a reappearance next Sunday.

A rather red in the face Steve Bourne was forced to admit to a heart rate of 157, to keep in touch with the women's double of 14 year old's Clare and Megan during a recent row back from Guildford bridge on Sunday.  The girls meanwhile seemed to be rather enjoying themselves holding Steve at bay and even had time for a good gossip session during the row while keeping their heart rates in their target range of the low 140's.   Glyn also owned up to a heart rate in the mid 150's and may take up Steve's suggestion that the next outing alongside the girls be in a double rather than singles.  Could it be that at the grand old age of 37, these old timers are starting to feel their age ?

For anyone looking to race next season, 7am on Saturday and Sunday is the time to get the miles in.  Generally Saturdays go downstream to the railway bridge (15k round trip) and Sundays upstream to Guildford Rd Bridge (14k round trip).  The more the merrier and the return trip is always handicapped so no-one beats Glyn... errrrr, i mean gets left behind !

 

Congratulations to the following TIP squad members who have made it through to the next phase of the WAIS Talent Identification Program after completing the time trials on the 29th October - Sarah McLellan, Claire Martin, Erica Woodmansey, Alinta Kemeny, Catalina Clema and Mark Davies.

This group will now join members from the initial intake - Gino DeFranco, Jonathon Childs, Kelly Cook and Jessica Wright, with the intention of forming Junior B crews for the 2001 nationals in Queensland.  The squad will be subject to ongoing periodic performance assessment to ensure they are in line to achieve their goal.  The next round of tests are due in December following the appointment of the new WAIS junior development coach.  Tom Morris and Nathan Howe also achieved the performance criteria, but will revert to their school programs at Wesley and Trinity respectively with the possibility of being selected for schoolboy crews at the nationals.

This is a great effort not only by the rowers, but also by the coaches who have put in a lot of hours on the water - notably Laurie Anderson, Glyn Heath and Simon Cook.  Apologies if  i've overlooked someone there !  The squad continues training on Monday and Thursday evenings as well as Saturday and Sunday mornings so if you see them on the water or around the club, don't forget to say well done.  This group will no doubt provide the club's first representatives at national level for about 10 years.

Ps:  Club members are more than welcome to join the group on their endurance sessions and handicap races and if you get in quick now, you may just still be able to beat someone !  Well, maybe not......

 

Incase you hadn't heard, the Annual Dinner was cancelled due to a lack of numbers which, to quote from the theme song of that 20th century icon Humphrey B Bear, "is hardly so very surprising" given the lack of RSVP's.  It will now be rescheduled to January, probably to coincide with the AGM like last year.  

 

Yes, just when you though bacon, eggs and fried onions had become as much a part of Sunday breakfast as whitecaps at a Canning Regatta, Elspeth and Cath' broke out of the routine and went alternative on us.  Pancakes and loads of fruit topped the menu and while the staple bacon and eggs did make an appearance, i'm assured they were cooked using the latest low fat techniques.  Anyway, to cut a long story short, it tasted great, we all ate up big, yum yum.

 

All members please note.  The TIP squad members are required to complete two time trials in single sculls over 2000m on Sunday the 29th between 7am and 9am.  These time trials are required as part of their assessment in the WAIS program, so it's important they're done early in the morning to get the best possible conditions.  As such, almost all the single sculls and a large proportion of blades will be unavailable and things will also be pretty congested out on the course from the bridge down to the club.

Some sculls should start to free up shortly after 8am, but there will need to be enough boats back for the sculling course at 9am.  There are no problems with use of any of the doubles, quads or sweep oar boats.  Club member's patience in this matter is greatly appreciated !

  

There are still lots of responses outstanding for the Annual Dinner.  If you're intending to go, please RSVP to Pam ASAP.

 

For those of you who haven't heard, Rob 'Friendly' Strahan has secured the lease on the Tea Rooms at Tranby House and the grand opening is this Saturday.  You've only got to see Rob in action during Sunday morning breakfast at the club to know it's going to be a choice place to enjoy some coffee/tea and cake by the river.

Rob's mate Craig Ogden, who is an internationally renowned classical guitarist, will also be down on Saturday afternoon to play a few tunes and entertain the crowd.  So, head down and enjoy a real tea or coffee and take in some great music by the river.  Tranby house is just off Penninsula Ave in Maylands.

 

It was your average Sunday morning on the river. Check one sculler with the shirt off and the golden locks flowing as he glided effortlessly across the water.  But, on closer inspection, it wasn't Fabio !   Infact it was none other than Richo, freshly back from cycling across the country, saving the Bilby and appearing in SBS documentaries (not necessarily in that order).

Could there be a new Fabio ?  Will Pete meet this challenge head on by going for hair extensions and a two week crash course at the solarium ?  Will i ever get some real news to put on this page ?  For the answers to all this and more, stay tuned.

 

A message board has been added for people to leave some feedback on this site, or to post information for the club and it's members.  Click here to check it out.

 

Well, things must be pretty slow on the news front around the club if a sculler going in the drink makes the headlines, but hey, we're not too proud to say we'll take any news.  After all, it was none other than Fabio (aka Pete Zappa) getting the golden locks wet.  Rumour has it there was something to do with a gate popping open in the middle of the river and the whitecaps doing the rest (well, it was pretty windy Sunday morning).  After that with Pete being so wet and all, there was no alternative but for him to take his shirt off ! (ok, that's a bit of an 'in' joke...)

 

Click here for a look at what's on the menu for the annual dinner.  Make sure you RSVP by the 27th of October...

 

Now it's Caz's turn to give up the heady life of captaincy at ANA and opt for a nice cruisy couple of years practicing her Spanish and living in an apartment above an Irish pub (yes, you read right !).  Hot on the heels of Simon heading off to Columbia (what is it about ANA captains and South America this year ?), Caz' jets out Tuesday to join Blair in Chilé for at least 18 months, but more likely around 3 years.  Fear not though, Fergus and Sally will still be making guest appearances down the club from time to time.

Once again on behalf of the club, thanks to Caz' for the effort she's put in this year.  No doubt by the time you get back in three years Caz', you'll have forgotten how much grief the job entails and you'll be ready to do it all over again !

 

No not more babies, just some scull blades.  The club has purchased 4 pair of scull blades from Scull Success, better known as Nick Suess Inc.  The funds for this purchase were raised from the Avon Descent and the raffle.  Hopefully this'll help ease the crush for blades on Sunday mornings.

While we're on the subject of blades, a lot of them need painting and repainting.  There is a heap of maintenance work outstanding and this is one of the tasks on the list.  No skill required, just the ability to engage in some general conversation and have a beer while you paint.  Volunteers will be called for soon.  Don't miss out on combining some club work with your creative side otherwise you just might end up with a piece on sandpaper in your hand instead !

 

Below are the local (Western Australian times) for the rowing finals on Sat' and Sun' (according to the Olympic website anyway).  I've no idea if Channel 7 will televise them live but if they don't, ABC radio might be the best bet. 

Sat':

Sun'

 

Under the cunning ruse of celebrating their impending holiday in Europe, securing the lease on the Tranby House café and Nic's birthday,  Rob (Friendly) Strahan and Nicki (the road runner) Maslin had a bit of a get together at Ellis House on Saturday.  While they were there, they thought they'd surprise everyone by getting married as well.  Damn sneaky that !

Congratulations Rob and Nic ! 

 

Did it seem just a few short months ago that i was saying Tim and Annette were expecting a new addition ?  
Well, Eliza Helen arrived at 2pm on Tuesday weighing in at a tidy 6lbs.  For the record she was about 4 weeks early.  Both mother and baby are doing fine.  No word on Tim though.  Congratulations ! 

 

For all of you who don't know, Simon Cook departs this Friday for a leisurely 3 months in Columbia, followed by a month or so winding his way back to Perth through Europe.  Such is the pressure of the job these days, captains don't just hide at the back during AGM's anymore, they leave the country altogether to avoid re-election !

Seriously though, this is a good time for the club to thank Simon for his great effort during the year and wish him a safe and exciting journey.  Simon, your legacy of the boat log book lives on ! (but who's going to award the monthly prize ?)

 

The club has scored a grant to the tune of $600 from Healthway as part of the "Me No Fry" campaign to promote safe sun practices.  Half of the funds will be used for sun protection measures such as a portable shade structure and lots of sunscreen, while the other half will go on first aid kits for the dinghies and coaching subsidies.  So, be sun smart rowers this summer and go for the sunscreen.

 

Annual Dinner:  Incase you missed it above, the date for the annual dinner has been set as the 4th November.  Keep it free and check this page for more details as they come to hand.

New Purchases: The club recently purchased an ex' state 4- which will be converted to a coxless quad for racing crews to take the load of the existing light blue boat.  The riggers are being made at the moment and should be ready in a few weeks.  Incase you've seen it, the boat is the yellow shell that had been residing in the third bay for the past year or so.  Also on the way, is a Sykes reconditioned Concept II B ergo. So for those who feel like a leisurely or otherwise row without getting your feet wet, you now have a choice of three ergos to suffer on.  Apart from rowing equipment, we've also picked up 60 chairs and a dozen tables which means less of you will have to stand at this years annual dinner !   No actually, we really did hire the stuff in the past.

Links Page: Check out the links page which actually finally now does have some links on it.  The Rowing Service by Rachel Quarrell is a particularly good one for all the latest news on international crews and events. 

Save the Tub Quads:  If you've visited the buy/sell page lately, you'll notice that one of the tub quads is up for sale.  These are classic old wooden boats that run well and are perfectly suited to crews who are still finding their balance, or to being loaded up with food and champagne and rowed upstream for a leisurely picnic.  However, with the arrival of the plastic quads, they're not being rowed and because they require a lot of maintenance and we're pretty flush for coxed quads at the recreational level, one of them has been put up for sale.

However, Vice President Nick Suess believes the boats are worth keeping as a pair and is looking for help to get them back up to scratch and restore them to pristine condition.  It'd be great for the club to be able to keep them, but the weight on the dedicated few who do most of the boat maintenance is already pretty heavy.  If you've got a bit of time and would like to assist Nick with his task, let him know.  You don't have to have super skills, just a bit of enthusiasm and patience.  

 

Well not quite, but on Sunday Glyn did receive some long overdue public recognition for his contribution to the club and rowing in Western Australia over the last 10 years.  Long standing club member Denys Warren presented Glyn with an Australian Sports Medal 2000 award for his services as a volunteer administrator and contributor to rowing.  The medal is awarded at federal level and came about after Glyn was nominated by ARAWA.

As Glyn pointed out in accepting the award, he's had a lot of help along the way from club members both past and present and without that help, the club wouldn't be where it is today.  Congratulations Glyn. 

 

With the racing season now over, it was time to have a bit of fun with racing.  With that in mind was Sunday's scratch regatta over 500m finishing outside the clubrooms.  The format was names in the hat and crews drawn by chance, although the 'accidental' forming of any super crews was kept under tight control by Elspeth. 

Racing was in coxed quads and it was good to see everyone in crews other than their usual groups.  Carrying over his championship form, Glyn got his crew across the line first in the A final against Peta's crew.  Plans for an around the buoys relay race in the tub single sculls got canned after the breakfast BBQ smelt just too good.

However, the best effort of the day has to go to Grace's golden retriever puppy Simba, who decided that he didn't like the idea of Grace disappearing rapidly in the coxes seat of a quad as it headed up to the start.  Easy solution, start swimming and swimming and keep swimming.  We figure he made it about 25m past the end of the jetty before Peter came to his rescue on a surf ski. Honestly Grace, we would've stopped but we figured he would've tried to drag the entire boat back to shore in his mouth.  Richard and Jenny also got to demo their new addition - Max the Kelpie/Something cross.  I'm starting to think we need a pets corner on this page. 

 

With the championships being rowed on the weekend, here's a brief rundown on how everyone went.

Glyn Heath won MV1X again, in an excruciatingly painful (his words !) race to hold on to a half canvass lead over a fast finishing John Seroka from Bunbury.  The time was a slick 3:26 in following conditions.  Glyn then backed up with Steve Bourne on the Sunday, to successfully defend their MV2X title against a strong field in a time of 3:24 into a slight headwind.

Place getters in other championship races were:

MM2X - Simon Cook and Gino De Franco 3rd from 5

WM2X - Charmain Baran and Kelly Cook 3rd from 7

Other notable performances were Kelly Cook winning WN1X which probably puts her up into maiden and Gino finally outpacing the old guard of Simon in MN1X on both Saturday and Sunday (only by a bow ball though !).

 

Been finding the foot stretchers on your favourite scull always on the furtherest hole lately ?  Fear not, it's just the newest batch of  TIPsters hitting the water and getting in some miles in the sculls.  If you happen to see a bunch of really tall guys and girls around the shed, say hi and make them feel welcome.

Speaking of the TIP group, it's good to see the original members having a few wins and progressing through to maiden level.  Good luck for the championships...

 

Once again, the Avon Descent finished on the club's doorstep which meant it was time to crank up café ANA to feed the crowd and also to spend the afternoon carrying boats off the finish line.  This is one of the better money spinners for the club and it was pleasing to see plenty of club members down there pitching in, especially all those who raced at Bunbury and then made the trip back to help out.

Boat carrying duty was pretty hectic, with the first shift copping the brunt of the speedboat fleet and the lifting that goes with it.  If you've ever wondered about doing the Avon and how hard it would be, come down next year and help out on the second shift and see those competitors doing it tough in the slower plastic kayaks as they come in.  Guess what the most popular first word was for those being greeted later in the afternoon (no, i wont repeat it here !).  Highlight of the day was a 68 year old grand mother who finished for the first time on her fifth attempt.  Sensational effort.

It was flat out behind the counter as well, with barely enough left for the troops to scrounge at the end of the day.  All up, the day was a big success with the end result looking to be a profit of around $1,400.  Well done all....

 

No, not some crap Britney Spears song, but the latest 'hit' by the novice gals !   Yep, they saw a perfectly good eight sitting there in the shed on Tuesday night and they just couldn't help but take it out and take on another spit post.  The boat faired a little better this time with just a very bent rigger to show for the crash.  

Now, before everyone starts to think that it's just the novice gals who have the spit posts quaking in their cement reinforcement, it's not so.  It's been a pretty busy time in boat hospital with the Tipsters being caught out by the Sandy Beach post and unfortunate fates befalling the Ravenswood and the Bayswater.  Well done to Steve Bourne and Glyn for putting in some long hours of boat repair to get them back on the water. 

 

As mentioned a bit further down the page, ex club member Richo set off on Tuesday (25th July) along with his cycling partner in crime Regina, to cycle across the country in an effort to raise money to save the Bilby.  We'll be posting some regular updates from Richo on how the epic journey is going (regular meaning whenever Richo happens to stumble across a PC in the middle of the Nullabor).  Click here to catch up on the latest.

 

Sunday morning on the water had a bit more purpose this week with the first (of hopefully several) coaching sessions run by Catherine Harrison.  The site of speedies zipping around armed with video cameras, was enough to get some serious concentration frowns happening in the boats.

It was an excellent opportunity for the group of about 30 rowers to get some good advice and too see just how bad you can be made to look on camera (it was enough to make me hop in a kayak and paddle off in the opposite direction !).  Once off the water, the crews were able to head back to the traditional Sunday morning breakfast and try to look as  inconspicuous as possible when they hit the big (well, little actually) screen. 

If you're an ex rower perhaps looking to get back into the sport and think coaching might be the go, contact the club and let us know as we can always do with more coaches on the water.

 

Well, another clean record bites the dust with the news that Grace Lazuardi took her first swim out of a scull last week ! Apparently one of those pesky spit posts jumped out in front of her and really messed up the balance.  Grace was last seen hanging on grimly to said spitpost (or possibly trying to strangle the life out of it) as the scull slipped away underneath her.

Resident jet setting international playboy Chris (Golden) Marinelli, who has just returned from 6 weeks of living it up in France and Italy, has labeled as scandalous the rumour (possibly started by Steve Bourne) that he had to buy a second suitcase to bring back his supply of new Armani's.  He said it was just an overnight bag.....    For the record, the holiday was apparently sensational.

Ex' club legend Paul (Richo) Richardson is embarking on a bike ride across the country (from Perth Zoo to Taronga Zoo to be exact), to raise money to help save the Bilby from destruction by feral animals.  The "Go Long Basil Tour" (don't ask me why..) departs at the end of July.  If you want to sponsor Richo, or indeed just ask him why, he can be reached at pricho@hotmail.com

 

A momentous occasion, with the balance of the boatshed loan account being paid this morning, ANA is now officially debt free !

This is no mean feat considering that over the last seven years since the club moved from Canning Bridge in 1992, we've managed to finance approximately $150,000 to upgrade the clubrooms and take ownership of bays 1, 2 and 3 in the boatshed and a further $100,000 on boats and equipment.  About $80,000 of that came from various government grants, cash on hand at the time of the move and a small amount of sponsorship but the rest has come from membership fees and fundraising (ie: hard work).  

Without the commitment to make loan repayments for the third bay, we will have around $24,000 each year to invest in boats and oars.  It's only going to take a couple of years for that level of investment to make a huge difference to our fleet.  Congratulations to everyone who's been involved, especially the core group of people (some who are still with the club and some who have moved on) who really put in some long hours to make it all happen. 

If you're really keen to find out how the club's finances work, click here for more info'.

 

A rowathon to assist the Australian Olympic Team took place on Sunday, 16th June.  Crews started at 7am from the ANA shed at Bayswater and headed upstream to Woodbridge House in Guildford.  The Woodbridge café laid on a great breakfast menu for all those who made it up there and made tackling the return leg just that bit easier (or perhaps harder if you look at it another way).  All up, the return distance was 20km (or so Glyn assured us).

The weather was absolutely perfect with millpond conditions greeting the crews as they arrived at the shed making for some great photo opportunities.  We'll put a few pictures up here as soon as they're developed, along with a more complete story of the event.  Profits from the rowathon were equally divided between the Olympic team and our club so here's hoping we had a lot of sponsorships.

Click on the pictures for a better look ===>   On the way to Woodbridge house.        Breakfast at Woodbridge House.

 

And for our first non rowing related piece, comes the news that Tim and Annette Boyle are expecting a new addition !  Yes, baby number one is on the way.  As they already have the station wagon to cope with the usual ton of gear that gets carted around with every new bub, keen observers are waiting to see whether it's Tim or Annette's scull that gets fitted with the baby seat. 

Congratulations from all of us at the club.  Obviously that spring in Tim's step wasn't just from getting out of the dry cleaning business !

 

ANA's annual pennant regatta was held on the Bayswater course on Saturday, the 3rd of June.  Racing commenced at 10am on the buoyed 1000m course outside the club at the A.P. Hinds reserve.  For once, we actually had the weather on our side and didn't experience the driving wind and rain that's been a part of the last few regattas.

The event turned out to be a huge success thanks to some great organisation and a lot of hard effort in laying out the course and pulling it back up on the Sunday after.  A more complete wrap up of the event will be posted up here shortly.  For results of the days racing, visit the ARAWA website at www.rowingwa.asn.au 

 

Never one to do things by half, Ben and his novice women ensured some newsletter notoriety and probably doubled the membership of the Turtle Club for 2000, by rolling the quad on Sunday.   Now, i'm not sure we're buying the crew response of  "Ben just told us to row harder on one side and over it went !".  Could this be the result of having a slightly lopsided cox, or were the crew out to get revenge for some of Ben's recent hell training sessions and decided no price was too much to pay ?

Crew members were heard to comment that "it seemed to take ages, it seemed so graceful !".  If only i had my camera.

 

Follow the link to read up on all the news and action from the Challenge Cup Regatta.

 

Well, it's been a while since we've heard that old familiar sound of a boat hitting a spit post, but rest assured Steve Wiencke and the novice women will be hearing it in their dreams for a little while to come.  Yep, they showed that red spit post just upstream of the Redcliffe bridge who was really boss by using the 2 rigger on the Gibney to take at least a good inch of paint off the post.  Unfortunately, the boat faired a little worse but fear not, it's fixable.

The girls were into a nice three quarter weight piece with (and here's the ironic bit), their eyes closed for that extra bit of concentration.  We're not sure whether Steve in the cox's seat also had his eyes shut (just kidding Steve !), but pretty soon it was very open eyes all round as the spitty jumped right into the path of the eight and managed to do a remarkably good job of stopping 750kg worth of boat and crew very quickly (there were plenty of bruises the next day to prove it).

Fortunately, after an unexpected 2k run, Marianne and Amanda found Glyn and Davo still at the shed, and with a little rope and windshield protector magic from McGyver Heath, the Gibney made it home behind the speedy - just.

Click on the picture for a sneak peek of the Gibney waiting to be put back together ==>  Damage to the Gibney