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Juniors Ready to take on the World – By Coach Lachlan Carter
It’s been a long campaign for the SRC JM4X in their preparation for the World Championships in Rotterdam. Pasha Bevan, Tom Barnes, Jackson Kench and Max Brenner are now in their 18th week of training since being selected and as the 24th of August draws closer, they are all very excited to get stuck into some world class racing. I should also mention that Harriet Hudson is in the same situation but not the same boat as she prepares to take on the best junior scullers in the world in the single sculls event.
Throughout this campaign, the guys have put in really good work as they aim to #belikemorgs. Their technical sculling skills have come a long way since the end of the schoolboy season when the three Shore boys could not row square blades in a single scull. Using two handles at once was a bit much for the sweepers at first as they kept rotating to their preferred sweep sides but now they are more central in the boat and sculling nicely. It was up to the local hero Max Brenner to show them how it’s done from the bow seat.
As with any crew training for a major event, there are bound to be injuries and illnesses that can put people out of the boat and we have had our fair share of that. Thankfully we are so fortunate to be in a club full of talented and experienced rowers who are all so supportive and RTG when a seat needs filling. We would like to thank Lucas Giles, Charlie Patterson, Harriet Hudson, Leah Saunders and Nathan Bowden for their contribution to this crew by making it possible for us to get on the water when we are a man down. The Henley eight was also a massive help as they provided the JM4X with some seriously good pace to train beside. A few other club crews were also put together to provide that extra bit of pressure for the guys to work beside. Most of all, special thanks must go to Max Duignan for his major contribution as he has been on standby pretty much each week to jump in wherever, whenever. Max has shared his experience and knowledge in sculling and has passed on many skills that have helped to make this crew a better unit. Thanks again for everything you’ve done for us Max.
Pasha Bevan (the male model from Waverton) will be the youngest junior in the Australian team. His ability to step up to the line in the desperate dying stages of the race will be an asset for this crew. He sets a great rhythm and there is nothing complicated about his style of rowing. It’s easy to follow and it is consistent. He ticks all the boxes of a good stroke seat. Pasha has the X-Factor. He has that coolness under pressure which brings confidence to a crew. You know when he’s busting dance moves to his some phat beats before a gruelling erg session that he is going to put some serious watts through the machine.
Tom (Jimmy) Barnes sits in three and makes sure that the boat is well driven and that he enables Pasha to keep the rhythm. Thomas the tank engine adds a lot of HP to this boat as well as experience. He was in the AUS JM4+ at last year’s World Championships in Rio and placed 5th. His desire to be number #1 is what keeps this crew accountable for all the work they do. He sets a high standard and leads by example, which keeps the crew searching for more. In the gym, Tom has found his bench pull to be as strong as his squat so it is good to know that he can finish his strokes off just as hard as his legs can drive off the front.
Jackson Kench is another young junior in year 11. His skills and stillness in the boat are what brings finesse to this crew. His attention to detail comes from his role as the RSM in the Shore Cadet Corps. Jackson loves the drills and the discipline required to row well and look the part. He keeps the blade work clean and gets the crew holding good form while under pressure which is crucial when your crew is under attack from the German or Czech crews.
Max Brenner is the local hero from Concord High. He has spent a lot of his rowing life in a single scull which has taught him much about discipline and toughness. His experience in coxless crew boats is also valuable as the three Shore School fellas in front of him have always had a coxswains steering them along the river and telling them what to do. Max calls the shots and makes the commands and the boys just do it.
The boys are under no illusions as to the quality of field in this event. Australia has sent some quality JM4Xs to the world champs in recent years and only made B finals. The last JM4X from Australia to medal was back in 2006 with SRC members Kurt Spencer, Bede Clarke and Coach John Bowes placing 3rd. That was 10 years ago and now the Junior World championships are back in the Netherlands and the Australian JM4X is made up entirely of SRC members so hopefully there is a trend.
This campaign has been a really enjoyable experience for me as a coach and I can’t wait to see what the boys and Harriet can do. They have a great attitude and have been kicking goals with both feet every week. I am confident that they will put their best performance forward on the day and do Australia proud. Above all, I hope they take this experience forward in order to make them better rowers/athletes/people in the future. I like to think that they have developed the skills that will set them up to have success in the long term and I believe that we can look forward to some promising rowing careers beginning right here.
Thank you to everyone for your ongoing support. Without you, this would not be possible.
GO SRC and GO AUS!
Sydney Rowing Club – Notice of Meeting
Click here for Notice of SRC’s Annual General Meeting on 25 September 2016.
Counting down to Rio
We are excitedly counting the days down as members of Sydney Rowing Club make their final preparations to commence their campaign for Olympic glory against the best rowers in the world.
SRC athletes Alex Lloyd and Spencer Turrin competing together in the Men’s Pair and Chris Morgan in the Men’s Double Scull, will commence racing this Saturday night at the stunning Rodrigode Freitas Lagoon in the heart of Rio.
We encourage you to follow their Olympic dreams by watching their performances commencing at 9:30pm (Sydney time) on the following days:
Saturday 6 August – Heats
Sunday 7 August – Repechage
Tuesday 9 August – Semi-finals
Thursday 11 August – Finals
Why not get down to the SRC Lounge at the Club to watch the full Olympic coverage.
We wish these members all the best and hope that their hard work and dedication to the sport we love pays off.
Support the Union
Please support the Union of Rowers annual awards by contributing to the 2016 Youth Development Fundraiser. The most significant activity of the Union of Rowers is the ongoing support that is given to promising young athletes each year. In 2016 the Union made seven scholarship awards of $1,000 each. Over 100 of these awards have been made since 1992. Click here for the flyer.
Sydney Shines at Winter Series
Photo Credit: Ron Trent
SRC remembers Heritage in Pozieres
21 June 2016
I am the very proud aunt of Joshua Dunkley-Smith, silver medallist in the four at London, and a member of the Rio team. I am soon to visit the Western Front, and appropriately the soldier I have been allocated to commemorate is Captain Keith HERITAGE, a rower with your club. He competed at the Henley Royal Regatta and was a member of the Olympic team in 1912. His story is a fascinating one, both prior to and during his military service. He earned the Military Cross for his gallantry in the field. I will be laying a poppy/small Australian flag/Rosemary at his grave in July just a few days short of the centenary of his death. I was wondering whether your club has a badge (or similar) that I may be able to include in the tribute. I am happy to purchase such an item. Captain Heritage will be solemnly remembered by 40 Aussies and 4 Belgians, and acknowledged with “Lest we Forget” from all. Interestingly he had four brothers who served (all of whom returned) and two of whom were also decorated for Gallantry. Wonderful service from grandsons of a convict transported to Van Diemen’s land. Hoping that you may be able to assist me. Thank you. Marion
22 June 2016
Hello Marion
Thanks for getting in touch with us.
Yes, we would be happy to give you a club badge to include in your tribute for Keith Heritage. Can you supply a mailing address please and we will send it to you.
We decided we would commemorate the centenary of the Anzac landing by naming four new boats in honour of club members who died in World War 1, and Keith Heritage was one of those members.
At the boat christening we read out the following short biography of Keith Heritage:
“Captain Keith Heritage grew up in Launceston and rowed in the winning Tasmanian crew in the Interstate Eights in 1906. He moved to Sydney where he worked for the Union Steamship Company. He rowed in the winning NSW crew in the Interstate eights in 1911. This crew then formed the basis of the eight that toured to represent Australia at the 1912 Stockholm Olympic Games. The crew competed in the Henley Royal Regatta as Sydney Rowing Club, winning the Grand Challenge eights, rowing in the boat Q L Deloitte which was built in Sydney and transported to Europe. After Henley the Australian eight was reselected and Keith Heritage was replaced. The Australians were beaten by the British crew in the semi-final, the same crew they had beaten at Henley.
On the outbreak of war in 1914, Keith Heritage joined up on 11 August 1914, and was possibly the first Australian to join up.
He did not join the AIF, which had not been formed at that stage. He joined the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force which had been assembled and dispatched to New Guinea within days of the war commencing, with the objective of ousting Germany from its colonies in New Guinea. This was Australia’s first military action overseas in World War One. He served with the British administration in Rabaul before returning to Australia in 1915 and joined the 19th Battalion AIF which landed in Gallipoli in August that year.
He is said to have been one of the last of the Anzac forces evacuated from Gallipoli in December 1915. He went to Egypt and while there was promoted to captain in February 1916.
After several months in Egypt, Captain Heritage was given command of a raiding party near Armentieres in France. On July 1, 1916, his bravery was noted by General Sir William Birdwood, following a successful raid on enemy trenches on the night of June 25-26.
This successful action eventually resulted in the awarding of the Military Cross to Captain Heritage. The London Gazette of August 25, 1916 stated that the medal had been conferred by King George V in recognition of Captain Heritage’s gallantry and devotion to duty in the field. The award related particularly to conspicuous gallantry during the raid on the German trenches when about 20 of the enemy were killed and four prisoners taken. “He carried back a wounded man single-handed and throughout the raid set a fine example of cool courage,” the citation concluded.
Sadly, Captain Heritage was killed in action on 26 July 1916 and buried in the field at Pozieres a month before news of his award was made public. It is likely he never knew of the honour.
Keith Heritage was 32 and a bachelor.
23 June 2016
Dear Keith
Thank you so much Keith for your detailed email and the offer of the club badge. I will be thrilled and honoured to add it to the tribute, and will email the club a photo.
I am travelling through the area with 40 Aussies and 4 Belgians, one of whom is a folk singer. I may see if I can find the right song for him to sing at our small commemoration. Or perhaps we could all sing the National Anthem.
(My great uncle perished at Pozieres two weeks after Keith, aged 19)
The information that was read out at the boat christening was wonderful. Thank you for including that.
Having the family connection with an Olympic rower, I can begin to understand the disappointment of being left out of a winning crew!
I recently read “The Boys in the Boat”. What a wonderful read, a real eye-opener. I stayed up until 3 am to complete the book, and I wanted to immediately start it again.
I have researched the other three rowers who were also honoured by your club.
I do not have all their names to hand (on a train to Melbourne), but I remember Wellisch and I will be able to place a poppy by his name on the wall at Lone Pine (witnessed by 30 Aussies) before we travel to Europe. Another rower is buried close to Ypres in Belgian, and there is a faint possibility that I could leave him a poppy too. Next year I hope to be visiting Lemnos, so hopefully I could visit the grave of the other soldier at Mudros cemetery.
Thank you again for your willingness to add to my tribute.
I wish your club well, and particularly those members who will be at Rio.
I was perusing your annual report on line yesterday and was so impressed by your history.
I recognised many names who are/have been crew mates of Joshua.
Fingers firmly crossed for all, but particularly the men’s four. The Brits may be just too strong, but you never know.
Cheers for now, Marion Snowden
23 July 2016
Dear Keith,
Our group of “Feel the Spirits” travellers have had some wonderful large and small commemorations over the past 5 days.
However, yesterday was very special for myself and the group, as they listened spellbound to the story of Keith Heritage.
When we arrived at the Pozieres British cemetery there was a flurry of activity. The military was rehearsing for the re-burial of three WW1 Australian soldiers.
(We witnessed a reburial with full military honours two days. It was remarkable.)
As there will be the centenary commemoration service tomorrow, there were also film crews, including one from French TV, who seemed keen to talk to Aussies.
As you can see by the attached photos they filmed my talk, and then interviewed me afterwards. I left the written information about Keith with them.
I doubt I will ever see the footage, but that doesn’t really matter. It was about Captain Heritage and not me.
Also by the photos you can see that I left a few things by his headstone.
A friend of the family knitted a poppy for me, and on it I placed the SRC badge, a small Australian flag and a pebble from the beach at Gallipoli.
One has to have faith that these things will not be pilfered, but rest assured 39 Aussies and 34 Belgians were moved by the story and were proud to echo “Lest We Forget”.
Rio Olympics – Rowing Program Preview – by Phil Coates
In just a matter of days the Games of the XXXI Olympiad will get underway, with the rowing taking place during the first week of competition. This year the regatta will be held on the stunning Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon in the heart of Rio. With the world famous Sugarloaf Mountain and Christ the Redeemer looking down on the course, this is arguably the most spectacular venue to host an Olympic Regatta since Penrith in 2000. Over the next two editions The Catch will be previewing all the action – first up, we look at the Men’s heavyweight side of the competition.
- Men’s Single Scull
The favourite to take out the single scull will be defending champion Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand, but a few new challengers on the scene will mean Mahe has to be on his A game to join the likes of Bobby Pierce, Thomas Lange and Olaf Tufte as a repeat winner of the Olympic Gold in this event.
Coached by the mercurial Dick Tonks, a former consultant to the SRC men’s open squad and friend of the club, Drysdale would be a deserving champion given his performances over the Olympiad. He was a comfortable winner of both the Lucerne and Poznan World Cups in 2016, before being defeated by the young Belgian Hanes Obreno in the Diamond Challenge Sculls at Henley Royal Regatta. Drysdale, while ever consistent, has had an unfortunate habit of coming into trouble in advance of major regattas, and nerves will be on edge after the surprise defeat at Henley.
The biggest challenge is expected to come from the silver medallist of the London and Beijing Games – Ondrej Synek of the Czech Republic. He was safely held by Drysdale at Lucerne but his preparation has been faultless and at age 34 will surely know this is his last shot at the title with the aforementioned Obreno and Damir Martin of Croatia the rising stars of the boat class.
One to keep an eye out for in the heats is Luigi Teilemb of Vanuatu who many members will be familiar with from his time training at SRC last year.
- Men’s Double Scull
This event will of course hold great interest for SRC as our very own Chris Morgan races for Australia alongside the young West Australian David Watts. This is relatively new combination, with Morg’s having an injury interrupted Olympiad while Watts is relatively new to the Senior A ranks.
The untouchable Sinkovic bros of Croatia have owned this event, but once you get past them it’s a wide open event a medal could be on the cards. The key opponents in the race of silver and bronze will be New Zealand, Great Britain Lithuania and Norway, but there are plenty of unknowns in the field.
As mentioned, the Croatians are the undisputed champs in this event, and similar to the men’s pair, the only question marks on their performance will be the winning margin.
- Men’s Pair
Similar to the double, the dominance of the Kiwis presents a great opportunity for the silver and bronze medals which we all hope will be taken by the Sydney pair of Alex Lloyd and Spencer Turrin. Having rowed together for SRC since their junior days the Club will be right behind the boys when they line up in Rio. Initially modest expectations have risen significantly after an excellent European season and they will rightly start a strong fancy for a medal.
The Kiwi pair of Eric Murray and Hamish Bond will be the clear favourites of the regatta, and likely the one rowing crew that will attract global prominence at the Games given their incredible winning record dating back to 2009. There is an SRC connection in this crew with former head coach Gary Robertson the father in law of Eric Murray.
As ever, team GB will represent a challenge and the Dutch have also demonstrated good speed this year, but behind the Kiwis it really is wide open.
- Men’s four
The mantle of the Oarsome Foursome has well and truly been passed from Australia to Great Britain over the last 20 years, with the Brits taking the last 4 gold medals and favoured to do so again in Rio. Interesting all the main contenders in this event have had some uncertainty around selection throughout the season, but the prevailing wisdom is that GB will again take out the event.
Obviously the four holds great hope for Australia and after going so close to winning at Lucerne confidence will be high for an upset win that would be a huge boost for the entire team.
The Italian’s have been building in this boat class over a number of years and while only a young crew, have been the subject of interesting betting move since Domenico Montrone moved into the crew after competing in the eight earlier in the season.
- Men’s quad
The quad sees the resumption of what has developed into a spirited rivalry between Australia and Germany dating back to the 2011 World Championships in which the great Dan Noonan led the Australian’s to an upset victory on Lake Bled. The Germans got their revenge at the London Olympics, defeating the Croatians and the Australians.
There have been a few personnel changes since then but again it looks to be Germany v Australia, with the Aussies the marginal favourites after a series of strong performances during the European Summer. This has been a rapid rise for the John Driesson coached crew who have certainly been the surprise packets of 2016. Such is the momentum behind the crew that they, along with Kim Brennan nee Crow, will be the ‘bankers’ on which RA will be desperate to deliver Gold.
The likes of Poland and Estonia will inevitably provide strong resistance but it looks a race in two.
- Men’s eight
The eight looks the most open event on the men’s program, with anyone’s guess as to who will win between Germany, the Netherlands and Great Britain. Even the United States have shown some glimpses of improvement this year and could challenge for the gold.
Unfortunately Australia was unable to qualify a boat, so it will be an event to sit back and enjoy, with perhaps a small investment on team USA to get the job done in the blue riband event.
Sydney the Balmain Attraction at JB Sharp IV – by Phil Coates
The club enjoyed great success on Sunday at the penultimate JB Sharp regatta of the season. On the treacherous Balmain course crews endured high winds, rough seas and significant boat traffic to emerge in a strong position to win the overall trophy for the series.
A bitter cold met the SRC competitors who, in various stages of preparedness, had gathered in Iron Cove for the Balmain JB Sharp regatta. The cornerstone of the SRC tilt at this year’s series has been the under 16 scullers – Sara McDonald and Tim Trent. Again they got the club off to a winning start in both of their events, with Tim easily accounting for the men’s field while Sara had just a length to spare in her race.
Sydney sent out 4 scullers in the time honoured men’s novice single scull, with the best return coming from Jim Appleton who finished 2nd to a Russian sculler. The women’s quad won by 30 seconds and the other win on the day to Sydney came in the open eights, where traditional rivals Glebe were bested by half a length after a spirited dual over the 1000m course.
There were many entries over the entire program ensuring that the club continued to accrue points through the minor placings, particularly in the novice and junior events.
Going into the final regatta of the series this weekend, SRC stands on the precipice of unprecedented success across the multiple point score trophies on honour. This is a remarkable achievement given the complete failure of the 2015 campaign, in which for the first time in the 2010s the club failed to win a single trophy.
This turnaround in successes must be attributed to Captain Paul.
The final regatta of the series will be held this Sunday on Iron Cove, following which refreshments will be enjoyed at the Leichhardt shed before the presentations are made by Barry Moynihan OAM. All supporters are invited to attend what will undoubtedly be a memorable day for the club.
Not to be at Henley 2016 – by Don Cech
Our crew has left Henley after showing great speed and form in their two races. In the first round they beat a tough opponent in a time that was by far the fastest of the day in all events. In the second round the crew raced NSR Oslo in a close encounter. Despite crossing the finish line first, they were unfortunately disqualified for a blade clash, which allowed the Norwegians passage ultimately through to the final. We believed this crew had the speed to win the Thames Challenge Cup. From the racing they did, all time splits posted on the course pointed towards a Sunday finals show down, so our consolation is that our first impressions of the crew were accurate, this was a quality crew capable of success. Despite the disappointment of their disqualification, the long period of preparation and training will provide great benefits for our squad as they move into next season. I look forward to seeing what the core of this crew can deliver in regattas next season, with almost all the boys eligible for under 23 crews, I think we will turn the Selector’s heads.
Five Members on the Road to Rio
