Message from the CEO
It is hard to believe that we are already into September and there remains action aplenty both on and off the water.
The international rowing season is reaching its focal point, with the 2010 World Rowing Championships less than eight weeks away. The national selectors ran their final selection trials at the end of August and chose a group of 50 athletes to represent Australia across 15 crews. The team contains a good mixture of youth and experience and I look forward to following their progress in the eight day regatta at the start of November.
On the domestic scene, the 2010/2011 season is about to begin, with school and club rowers gearing up for another campaign of rowing. The season promises to be an exciting one for all involved, and there is a sense of anticipation building for the return of the Australian Rowing Championships to West Lakes in South Australia. West Lakes last held the national regatta in 1999.
I would like to congratulate our junior rowers who have had a busy month. Firstly, two of our six crews won medals at the 2010 World Junior Rowing Championships in Racice, Czech Republic. The women’s four and men’s coxed four won bronze medals in wet and windy conditions, while the women’s double scull and men’s four both made their respective A Finals.
Australia entered two crews at the subsequent World Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and won medals in both categories. In the inaugural staging of the newest chapter of the Olympic movement, Emma Basher and Olympia Aldersey won silver in the women’s pair, and David Watts and Matt Cochran won a bronze medal in the men’s pair. Congratulations to both crews and AIS Scholarship coach Tom Morris on a successful regatta.
Following rowing’s recent addition to the list of optional sports for future Commonwealth Games, RA sent a team of emerging athletes to the 2010 Commonwealth Rowing Regatta in Ontario, Canada. Australia finished third in the medal tally for the event with 13 medals in total, including 4 Gold. This is an extremely pleasing result given the relative inexperience of the Australian crews and the results of this team, coupled with the results from the recent World University Championships (2 bronze medals) and the performances and obvious potential of the National Junior and Under 23 teams auger well for the future of Australian elite rowing.
Following a series of delays in announcing the specific funding allocation to sports following the Government’s Policy “Australian Sport: A Pathway to Success” in May, RA was advised last week that it will be the recipient of a $1.5million boost in funding per annum. Further details will be provided in the coming weeks regarding the breakdown of funds.
August also saw the retirement of one of Australia, and the worlds, greatest oarsman. James Tomkins announced that he would not be making a return to the boat to contest selection for the 2012 London Olympic Games. James’ commitment and contribution to the sport over the past two decades has been exceptional and on behalf of Rowing Australia, I would like to wish him and his wife Brigette, and their three kids Jessica, Holly and Georgia.
Away from the rowing course and Rowing Australia welcomed a new Director to the Board in August. Barnaby Eaton was appointed to the RA Board and will provide a great deal of expertise in the areas of school rowing, management and administration.
The review of the ROMS system continues to progress smoothly and RA looks forward to achieving an outcome that will best deliver the membership and competition management requirements of the rowing community.
WinTech has been confirmed as the major sponsor of the National Rowing Conference that will run from 3-5 December at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. RA has been fortunate to secure a number of well-respected and highly qualified presenters including Malcolm Speed (former International Cricket Council CEO, Australian Cricket Board CEO and ASC Board Member), David Parkin (4 times AFL premiership winning coach), Neil Barras (expert in the area of coach mentoring, John Quinn (high performance coach – Australian track & field team and Essendon FC) and a host of rowing luminaries such as Andrew Matheson, Noel Donaldson, Lyall McCarthy and Peter Shakespear.
In July, Rowing Australia and the State Associations performed a National Rowing Census to obtain a clearer and more accurate measurement of the total number of rowers and supporters in Australia. Following the completion of the census, results indicated there are approximately 60,000 participants and supporters in Australia. The success of the census would not have been possible without the support of the States Associations and particularly the clubs, schools and other organisations that took the time to complete the census, so I would like to thank everyone involved for their assistance.
While the last month has been busy, the remaining four months of the year promises even more success and progress for Australian rowing. The current rowing landscape in Australia is indeed a very exciting one and I look forward with great anticipation to continuing the growth and development of rowing in Australia.
Andrew Dee
CEO Rowing Australia
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