Tuesday 22 December
Winning cycle for western athletes
Westside News, 22/12/09
From tons and tries to records and rep honours, the best of the west have been on fire this year.
We started the year with the inaugural Brisbane International tennis tournament which proved to be a hit with players and fans.
March heralded the arrival of St Peters Western's Ryan Napoleon, who knocked 34 seconds off his personal best to become the sixth fastest Australian freestyler over 1500m and qualify for the World Championships. Napoleon's SPW teammate Yolane Kukla picked up where he left off in April, winning five gold medals in the pool and breaking three Australian records at the National Age Championships.
In May we celebrated the selection of St Lucia's Carla Hunter in the Australian hockey squad for the 2009 Junior World Cup, while Taringa Rover Tom Guttormsen wowed us with a spectacular strike.
The name Kukla dominated the headlines again in July, only this time it was Yolane's sister Gabrielle, who became the youngest Australian female to compete at a Rowing World Championships, winning bronze in the under-23 lightweight quad in the Czech Republic.
August belonged to Brookfield cyclist Michael Hepburn, who broke his own world record twice in one day to win the under-19 3km individual pursuit at the UCI Junior Track World Championships in Moscow.
And westsiders Maddie Edmunds and Jess Hall won silver as members of the Australian Women's Quad at the Junior World Championships in France.
It was back to the pool in October with The Gap's Aisling Scott dominating the New Zealand Open Championships to win seven short-course gold medals.
Finally, it was the cricketers and rugby players who stole the show towards the end of the year with University's Scott Walter starring for the Queensland Bulls in the Sheffield Shield and Uni winger Luke Morahan earning a call-up to the Wallabies.
Monday 21 December
Barnier is a project under development
Merryn Sherwood, Canberra Times, 19/12/09
Canberra rower Matthew Barnier hopes this week's national talent identification camp at the AIS will lead to national team honours.
A passion for elite rowing runs in the family with his elder brother Nick, 19, already having won medals at the junior world youth championships as well as making the trip to Beijing to experience Olympic competition.
It's not like Nick is an Australian star just yet, but Matthew, 17, said it's something that people have always asked him about.
"Nick has worked so hard, so I don't hold a grudge against him," he said. "A lot of people are like, do you want to be like your brother? I'm my own person so I'll just do what I have to."
Matthew Barnier is one of 38 junior athletes in camp this week.
The program's co-ordinator Wayne Diplock said the camp was about turning potential into the next generation of world championship and Olympic rowers.
"There never has been a national camps program for the younger age groups," Diplock said.
"So I think it does provide more motivation for them to try and get selected for the camps.
"It gives us a really great opportunity to see them at different stages in the season.
"Ultimately they still have to perform well at nationals in March and trials in April, but now they get an understanding of where they sit in the whole scheme of things in December and they can go back and work hard and work on the problems, which we are working with them to identify and help them improve."
Matthew Barnier said it had already helped him improve.
"This week we've really worked on the drive," he said.
"Sometimes you think it's just about getting in the boat and smashing it through, but it's not."
"So it's just working on technique and things like that."
Barnier's next aim is nationals in March, followed by world trials in April where he is hoping to qualify for worlds in the men's pair alongside fellow Canberra Grammar student Angus Moore.
"The next stage for me is to try and make the Australian team," he said. "I tried this year but was unsuccessful, but this year I'm hoping to come back a bit better, a bit stronger, smarter and technically a bit better."
The other ACT athletes at the camp are Nick Purnell, Riley Owen and Caitlin McCormack.
Thursday 17 December
Five get a chance with rowing camp
aunceston Examiner, 17/12/09
FIVE Tasmanian rowers are among a group of Australia's brightest rowing prospects chosen to attend a National Talent Identification and Development camp at the AIS this week.
St Patrick's and North-Esk rower Paul Barrett, Tamar's Sam Hall, Launceston Grammar School's Ciona Wilson and Annabel Gibson and New Norfolk's Oliver Wilson Haffenden are among 38 rowers at the NTID program.
It aims to identify athletes with Olympic medal-winning characteristics from around the country and provide them with a series of development steps.
One of the main aims of the camp will be to provide an elite level training camp and learning environment for athletes seen as potential 2010–11 national team candidates in junior, youth and under-23 categories.
"We've been well represented from Tasmania with the five athletes," Rowing Tasmanian development officer Anthony Edwards said. "And in particular the three lightweight rowers in Sam, Oliver and Annabel because we hold a tradition in lightweight rowing from a Tassie point of view. But it's great to see a heavyweight male and female in Paul Barrett and Ciona Wilson chosen as well."
Edwards said the selection of the five boded well for the future of Tasmanian rowing.
Wednesday 16 December
Junior crews in medal harvest
Daily Mercury, 16/12/09
Mackay Rowing Club juniors put the club on the map at the recent state championships.
A group of 12 junior rowers attended the titles in Bundaberg, bringing back with them 16 medals, including a gold medal to Mackay's first state champion in Alice Buda.
Buda was subsequently recognised by Rowing Queensland as a rising talent. She joined Emily Partridge, Michelle Wade, Sarah Dunn and Emily Stokes in winning a silver medal in the under-16 girls quad.
The winning crew was a handpicked Queensland junior combination which was forced to put together their best race to ensure the gold medal over the Mackay girls.
The boys quad, consisting of Hayden Storti, Colin Hoyle, Karl Bowkett, Cameron Jamieson and coxed by Julia Kadddatz, rowed a strong race to come third in a very tight finish against two experienced crews from Rockhampton and Brisbane.
Two under-14 girls in Stephanie Malone and Sophie Webb-Smith gained valuable experience at this level and are already planning to return next year.
The junior development program was initiated in August after the Mackay Head of the River and this was the first group of juniors to attend a state open championships.
Their efforts did not go unnoticed with rowing Queensland officials planning to travel to Mackay next year to inspect the facilities available and assist in planning for the future.
A training weekend is open to all rowers and coaches next month when they will be exposed to top level coaching from an experienced international coach. This will complement the local coaching headed by Mike Partridge who was responsible for the successful junior program this year.
Mackay rowing is fortunate to have a coach of his experience and knowledge locally and the benefits of this will flow on through the years to come.
Tuesday 15 December
Athletes receive TIS scholarships
Rob Shaw, Launceston Examiner, 15/12/09
SOME 134 athletes aged from 12 to 36 and representing 22 sports received their Tasmanian Institute of Sport scholarships for 2010 yesterday.
Most of those were at the Rokeby Police Academy presentation with many focused on next year's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India.
Tasmania produced nine athletes for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and latest indications suggest the state should see a similar number selected for the 2010 Games in October.
In the scholarship intake were 10 world champions including seniors Hanny Allston (orienteering), Clint Freeman (archery), Kate Hornsey, Kerry Hore and Ingrid Fenger (all rowing) and juniors Amy Cure (cycling), Scott Brennan, Charlotte Walters, Tom Gibson and Carly Cottam (all rowing).
Twelve Olympians were among the intake – Brennan, Hore, Hornsey, Gibson and fellow rowers Sam Beltz, Anthony Edwards and Brendan Long, judo player Stephanie Grant, steeplechaser Donna MacFarlane, hockey duo Eddie Ockenden and David Guest and rower-turned-cyclist Cameron Wurf.
The crop saw 36 athletes receiving a TIS scholarship for the first time.
Workplace Relations Minister Lisa Singh announced the scholarships, which she said were essential to ensure that talented Tasmanian athletes have access to the best opportunities to realise their sporting ambitions.
"It will be an important year for athletes striving to represent Australia at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in (New) Delhi, India, and Tasmanians indeed stand a bit taller when they see one of their own excelling at the top level," she said.
She said Launceston archer Freeman was a fine example of the success of the scholarships, having returned to the program after a two-year break from elite competition.
Saturday 12 December
The long haul to leave Beijing’s pain behind
Chris Dutton, Canberra Times, 12/12/09
Refreshed and energised, Sam Beltz says he is ready to take the first step to erase the memory of his horror Beijing Olympic experience.
Touted as a medal hope at the start of the Games, Beltz and crewmate Tom Gibson flopped in the semifinal and were relegated to finishing 10th in the double-sculls event.
A race that promised so much turned into a nightmare that has haunted Beltz for the past year.
But after 12 months out of the water, the 29-year-old is bursting with excitement as he begins his journey to the London Olympics in 2012.
Beltz and 39 of Australia's best rowers will wrapuip a week-long Canberra training camp this weekend.
And despite being a mainstay of the national team since 2001, he knows his spot in the boat to London is far from guaranteed.
"I needed a bit of time to get my head space right," Beltz, of Hobart, said. "I bought a house, did some renovating and I just needed to freshen up.
"It's great now, this is my first camp back and I'm really enjoying it ... I definitely feel [like I need to fight for my spot] – that's good and that's what I felt like I needed.
"It's not going to be easy to make it this year, let alone the Olympics in 2012, but I'm looking forward to the challenge."
Beltz was not the only Olympic rower who took time off to recuperate this year.
But his idea of "taking a break" is not what most would consider relaxing.
To ensure he could devote his full attention to rowing towards London, he upped his workload as a physiotherapist to fund three years of training.
And it will all be worth it if he can secure his first Olympic medal.
"Rowing's obviously a sport where there's not a huge amount of money involved, so you've got to generate it when you can," Beltz said.
"I always thought that if I got a gold medal [at Beijing] then that might be it.
"But underachieving is definitely one of the driving forces in wanting to get back and do a lot better.
And the longer I've been out of the boat the more I want to get back in."
The Australian team's next big event will be the world championships in New Zealand in November next year.
Men's team captain David Crawshay is one rower almost certain to be selected.
He and teammate Scott Brennan won a gold medal in the double sculls final at Beijing.
Brennan is yet to return to the national squad, but Crawshay said he was keen to emulate his Olympic triumph in the coming years.
"I thought it would be fairly difficult [to get back into training], but it's not too bad," Crawshay said.
"The motivation is still there ... there's healthy rivalry in the squad with young guys pushing up which is good for us.
"It's a long preparation [for the world championships]. The danger is you go stale if you're in the boat all day, every day.
"So it has to be about mixing it up, getting off the water and on to the bike or something different."
Wednesday 9 December
Students converted after dipping their toes into the sport of rowing
Josh Callinan, Maitland Mercury, 9/12/09
Maitland Grossmann High School students Sheree Budworth, Jaimie Davies and Hayden Bird have been converted.
A dip in the sport of rowing through a program run at the Maitland school by Endeavour Rowing Club has seen the trio take to the water on a more regular basis.
All three have joined the rowing club, which is situated on the banks of the Hunter River at Berry Park, after first experiencing the Olympic sport at school.
Bird, 15, is the latest convert and the Year 9 student finished with two medals, a silver and a bronze, in the singles and the doubles respectively as part of the 400m sprint series at Newcastle Rowing Club on the weekend.
Year 10 students Budworth and Davies participated together at the same competition and narrowly missed out on gold in the doubles but picked up two silvers.
They both medalled in their individual rows.
Budworth, who started rowing in Year 7, said the sport offered something else others like netball and swimming did not.
"The interaction between friends and being able to do something different as a sport," Budworth said.
Davies said she enjoyed the early morning starts and the mist on the river at sunrise.
The school rowing program has been in place for more than seven years.
One of the program co-ordinators Allen Atkins, who manages the events alongside Ivan Adlam and Jill Carlstrom, said the program was beneficial for students and introduced them to a skilful sport.
Tuesday 8 December
Rowers in training
Toowoomba chronicle, 8/12/09
TOOWOOMBA rowing duo Pippa Savage and Sally Kehoe will this week take part in rowing training camps at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra as preparations continue for the 2010 season.
Kehoe and Savage join 13 other Beijing Olympians and another eight rowers as they ramp up their training ahead of 2010's two World Cups and the World Rowing Championships in New Zealand.
The women's camp will begin on December 10.
Monday 7 December
Rowing ace goes to trials
Bendigo Advertiser, 7/12/09
THE October winner in The Advertiser WIN Television Sports Star of the Year award, rowing champion Hannah Every-Hall will be bound for Canberra this week for a training camp.
Aiming to compete at the 2012 London Olympics, Every-Hall was in hot form in the single scull and fours at this year's World Masters Games in Sydney.
The sculling ace will train with Australia's lightweight squad at the AIS.
Training for the women's squad will start on Thursday and wind up on Sunday.
These days, Every-Hall's training sessions are based around her family – husband Michael and sons Harrison, 3, and Charlie, 1.
Every-Hall was The Advertiser Sports Star of the Year in 2002–03.
This year The Advertiser has teamed up with WIN Television and major sponsor RegionalOne Credit Union to ensure the Sports Star tradition continues.
A gold medallist in the men's double scull at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, David Crawshay will be at next week's camp.
The men's squad will begin their camp on Monday morning, with the heavyweight and lightweight crews on the water.
Friday 4 December
Algae level rules change may open up lakes to sport
Megan Doherty, Canberra Times, 4/12/09
Rowers, yachties and other lake users may be able to get on the water at times of higher blue-green algae levels after revelations that ACT Health is reviewing its health guidelines.
National Capital Authority chief executive Gary Rake revealed yesterday a draft document was being finalised recommending that the blue-green algae level which would force the closure of the lakes be increased almost three-fold from 50,000 cells per millilitre to 125,000 cells per millilitre.
The new system would mean the lakes would still be closed to the general public but other users who had organised activities such as rowing regattas could apply for a permit allowing them to be on the water during the higher blue-green algae levels. They would need to meet certain criteria such as having on-site showers for people to wash down after their activities.
The permit for Lake Burley Griffin would be given through the National Capital Authority and for Lake Tuggeranong and Lake Ginninderra through the ACT Environment Protection Authority.
The draft document should be released within weeks.
"We've been working with ACT Health to find a way for organised events such as club training or rowing regattas to continue," Mr Rake said.
"We're going to come out and talk to the community to see if there might be a permit system that would enable them to conduct events at cell counts between 50,000 and 125,000.
"It's not a firm decision as yet, it's a draft paper. If this proposal went ahead it would be implemented across all Canberra lakes. The proposal is being put by ACT Health. It's entirely their work, and we think it's very, very good work."
Lake users were outraged earlier this year when Lake Burley Griffin was closed by the authority between February and June because of blue-green algae. Some thought it was overkill for activities that did not require immersion in the water. The authority said at the time it was compelled to follow ACT Health's guidelines.
An authority spokesman said yesterday had the proposed new 125,000 cells per millilitre limit been in place earlier this year, it would have reduced closures in Lake Burley Griffin East Basin by 25 per cent and in its West Basin by more than 50 per cent.
Mr Rake told the Federal Parliament's national capital committee yesterday that the authority met lake users on Wednesday to inform them of the proposed new guidelines.
Canberra Yacht Club commodore Paddy Hodgman said the proposal was "a really intelligent idea and the NCA has been really good at accommodating our needs".
Mr Hodgman said he believed the new upper limits would help the yacht club meet its program of events, including the spiral class national championships in January.
However, ACT Rowing Association executive officer Simon Tulloh said the proposed revised guidelines were not the complete solution for rowers, who should be treated more leniently because rowers did not get into the water unless there was an accident.
They were anxious about approaching events such as the schools' regatta in February and the ACT championships in March.
Thursday 3 December
Marburg keeps an eye on lake
Melanie Whelan, Ballarat Courier, 3/12/09
OLYMPIC and world championship silver medallist James Marburg can hardly wait for rowing to return to Lake Wendouree.
Marburg is proud to see a strong fleet of Ballarat crews making their mark on the nationals each year – and does not want to see that talent pool "dry up".
He was back in the St Patrick's College boat shed yesterday, the place where he learnt to row, helping a new generation of oarsmen.
"Everyone in rowing is keen to see rowing here. Ballarat has a great talent pool ... a lot of people don't understand how many rowers in the national team first learnt how to row in Ballarat," Marburg said.
We need these guys (St Pats) and all school rowers to step up and take rowing to the next level when they finish school in Melbourne or wherever they go to uni.
"I encourage then to take up the oar.
"They can have a big impact on rowing."
Marburg last rowed in a regatta on Lake Wendouree about five years ago and was a member of St Pat's firsts in 2000, finishing second to Ballarat High School in Head of the Lake.
He made his Olympic debut in Beijing last year, winning silver in the Australian men's lightweight coxless four.
Marburg, 26, is among an impressive list of national squad rowers who learnt their trade on Lake Wendouree, including Wendouree-Ballarat's Emily Martin, former Ballarat Clarendon College crew-mate Sarah Heard, gold medal coach Chris O'Brien, four-time Olympian Anthony Edwards and Ballarat Grammar's Tom Swan, who hails from Albury.
He hoped that with more water on the lake, Ballarat would continue to shape the Rowing Australia fraternity.
Marburg keeps a close eye on the water levels when he returns home to family in Ballarat and was pleased to see the city making the most of conditions and improving the course.
Dredging works are complete at the start and finish lines to gradually bring Lake Wendouree back in line with national rowing standards.
But he was still sad to see the almost swamp-like conditions of the lake bed.
"It's pretty disappointing," Marburg said.
"My parents live near Ballarat City Rowing and I used to spend a lot of time rowing or running about the lake.
"You can fully appreciate how much the lake was to the central heart of the city, not just for rowing but all sports.
"You always appreciate what you had when it's gone."
Wednesday 2 December
Partner hunt nears end
Jared Lynch, Warrnambool Standard, 2/12/09
Silver medallist hopes Beijing teammate will return
ATTEMPTS at luring back her Beijing silver medallist rowing partner look set to have paid off for Kathryn Ross.
The Warrnambool rower and John Maclean missed out on clinching gold at last year's Beijing Paralympics by an eighth of a second.
Maclean retired after the event and Ross began an arduous search to find a replacement.
But yesterday she said Maclean was considering a comeback.
"John Maclean is looking at coming back, which is a good sign," Ross said about her search for a rowing partner.
"I didn't have to twist his arm that much."
Ross shifted her training base from Sydney to Canberra last Saturday to begin a program with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
She said Maclean was considering taking up the oars again after he noted recent progress she made in the sport.
Maclean said before Beijing that he took up rowing with Ross to win Paralympic gold.
"I think he wants to finish what he set out to achieve," Ross said.
"The gold medal was within our grasp, we only missed out by an eighth of a second and we had only being rowing together for 18 months.
"I told him 'imagine what we could achieve if we had a couple of years under our belt'."
Maclean is yet to confirm whether he'll join Ross again in the mixed doubles.
He has been competing in ironman events.
Ross said it was hard to find a perfect rowing combination.
"John and I both know we gel," she said.
"We can train apart and know when we come together it works."
Ross began training with the AIS on Monday.
The program was similar to Sydney, she said.
The timeline for finding a partner is up to Rowing Australia, Ross said.
Her focus is now on the world championships which will be held in New Zealand late next year.
"There will be state and nationals in the meantime. I just need to try and pick up my performance and become stronger," she said.
Tuesday 1 December
Rowing to good health
Progress Leader, 1/12/09
A GROUP of Balwyn students is getting schooled in rowing.
A new pilot program organised by Rowing Victoria is introducing the sport of rowing to state schools and students, with the support of Kew's Xavier College.
Balwyn High School students were among the first in the state to experience the initiative.
Xavier's head of rowing Julian Whitehead said the students had showed potential.
"We all need to be community-minded and the boys and girls from Balwyn High have developed really strongly over the past five weeks in the program," Mr Whitehead said.
The weekly coaching program gives students the opportunity to learn the skills of the sport, with coaches and equipment provided. It is designed to help youngsters develop the fundamental skills of rowing while focusing on health and fitness.
