December 2008
Monday 15 December
Future of rowing underway in Canberra
The exciting future of Australian rowing commenced this week in Canberra with the newly established National Rowing Centre of Excellence (NRCE) hosting an intensive training camp.
Over 70 of Australia’s most talented emerging rowers were invited to attend the camp by the newly appointed National High Performance Director, Andrew Matheson.
The athletes will be placed through a week long assessment camp at the Australian Institute of Sport where they will be scrutinised by national Head Coaches, Noel Donaldson and Lyall McCarthy. All three of Australia’s Olympic medal winning coaches – Rhett Ayliffe (men’s double scull), Chris O’Brien (men’s pair) and Tim Conrad (men’s four) – will also participate in the camp.
In this unique camp which is unlike any other at the AIS, athletes will be put through a combination of rigorous assessments, combined with education and instruction sessions.
High Performance Director Andrew Matheson commented that although only two days into the camp, the talent pool is impressive.
“We understand that we have to perform in the future,” Matheson said. “Our whole program has been restructured and re-positioned from top to bottom with one goal in mind – medals success in the future.
“Some of the talent we have on show here is pretty raw, but we have a coaching pool second to none in the world and we are confident that if any athlete has any talent within them, our coaches will make the most of it.
Matheson went on to say that the new program is promising to deliver key results.
“We are putting a lot of pressure on ourselves at the moment. We realise that there are some areas of opportunity that still exist in our High Performance Program and so we have taken some hard steps and done a lot of work to get prepared for the future.
It’s all about Leadership and its all about coordinating all the great programs we have and integrating them into one single focus – medals. We have great partners in our programs from the AIS to every State Institute, Academy, Association and Club - and we will rely heavily on each of them to help us deliver.”
The camp will conclude on Friday, with a select few athletes to be offered AIS scholarships.
For more information please call
David Polglase on 0401 453 041
back to top
Saturday 13 December
Captain Crawshay scoops major prize
2008 Australian rowing team captain, David Crawshay, has been awarded Rowing Australia’s highest honour tonight after being named as Rowers’ Rower of the Year at a function held at The National Museum of Australia, Canberra.
Crawshay claimed a shock gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the men’s double scull with Tasmanian Scott Brennan, whilst also picking up two bronze medals at World Cup regattas earlier in the season.
“It’s been a pretty amazing year and I will definitely look back at 2008 with fond memories,” Crawshay said. “The gold medal experience I shared with Scott in Beijing will be a memory I keep with me for a long time to come but to also captain the team was an enjoyable experience.
“To be recognised by my peers in such a manner means a lot to me and I look forward to sharing more successes with them in the coming years.”
The men’s pair of Duncan Free and Drew Ginn fought off strong competition from Crawshay and Brennan and the men’s four to win Male Crew of the Year. Ginn and Free, who won back to back World Championships in 2006 and 2007, entered the Beijing regatta as firm favourites to win gold but were almost derailed when Ginn was badly affected by a bulging disc in his back.
The women’s lightweight quad scull crew of Bronwen Watson, Alice McNamara, Miranda Bennett and Ingrid Fenger was awarded Female Crew of the Year after claiming the gold medal at the non-Olympic World Championships in July.
Tasmanian coach Rhett Ayliffe held off a strong challenge to claim 2008 Coach of the Year after he steered the men’s double scull to a gold medal in Beijing and also played a significant role in the development of the men’s single and quad scull crews. Ayliffe pipped men’s pair coach Chris O’Brien, men’s four coach Tim Conrad and the women’s lightweight quad scull coach Ellen Randell for the title.
Olympic team manager Ray Ebert was recognised for his tireless contribution to the sport over the past four years as he was announced as 2008 Volunteer of the Year. Ebert, who has acted as either assistant manager or manager for the last four years, was a worthy winner of the award.
The Rower of the Year Awards also marked the first day of the U23 national camp, where Australia’s emerging athletes have their chance to push for senior selection in 2009 and beyond. Over 70 athletes will attend the week long camp that will be held out of the AIS facilities in Canberra.
For more information please call
David Polglase on 0401 453 041
Full list of Winners:
Rowers’ Rower of the Year
David Crawshay (Victoria)
Male Crew of the Year
Men’s Pair
Drew Ginn (Victoria), Duncan Free (Queensland)
Female Crew of the Year
Women’s Lightweight Quad Scull
Bronwen Watson (NSW)
Ingrid Fenger (Tasmania)
Miranda Bennett (NSW)
Alice McNamara (Victoria)
Coach of the Year
Rhett Ayliffe (Tasmania)
Volunteer of the Year
Ray Ebert (Queensland)
back to top
November 2008
Thursday 27 November
Crew makes history on Yarra River
History will be made on Melbourne’s Yarra River this weekend as the first ever “adaptive” rowing eight competes in the 50th running of the Head of the Yarra.
The Head of the Yarra Regatta is the largest regatta in the Southern Hemisphere and is only open to coxed eights.
188 boats have been entered in this year’s event, with international crews also making the journey to Melbourne to compete in the regatta.
The “adaptive” rowing crew will feature former Australian representatives, as well as members of the 2008 Australian team, most notably Kathryn Ross (VIC) who claimed a silver medal at the Beijing Paralympics.
Joining Ross in the crew are Lisa Brown (VIC), Peter Siri (QLD), Sam Redding (SA), Kirra Yates (VIC), Leroi Court (TAS), Carol Cooke (VIC), Julia Collins (NSW) and Michael Bishop (VIC).
The crew has received vital support from a number of organisations which has enabled them to compete in the event. The Yarra Yarra Rowing Club will provide accommodation and coaching, Wesley College organised a boat for the crew and the Australian Paralympic Committee covered the entry fees.
Carol Cooke, who will row in the 4 seat on the weekend, says that the opportunity to race in such a major event will be a highlight for all members of the crew.
“We want to show others that anything is possible no matter what your disability and that we can compete in the able bodied world,” Cooke said. “I am hoping that we can prove that there is room for an adaptive category and next year invite other countries to take part as well.”
Full biography on crew members (pdf, 52kb)
For more information contact
Carol Cooke on 0417 360 883
back to top
Wednesday 26 November
McNamara remains as Australian rowing President
Patrick McNamara has been re-elected as President of Rowing Australia following the AGM that was held in Hobart last weekend.
McNamara, a former deputy Premier of Victoria for seven years, first assumed the position in 2000 and has been at the heart of some of the major developments in Australian rowing during this period.
McNamara has also held the post as President of the Commonwealth Rowing Association.
Joining McNamara in gaining re-election to the board is the current Rowing Australia Director of Development and Football Federation Australia High Performance Director, John Boultbee. Boultbee is also an executive member of international body for rowing, FISA.
Michael Sparksman is the only new addition to the board, and he replaces Bob Pennington, who did not seek re-nomination. Sparksman and Boultbee will serve two year terms.
The full Rowing Australia board:
President — Patrick McNamara
Director of Finance — David England
Director of High Performance — Colin Smith
Director of Development — John Boultbee
Director, Chair of Athlete’s Commission — Rebecca Joyce
Director — Ray Ebert
Director — Mike McKay
Director — Michael Sparksman
For more information please call
David Polglase on 0401 453 041
back to top
October 2008
Tuesday 14 October
Rowing CEO extends stay
Rowing Australia CEO, Andrew Dee, will remain in his current position after the board extended his contract until the end of 2012.
Dee has been head of the National Sporting Organisation since February 2003 and has been central to a number of important changes in the sport, more recently the formation of the new high performance structure between the AIS and Rowing Australia.
Dee says that he is looking forward to spending four more years with Rowing Australia.
“I appreciate the show of faith that the Board has demonstrated in reappointing me for another four years,” Dee said.
“Australian sport is experiencing challenging times and I am confident I can contribute to the discussions about the future structure and funding for the benefit of rowing and sport as a whole.”
The latest announcement from Rowing Australia comes after the appointment of Andrew Matheson as National Performance Director, Noel Donaldson as Men’s Head Coach and the re-appointment of Lyall McCarthy as Women’s Head Coach.
For more information please call
David Polglase on 0401 453 041
back to top
Friday 3 October
Coaching hierarchy gathers for the future
The new era of Australian Rowing will continue to gather momentum as the 2008 Rowing Australia Coaches Conference is held on the Gold Coast this weekend, October 3–5.
Consistent with its plan to restructure the high performance coaching structure, recently appointed National High Performance Director Andrew Matheson, together with National/AIS head coaches, Noel Donaldson and Lyall McCarthy and all national team coaches from around Australia will be in attendance the conference to establish the way forward.
“Australia’s new coaching hierarchy will be the envy of the rowing world”, RA CEO Andrew Dee said.
“This period of planning and review is critical for our future success and we will leave no stone unturned in our effort to get it right”
The key note speaker for the event will be Paul Thompson. Australian–born Thompson, who coached at the AIS for a decade, moved to Great Britain before the Sydney Olympic Games to head up the Great Britain women’s and lightweight program.
Thompson has coached crews to medals at the last four Olympic Games, including leading the Australian women’s pair to gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. This crew remains the only Australian women’s crew to taste success at Olympic level.
He led the Great British team to the top of the medal tally in Beijing with his crews winning a gold, silver and bronze medal and his experience and expertise as a coach will provide invaluable insight at this year’s conference.
There will also be presentations from Rowing Australia CEO Andrew Dee and Australia’s medal winning coaches from Beijing - Chris O’Brien (men’s pair), Tim Conrad (men’s four) and Rhett Ayliffe (men’s double scull).
The conference will be held at the Sofitel Hotel on the Gold Coast.
For more information please call
David Polglase on 0401 453 041
