Thursday 30 September
Academy helps elite athletes feel at home
Meagan Rooth, Warrnambool Standard, 30/9/10
A SHORT trip home will no longer mean a costly break in training for national rowing team member Tommy Bertrand.
With the help of a new South West Academy of Sport (SWAS) program, the 26-year-old will be able to return to Warrnambool without interrupting his extensive training routine.
Bertrand signed on as the first SWAS elite athlete earlier this week.
The innovative program, designed by SWAS executive Glenn Singleton, provides south-west sporting exports access to quality facilities when they are visiting the region.
Bertrand is preparing for the World Rowing Championships in New Zealand in November.
He forced his way into the Australian lightweight eight's boat last month.
The Melbourne-based rower said the SWAS elite athlete program would allow him to continue his gruelling schedule when he travels home.
"It's going to be a big help," he said.
"It will be a big advantage when I'm in Warrnambool.
"I will have access to the same facilities as I would in Melbourne.
"I'll have access to a good gym, physio, strength and resistance training programs and sport medicine."
Bertrand will also act as a mentor for younger SWAS members.
The Brauer College graduate said he understood the struggles of country athletes trying to reach the top level of a chosen sport.
"I know how hard it is if you have high aspirations,'' he said. "If I can offer some kind of support, that would be great."
Bertrand will contest his fifth world championships in two months.
Most of his time is spent conditioning the body, rather than the mind.
He said he looked forward to having the option of coming home.
"I will be able to spend more time with family," he said.
"Sometimes the mental side of sport is forgotten. "It is important to have a mental break with family."
Singleton said his project was designed to "take the pressure off" elite athletes.
He said he was in talks with other south-west-bred sport stars to join Bertrand in the program.
Thursday 16 September
Club facing an awesome regatta feat
Doug Gillett, Bundaberg News, 16/9/10
ROWING: Ten short days is all the Bundaberg Rowing Club had to organise Queensland's largest regatta.
Heavy rain around Rockhampton clogged the Fitzroy River with debris and forced organisers to cancel the Queensland Schools Rowing Championships.
Bundaberg Rowing Club vice-president Dave Amos received a phone call from a nervous Rowing Queensland official last Wednesday asking whether the annual event could be moved to Bundaberg.
"In my younger days, a coach once said to me: 'you don't have to be crazy to row, but it helps'," Amos said.
"It's something that stayed with me and to be honest, I think I'm still living by it."
A hesitant "yes" given by Amos sent the Bundaberg Rowing Club into a frenzy as committee members and officials rallied to ready Bucca Weir for an influx of rowers from across the state in what will be the Queensland's biggest official regatta.
Nearly 800 rowers will compete across 250 individual races and heats at the three-day event which has been estimated to pump $1.7 million into the local economy.
"All these kids have been training all year long for this event and if we didn't get stuck in and make it happen, it wouldn't have happened," Amos said.
"It's going to be good for the sport, good for our region and it's going to be good for our young competitors."
Bundaberg Rowing Club members and volunteers have been thrust into the deep end as they wade through a sea of administrative paper work and prepare the Bucca Weir site for the influx of visitors.
The two-kilometre course has now been set, boat racks erected, tent sites prepared, pontoons put in place and additional toiletry and catering amenities sourced.
Amos said there were more than a few bleary-eyed and frazzled rowing enthusiasts at Bundaberg Rowing Club headquarters.
"We've been burning the candle at both ends so to speak," he said.
"It hasn't been easy, but it's all going to be worth it.
"The people who have helped out have done it out of a love of rowing and a desire to see younger people enjoy it," he said.
Friday 10 September
Rowing lane dredging plan to be finalised within days
Ballarat Courier, 10/9/10
BALLARAT City Council has begun negotiations with a final contractor to carry out dredging works to help rowers return to Lake Wendouree.
The council held discussions with the contractor yesterday to finalise an environmental management plan for the dredging project.
The dredging works are expected to cost $1.2 million.
It will help to prepare a rowing course in Lake Wendouree which was nominated as the Australian venue to host the 2014 FISA World Rowing Masters Championships.
Ballarat City Council sustainability executive manager Ian Rossiter said he expected the contract to be finalised within "a couple of working days".
While rowers will be keen for works to proceed quickly, Mr Rossiter said it was unlikely the project would be completed by the end of the year.
He would not be drawn on when the works were likely to proceed.
Thursday 9 September
Rowing club’s magic milestone
Tim Williams, Portside Messenger, 9/9/10
CROSSING the line first isn't the only way to win a rowing race on the Port River, Keith Coldwell says.
Enduring wild conditions to finish at all at a regatta in the early 1950s was a victory in itself, the Port Adelaide Rowing Club stalwart recalls.
"We were the only ones who stayed afloat," he says, thanks partly to his crew's cox frantically bailing water with a large jam tin.
"The other four boats in the race all went under."
The Alberton resident, 82, who is preparing for the club's 140th anniversary celebrations, says the river was one big obstacle course for rowers when he joined in 1946. "The Port was absolutely jammed with shipping both sides of the river.
"We used to make our way down the river between the lumps of timber that would fall off the boats and tried not to hit anything.
"We once had an eight (man boat) break in half in the wash of a tug boat." Mr Coldwell, who still hits the water twice a week, was the stroke for the club's victorious state champion eights crews in 1952, '53 and '54. He also represented SA in the national Kings Cup regatta five times.
A fitter by trade, he was one of a dozen or so dedicated members who built the club's base at Snowden's Beach in the late 1950s, moving from Birkenhead.
Country regattas at Murray Bridge were a challenge in the early days, he says, because crews had to carry their heavy wooden boats to the Glanville train station, as they were too long to tow through windy hills roads.
"You'd want at least 10 men but sometimes you didn't get 10 so you really had to struggle with them." Founded in 1870, the same year as the Port Adelaide Football Club, the 100-strong rowing club is Adelaide's oldest and once drew football-size crowds, president Wayne Severin says.
"New Year's Day regattas would attract 20,000 people in the late 19th century and early 20th century," says Mr Severin, a former South African under-23 rower.
The club will re-enact the Challenge Cup, a coxed fours race from North Arm to McLaren's Wharf last contested in the late 1800s, on Saturday, September 11, at noon.
The cup will be brought out from the Maritime Museum on the day.
A 140th anniversary dinner will be held on October 9.
BEST OF THE BEST
Port Adelaide Rowing Club's Finest
Gavin Thredgold: Won bronze as cox of the Australian eight at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Brenton Terrell: Won the President's
Cup for the best single sculler in Australia in 1988.
Tuesday 7 September
Olympian honoured
Manning River Times, 7/9/10
MANNING River Rowing Club has christened its new eight the "Kyrsten Winkley" in recognition of her outstanding rowing achievements.
Kyrsten rose from representing the Manning club and Taree High school to competing for NSW, Sydney Rowing Club and finally Australia at the Olympics. Manning River purchased the boat from a club in Canberra and it has proved to be competitive already.
It replaces the old timber eight the "Robyn Williams" and it is the intention to make this the club "fun" boat for all sweep oar rowers, both juniors and veterans.
Kyrsten followed her sister Nikki into rowing at the Manning River Rowing Club in 1993 as a school girl and junior club rower.
Under club coach John Corbett, Kyrsten won State and national events.
After leaving Taree High she joined Sydney Rowing Club and competed on the world stage. Highlights of her rowing career include a sixth at the junior worlds in a double in 1999; gold at the worlds in 2002 in the U23 women's four; silver at the 2003 worlds in the women's pair and reserve in the Australian Olympic women's eight in Athens in 2004.
The club committee was unanimous in agreeing to name the new eight in honour of Kyrsten Winkley.
Meanwhile, Manning River Rowing Club's season kicks off this Sunday with learn to row classes, starting at 7am at the clubhouse.
Classes will run for about eight weeks.
The club competes at about a dozen regattas from the Hunter to Port Macquarie during the summer, including two large regattas held in Taree in January and March.
Cost for the learn to row is $5 per session and starters will need to be able to swim at least 100 metres and be 12 years and older.
For more details contact club president, Tony Beeton on 0402140887 or Greg Crisp on 0418294633. The season's first regatta is at Berry Park at Morpeth.
Those rowers who wish to go need to pay their membership fees and contact club captain Phil Walters.
Monday 6 September
Pulling hard to raise kids
Elissa Doherty, Herald Sun, 4/9/10
Olympic champ's oarsome role
FOR Olympic rower James Tomkins, being a father to three girls is a joy, but also an "oarsome" responsibility.
"They're great children," he said of Jessica, 8, and twins Holly and Georgia, 5. "I feel really lucky to have healthy, happy kids who love me.
"But, while Father's Day is a celebration for fathers, it's also a reminder that it's such a massive responsibility, guiding your children towards adulthood."
Tomkins revealed in a new book that his wife Bridget was told she had miscarried their first daughter. However, at 16 weeks, the two were thrilled to discover she was still pregnant.
The revelation is made in a new book, Cheers to Childbirth, featuring well-known dads, including comedian Adam Spencer and surfer Mark Occhilupo, sharing their experiences of childbirth.
Tomkins told the Herald Sun of their pain at being wrongly told they'd lost their first child, Jessica.
"It was pretty disappointing," he said. "He told us we were no longer pregnant, without any ultrasound. We then went to Switzerland and climbed an 8000ft mountain.
"She was 14 weeks pregnant and we didn't even know. She was getting a bit puffed."
The couple now believe the symptoms of miscarriage Bridget experienced were probably due to a twin who didn't survive.
In the book, Tomkins says he approached the birth like an athlete, cheering on his wife.
He also says he received an unwanted visit upon arriving home from the hospital with their newborn twins, Holly and Georgia.
Waiting on their doorstep were officers from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, as he'd been selected for a random drug test.
Tomkins said he wanted to take part in the book to help balance the scales, saying men could be publicly forgotten in the early stages of child-rearing.
He admits to having felt ill-prepared for parenthood but also how being a father has put sport into perspective.
The reality of his retirement from professional rowing last week was starting to sink in.
"I'm looking forward to spending more time with the girls, and just having fun with them," he said.
"They grow up so quickly."
Among the other candid accounts of 15 men, Spencer says his "dicky eye" was the result of a botched forceps delivery, and world champion surfer Occhilupo explains why he loves being a dad.
The book, by Lucy Perry, who runs Beer + Bubs for dads-to-be, aims to answer questions men are too afraid to ask.
Wednesday 1 September
World Cup dedication
Meagan Rooth, Warrnambool Standard, 1/9/10
All-or-nothing attitude reaps rewards for Bertrand
FORMER Warrnambool rower Tommy Bertrand has weathered a wintry storm to force his way into the national rowing team.
The 23-year-old missed out on the squad after the first round of selection trials in April and subsequently missed out on Australia's campaign at the world cup in Europe.
Instead of shelving his oar and heading for dry land, Bertrand courageously battled on in Melbourne alone.
The Victorian Institute of Sport talent pounced at his final opportunity for national qualification last week in Sydney.
He impressed selectors and secured a seat in the men's lightweight eight for the World Rowing Championships in New Zealand next month.
Warrnambool's Kathryn Ross and partner Grant Bailey will also represent the nation in the trunk and arms double skull after stellar performances in trials and at the world cup in Ukraine.
Bertrand said his selection was a fitting reward for his persistence.
"It was a pretty rough winter," he said.
"I felt pretty dejected after the first round.
"Everyone I usually trained with was in Europe."
With a ticket to the championships becoming more unlikely, Bertrand was faced with two choices: give up or train harder.
However, he admitted the former was never really an option.
The Deakin University student committed to an exhausting training program, including work on the Yarra, in the gym and on the pavement.
"It was an all-or-nothing attitude," he said.
"I did on-water stuff four or five times a week, weight programs three times a week and cross training as well.
"I knew (the intensive program) was either going to break me or make me stronger."
Despite having his eye on the men's four, Bertrand said he was more than happy to settle into the lightweight eight at the cost of another hopeful.
"Ideally I would have liked to make the four but they didn't open it up for selection," he said.
"I had to kick someone out of the team.
"It's hard to swap a person to another boat, things can go either way.
"It's a real cut-throat process but that's how it has to be."
The approaching competition will mark Bertrand's fifth appearance at world championship level and second in the senior field.
He said he sat at the experienced end of the boat with two-time Olympian Ben Cureton.
"We've got a good mix of youth and experience," he said.
"We're a really enthusiastic team and we're all very excited."
Italy, Denmark and Germany are set to pose the biggest threat to the Australian crew.
But the former Brauer College pupil admitted the green and gold will have a major advantage when they cross the Tasman.
"It's the first time in 20 years a world championship has been held in the southern hemisphere," Bertrand said.
"It is an advantage because we don't have to travel too far and we won't have to deal with jet lag."
The group will meet in Sydney this weekend before training individually for a month.
Bertrand and his teammates will return to Penrith for a three-week program before the titles which start on Saturday, October 30.
