Newcastle University Boat Club Newsletter October 2009 Australian University Championships 2009 University Champs is arguably one of the most exciting and important events on the NUBC calendar. This year, competition was held at Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra between September 29 and October 3. Our Uni Champs team consisted of 16 students, with a good mix of novice and experienced rowers. Over winter, a number of dedicated crews trained for many hours on and off the water in preparation for the event. This year’s competition was the first Uni Champs experience for many, and for some it was the last. Overall, the effort put in by crews was reflected in NUBC being a strong competitor on the water, despite windy and very cold conditions. Off the water, social outings resulted in many stories that will no doubt remain in club history for some time. To the excitement of many, it was confirmed that Uni Champs 2010 will be held in Perth, WA! Official race results are as below: Mix4+ (Bollinger, Holmes, Marshall, Dickson c:Maxwell) – 3rd, B Final Mix8+ (Sands, Mujic, Van Ewyk, Buckton, Wilkinson, Elliot, Pfennigwerth, Lowe c:Flowers) – 6th, A Final W1x (Madeleine Van Ewyk) – 6th, B Final WL4x (Bollinger, Holmes, Maxwell, Flowers) 4th in Final M4+ (Hanley, Farnsworth, Marshall, Dickson c:Buckton) – 4th B Final ML4+ (Elliot, Pfennigwerth, Wilkinson, Lowe) – 5th, A Final W4+ (Sands, Buckton, Mujic, Flowers c:Bollinger), 1st, B Final M8+ (Marshall, Hanley, Farnsworth, Dickson, Pfennigwerth, Lowe Wilkinson, Elliot, c:Holmes), 4th, B final
(Most of) the NUBC Uni Champs team 2009!!!
The Men’s Coxed Four trains on Lake Burley Griffin, as Shaun and Maddy watch on…
The Women’s Coxed Four trains on Lake Burley Griffin in a lovely photo by Ro…
Other Recent Regattas It may have taken over a week for some to recover from the intense physical exertion of Uni Champs (and its post-celebrations); however some of our rowers have already been competing at recent local regattas! Last weekend (Oct 17-18) saw four of our rowers competing in the St George and Nepean Regattas. Congratulations to Anthony Mujic who placed a very, very close second in the Men’s open/lwt/U23 Single Scull, and Maddy Van Ewyk, who placed third in the Women’s U21 Single Scull events at St George on Saturday. Announcements/Upcoming Events RNSW Spring Regatta, 24th Oct NUBC Regatta, 31st Oct HVGS Regatta, 1st Nov Invitations to the NUBC Formal Dinner (to be held 21 Nov) were sent out this week, cost is $40 for a 3 course meal. It’s and excuse to dress up and rumour is that the dessert is Pavlova and sticky-date pudding; if that’s not an excuse to come, I don’t know what is! The event will include Godfrey Tanner Medal presentation and a talk by guest speaker Charlie Bartlett. Copies of the invite and RSVP forms can be found at nubc.info Hunter Regatta, 22nd Nov (if anyone is able to row after inevitable post-Formal Dinner celebrations!) CDRA Sprints, 6th Dec NUBC Nelson Bay Day Trip (date to be confirmed soon!)
If anybody would like to put an announcement, upcoming event or any other item in future newsletters, please contact me (Annelise) via email.
The Men’s Eight train on Lake Burley Griffin at Uni Champs
Uni Champs Mixed Eight
Maddy in her single
The Story of the Women’s Four and the Bee Final – By Genevieve Buckton (experienced participant)
rower
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AUC
This is a tale of hardship, struggles against the odds, friendship and bitter disappointment, but most of all it is a tale of sweet, honey tasting success. Our journey begins on the worst of mornings; the first day of racing. “Strong winds and maximum temperatures of 12° C”, said the weatherman in a slow, smiling, drawl, mocking us from his air-conditioned studio. Despite his dire warnings it was Lake Burley Griffin to which we ventured to face off against our enemies for the first time. “But where is our competition?” the crew pondered as we (most expertly) lowered our faithful Red Stripe onto the water, “There are only
men’s fours getting onto the water at present!”
On closer examination, we realised that these were indeed our competitors and that they were of the strongest calibre. Women with shoulders as wide as buses, bulging quads and calves protruding from their legs like enormous kransky sausages strung together by a knee. And their faces; their faces were the worst. Intense glares were permanently etched into their features. It was time for us to get our game faces…on.
Our warm up was perfect and our practice starts nearing so. Yet an unrelenting cross wind constantly niggled at our boat…and our nerves. The starting line moved from the open, buffeted 1800m mark to the more sheltered 1500m mark, robbing us of 300m of precious water which we would usually use to stage a comeback in the final desperate stages of a race. Tensions in the boat began to rise as the wind took control over the boat from us.
“Up to ¾!” “Check it there!”
“Taps on Bow!” “Attention! Row!”
With those simple words all nervous thoughts and feelings were expelled from our minds as we powered into a slightly flustered start. From here, dear readers, my memory becomes slightly fragmented. *Flash* we leave a drunk and disorderly Canberra Uni for dead. *Flash* on par with most crews. *Flash* the boat is slumping. *Flash* where are we? How long to go? *Flash* Monash is in reach, we can catch them, push harder. *Flash* “Check it up!” and the race is over. We had finished 5th out 6 crews, a little disappointed that we were beat by Monash, but nothing we couldn’t fix in the repechage….
Day 2 and conditions had improved, starts were once more at the 1800m mark, the wind had changed direction and intensity, and our crew was feeling fitter than ever. With an absence of wind our crew was awash with a state of intense calmness.
Deep breaths Up to ¾ Deep breaths “Attention. Row!”
Our start is strong; we are equal with the other crews. *Flash* 500m gone and we are still equal second. *Flash* Legs hurting, boat rushing. *Flash* dropped back to third. *Flash* 500m to go, we can get second if we “LIFT!” *Flash* the race is over; we have been pipped at the post, just missed out on second place and a place in the A-final. It was our most desperate moment dear readers, sitting there at the finish heaving in pain and anguish. We had rowed hard and well, but perhaps did not settle as a crew to our full potential. But we had to move forwards, so while spending a relaxing afternoon resting in the weak Canberra sun (some of us getting a little looser than planned) we set our sights on winning the B-final… Day 3 and conditions have worsened once more, dear readers. The temperature reached a maximum of 10°C with a wind chill factor decreasing it to 5°C degrees, prime conditions for spooning. And spoon we surely did. Something must’ve happened in that spoon, dear readers; some kind of bonding which gelled us together. We rowed up to the start line in true champion fashion, putting on brave faces against the bitter cold. Now well practiced at positioning the boat we waited at the start line for those increasingly familiar two words.
“Attention. Row!”
Once again we’re off, this time everything sticks much clearer in my mind. We powered away from the start neck and neck with Monash and Macquarie. 500m into the race Macquarie powered ahead leaving Monash and us battling in second place, when suddenly something clicked. Our strokes lengthened, our finishes became strong and clean and our balance smooth. Soon both we and Monash were in line with Macquarie, and it didn’t stop there. The excitement of placing second pricked the sides of our intent and onwards we flew, eventually slipping past Monash into first place. From here our happiness and determination increased at an exponential rate and our rowing proportionately so. We couldn’t contain ourselves and began shouting out words of encouragement, “WE’RE Ellie even screaming WINNING! I LOVE YOU GUYS!” Finally we crossed the finish line eight seconds ahead of the rest of the field, out of breath and loving life! Euphoria took hold of us all, some of us even wanting to celebrate clothe-less…and that’s the end of that!
The Women’s Lightweight Quad Report – By Merran Holmes (a relatively novice rower, competing at Uni Champs for the first time)
It’s interesting to think back two and a half months to when the quad was first put together and to remember a certain (male) member of the club disparaging us as having very little chance of making any decent showing at Uni Games; in fact I believe the inference was that we would be a laughing stock. Over the past ten or so weeks Bron, Ro, Ellie and I, under the highly motivational coaching of Sean, have trained tirelessly, both on and off water, through an exhausting marathon week and not mention fortnightly 5km ergs, with the determination to bring our very best to Uni Games in Canberra. From the perspective of being a novice with virtually no race experience (2 races in the quad at Pre IV and Henley on Hunter 2 weeks before Uni Games), I can honestly say I didn’t know what to expect of the competition in Canberra. In spite of a few minor hiccups over the early part of the week in Canberra (the appearance of a certain rabbit and a last minute rush for registration, just to name a couple) the quad was ready to race when the heats began on Thursday. In somewhat trying conditions, involving a false start, a few near crashes and many minutes of wasted time trying to re-maneuver the boats for another start, our race was moved up the course from the 1800m to the 1500m for a second attempt, although not until after the ferry had passed over the course did we finally get going. With a field of only 5, our heat was merely a formality to establish lanes for the final on Saturday, never-the-less the quad came in a close 4th, almost taking out
UQ, in what was a very exciting race for us, proving that after all our training we were in with a chance to win a medal. Saturday dawned wet, cold and miserable, and after having to brave the conditions for a 7:30 am weigh-in we sat in a car for an hour, trying to psych ourselves up to race in truly arctic conditions. After some more complicated maneuvering at the start the race was finally begun and in what seemed the hardest race in our short history we again finished 4th behind Melbourne, Sydney and UQ and ahead of Monash. Not only did we manage to come closest of all the NUBC boats to winning a medal and arguably put in the best performance of the club but we managed to set a NUBC record as far as achieving the best ever result of a lightweight quad at Uni Games. In light of this year’s performance, and the fun we’ve had training and hanging out, I know I for one, not to mention the other girls, look forward to getting back on the water, not only to compete at other regattas this season but more importantly in preparation for an even better performance next year! We’d also all like to say a big thank you to Sean who has put in so much time and effort coaching us, we’ve really appreciated everything he’s done for us.
Men’s Lightweight Four Report – by Stephen Pfennigwerth (this was his 5th Uni Champs)
After many, many early morning sessions, filled with the calls of "shotgun not taking tinny down" shortly followed by "shotgun not oars"; with Charlie occasionally slightly impressed with our progress and often frustrated by our old faults re-emerging; with cold fingers, ears, noses and toes; we arrived at University Champs 2009. The training days showed promise; our starts were snappy and our stokes built through to the finish. We were a little nervous about an unfamiliar course, but with some time and some laps under our combined (lightweight) belt we felt almost ready. The day of the heats was a little windier than previous days, which was not unexpected. We'd seen some other Universities struggling to hold form in the wind and we'd taken some time to learn where to expect trouble and settle for it, this gave us some secret warmth of promise. The race was shortened to 1500m because the 1800m start was far too windy. The heat was uneventful, with a quick start we were off; we easily kept in front of UNSW, but were beaten by USyd and Melbourne. This saw us through to the repechage the next day…. The repechage was over 1800m, since the wind had settled a little. We planned to make our mark in this race, knowing that Melbourne would be in reach if we held them well in the start and raced the middle 1000m like we'd trained for in the countless 100 stoke pieces back at Berry Park. ADFA received a warning when they finally arrived at the start 5 minutes late, and
breaking the hope that we all had that the race may only be a row-over, now it was elimination, the last boat would not race in the finals. We had a very good start and were well placed, some slight steering was required to hold a comfortable lane position, but during one correction the steering broke and we faced the difficult task of keeping the boat on the course while it was steering to stoke side. For more than 1km bow side was rowing light...very light...while stroke side was attempting keep us on course. We came across UNSW at the same time that the BROs finally understood what was happening (with fear in the enormous whites of their eyes!). A very tired Jack and James and fresh Nick and Steve crossed the line second last, we weren’t eliminated. Phew. The final had to be the time to prove ourselves. And we were desperate to make the year's training into something. It was with a sense of power and dread that we took our place at the start line on the third day. Then with 'Attention......BEEP', we were off! A fair start, 'move to your stroke side ANU, to you bow side Newcastle', the BROs go to the other side of the course and are forgotten. We are fairly well placed half a length from the pace and then we are in front of Melbourne...all of us! A Melbourne hand shoots up. The race is stopped. We don't know what has happened but we are told to row off the course and come around again. This is not a bad thing. We can improve the start; we are warm and settled now on this bitterly cold day. Once again we start; it is much, much better, more intense, and more powerful. Once again, 'move to your stroke side ANU, to you bow side Newcastle'. That is where we went
wrong and we couldn't get a line back. ANU takes back our lead over them as the BROs come over to get us back to the course. And we hit a buoy. The boat is suddenly very heavy and we are behind. We consolidate and move again but the fast Universities are too far ahead. We make gains on the field as a rhythm builds and ADFA are within reach. With a strong finishing piece we beat ADFA and have caught up on the field. So much promise, but it was not regain-able from the starting error. Final position: fifth out of six. We would like to heartily thank Charlie for the immense time and effort that he gave to our crew and to the club. We very much enjoyed the hard work and the teaching that he has given us and hope to continue the relationship. Thank you.
Uni Champs 2009 Social Report – By Jed ‘hips don’t lie’ Dickson (Uni Champs novice and current Social Co-ordinator)
27th September 2009, 16 NUBC Uni Games hopefuls arrived at the shed filled with both excitement and anticipation of the week ahead. With the weather blowing a gale and the chill factor up it seemed Berry Park was giving us a taste of the Canberra weather to come. 2009 saw nearly half the team attending their first Uni Games thus the leadership provided by the senior members of the club would be
invaluable. This leadership was demonstrated early by James ‘I always cry when I vomit’ Elliot relaxing the frantic mood with his cool, calming words to some club members. With the tension eased it was time to pack the boat trailer; special mentions going to Shame and his young Padawan Ro for a Tetris like performance packing the riggers, Merran for alerting us to any foreign creatures to look out for (aka spiders) and Lowey for his thrilling victory in the inaugural NUBC two metre sling race. With boats packed and spirits high, NUBC was on their way to possibly their most successful Uni Games yet! With Shame trying to break the world record for most crashes recorded over a distance of 1km and a minor seating problem in Party Van the trip ahead looked long and tedious. This was soon to change as at a routine petrol stop NUBC adopted a new member by the name of Derek. His charm, charisma and flexible nature made Derek an instant hit and provided many hours of entertainment. After seven hours of fun lovin’ road trippin’ the NUBC members reached their destination of South Canberra Caravan Park. With rooms sorted and bags unpacked, we paid a visit to the grocery and grog stores - setting ourselves up for a night of revelry and frivolity. In this night of decadence most of the highlights went to Jack ‘Hamburger’ Hanley for his heart wrenching proposal to the black-curlyhaired Ro ‘wifey’ Maxwell. In video footage rivaling that of any Shakespearean play, with its dramatic plot twists and moving soliloquies, Hamburger’s slow decay into the depths of intoxication are recorded, during which he pledges his love for Ro, whilst trying to forget his undying
lust for Kato… only to leave them all for his hussy G-banger. Hamburger finished the night with a leisurely skateboard ride back to the cabin in which his obvious failure to use the skateboard was his major downfall as he became well acquainted with the tarmac of the road. With the beginning of the next day came a general trend as ‘hips’ Dickson had magically overnight transformed into a three toed sloth whose slumber could not be broken until right before it was time to leave. The day itself was fairly uneventful with most just becoming familiar with the course after fun times were had by all reassembling the boats. The afternoon was much more tame than the night before and in such a way that I cannot even remember anything worth talking about bar the beginning of Steve, Nick and G’s captivation with ‘Skins’ and Freddie the fun sponge. Special mention to G who learnt that the extra melanin in tanned skin may make you too heavy at the weigh in. Wednesday was another training day as the Canberra weather blessed us with sun and blue skies, unfortunately not the weather which we would train in for the days ahead. With the girls staying behind to wait for Ellie, Ro and Sando hired bikes to cruise the unchartered waters of Canberra, not finding much though. With Lowey’s skatey180 and now the bikes, Nick ‘nobody cares/you are something else’ Wilkinson turned the caravan park into a terrain park and looked like he was applying for the ‘Forever Young’ film clip. Later that afternoon Hamburger was stinging to venture to the Zoo/Marine Park, because, as a child from the mountains he has seen nothing but lifeless rocks and caves. With moving creatures in his sight,
plans were changed and one carload visited the Nick Cave exhibition with the other making a historical stop to the Shopping centre. This stop was the beginning of the infamous ‘van’ park and started a craze that would sweep through the NUBC club. STORMS! With the discovery of Aldi nothing could stop the NUBC rowers. That night, after much conjecture, the majority of the club decided to head into town after the promise from Hips, Hamburger and Lowey of $1 drinks. Upon arrival it seemed that the dream was as real as purple and orange walls and we resorted to the welcoming Mooseheads. Here Sean ‘the shark’ Maloney showed his pool playing prowess carrying ‘hips’ Dickson to a come-behind victory against the fair playing talent of Wilko and Hamburger. Smile mode was also discovered (and beaten) along with Lowey finding his blood brother: “I allus has wan at eleven”. Our last outing as a club was on the Friday, a day in which spooning was the word of the day. Through the cold, rain and wind NUBC utilised the warmth of the person on their left in keeping warm in the greatest spooning display since Artis the Spoonman. The outing was to Questacon, which proved to be the highlight of the week. It started with Emma ‘el presidente’ Mujic believing her day would not be complete without getting her hand caught in the mouth of a mechanical dinosaur. Needless to say that with the sense of rhythm she displayed through her clapping she found the timing hard, but with her pugnacious approach she succeeded to the delight of the bedazzled onlookers. Next we ventured to the 5th floor in which Hamburger became infatuated with the bubble making machine to which
many men have wasted their lives in pursuit of the perfect bubble. The same floor gave us the most romantic piece of film ever recorded as ‘hips’ Dickson (who was a credit to his name) and G displayed the NUBC rowing dance moves in Technicolor. All dignity and direction was lost as the dance became interpretive... to say the least. With time running out we raced to see the rocket show presented by ‘don’t look below the belt’ Russian genius Yuri. Here we found ourselves screaming ‘borshe’ without knowing full well what it meant but none the less being amazed by the display. Hamburger also learnt a thing or two about the rocket power of water and to this day is still looking to the comeback line after being razzed by the Russian genius. The last highlight from Questacon came from the giant slide in which Lowey braved castration to break the sliding world record and succeeded in superman like fashion. Special mentions also go to Ben ‘ben, ben, ben’ Farnsworth for his infatuation with rolling balls and Hamburger for his stunning commentary of the shocking earthquake simulator. Along rolled Saturday, and with many tired and exhausted bodies after a hard three days of racing it was finally time to let our hair down and PART ‘A’. With the fridges clear and gaiety filling our stomachs we were ready to frolic the streets of Canberra to reach our final destination - The Uni Bar! Upon arrival we met a newly crowned wizard by the name of Padlus Sweep Somethingorother and our status as biggest club was quickly secured. As the frivolities began the dream of cheap drinks had been realised as $2 vodka and raspberries were the choice of the night and not a huge cost when
G-banger released them to pool the floor after being knocked from unsuspecting victims hands. The much awaited showdown of the year also got underway as the might of G-banger came up against the amnesia power of Absinthe. Needless to say the match was only a one round bout with Gbanger copping the brunt of all attacks. With ‘hips’ Dickson and Wilko carving the d-floor the night was a big hit with the NUBC members. ‘Wifey’ Ro and Tom ‘Spoonman’ Marshall were giving their best pole dancing displays and ‘why is it brown?’ Shame was showing the ladies how a real man dances and what they were all missing out on. Sando and Ellie were on the vodka and out on the loose as every man in a 10 mile radius were flexing their pea sized muscles. Steve ‘the Bear’ was in the dark sitting and waiting for his next prey to fall into his drunk messaging trap, and Bron was orchestrating the Mujic hand clap band. Ben and Merran ‘the flirt’ Holmes both found matches in the opposite sex as the UNSW cox was carrying his cox box still playing AC/DC. Hamburger and Lowey were fighting over Sando and Maddie was getting her groove on. Special mention to Wilko for his performance in making hottie in the black have her best birthday ever... well nearly. All in all a great night finishing with video footage which I think none of us will ever forget. So after seven wonderful days in the nation’s capital we embarked on our way home. After a farewell from the bell ringing of deaf mute and leaving behind the ‘lane one form’s’ once and for all NUBC once again returned to their welcoming home back at Berry Park.