Ian Toll
It was only a ‘suggested or maybe event’ in 2013 when a group of St George Rowing Club members known to the Club as the “Super Masters crew’ began to throw around the possibility of travelling to Melbourne, Victoria to contest the famous Time Trial on the Yarra River known to all rowers as the Head of
the Yarra.
Idle talk turned quickly to resolution and it was confirmed that St George Rowing Club would be represented for the first time by a Masters crew in the Melbourne event.
The crew comprising Graham Williams; Chris Woodham; John O’Brien; Harry Battam; John Rowell; Ian Toll; Graeme Thorburn; & Lance Reeve with coxswain Peter Merrett would be supported by reserves Alan Skinner (Nepean) Denis Tracey (Leichhardt) Paul Lazarou (Nth Shore) & our own Sue Robinson.
Our coach Jacky Peile took charge of a training program to commence in June 2014 directly after the NSW Masters Championships and set a strict and tough discipline for the crew to maintain.
Each Sunday morning for 5 Months the crew rowed to Picnic Point warmjng up & ‘Time Trialled ‘ back to Como over the race distance of 8.9kms!
The crew knew they had to cover the course from Princes Bridge in the heart of Melbourne to the finish at Hawthorn Rowing in at least 37 minutes to be competitive!
The plan was to average rating at 28 – 30 spm and keep boat speed to an average 3.8 – 4.2!
As the Calendar moved swiftly from June to November the crew developed efficient ‘Time Trialling’ techniques under the watchful eye of Coach Jacky and rating/boat speed varied with tide & weather.
Boat hiring was done through contacts in Melbourne and we were pleased to have a SYKES 210 series available to us from Melbourne Grammar School of good quality.
The bonus of the hire was that MGS would have a trailer at Hawthorn for us on our arrival after the race which we could utilize and not have to ‘row back down the course later that afternoon’ after a few ales!
Excellent accommodation was sourced for the crew near Southbank where the race started and all the rowing clubs were located.
Arriving a day before the event, the crew met at MGS Boathouse, rigged the boat and went for a row up river towards Hawthorn.
This proved a valuable row as we were all unfamiliar with the course!
Saturday 29 November dawned clear, hot & humid in Melbourne.
We were scheduled to start in the first group of crews to leave Melbourne at 11am.
There were 6 crews to start with 5 graded as ‘H’ and the famous Ancient Mariners crew from DRC in Sydney graded as ‘J’.
After us there were 232 Eights racing the course with the last to leave Melbourne being the Open Mens & Womens crews at 2.30pm!!
It proved to be a tough encounter and being our maiden attempt we may have made a few mistakes in application and navigation..but with an ‘elapsed time’ of 37m 40s and an ‘adjusted time’ of 33m 4s we were all satisfied with our 1st attempt!
It is an enormous challenge to compete & complete the course and each St George crew member gave their very best to our mission.
The Club colours were worn with pride and shown for the 1st time in a Head of the Yarra Time Trial!
It would be great to have other St George crews competing with us in Melbourne in 2015?
We are reforming after the Australian Masters Championships in late May with the sole purpose of going back to give it another crack!
Our sincere thanks to Coach Jacky for her time & dedication and to those hardy souls who acted as reserves in training when called upon.
Look out Melbourne…the St George Super Masters crew has learned a lot from our 1st attempt and are returning!
