Amelia Cooper became the first gold medallist in the Under 21 Women’s Coastal Rowing at the inaugural Australian Coastal Rowing Championships, which were held at Noosa Beach West last weekend. Fellow UTS Haberfield Club rower, Sofia Aguirre, was second.
Both are students at the University of Technology Sydney and neither had rowed in the ocean. Eighteen-year old Amelia has rowed for many years at the St Catherine club in Sydney and is keen to continue her rowing while studying at a university in the USA.
Sofia from Mexico City is a former Junior World Champion sculler in flat water rowing but found her first venture into coastal-rowing was both an exhilarating and rewarding experience as she won silver medals in the Solo and Quad 4km events. Both students are coached by Elliot Shackcloth Bertinetti (EB) who was thrilled with the courage and commitment of his young team of rowers over the four days of competition.
Winners of the first-ever Open Mixed Coastal Rowing 4 km double sculls event were father and daughter combination Tom and Jarah Wilcox from Lindisfarne Rowing Club in Tasmania. Jarah has been rowing on flat water with the Friends School in Hobart but this was the Wilcox’s first attempt at rowing in the ocean; both said the challenge of the events with very uneven and tricky swells was exciting.
There were many rowers from the University of Queensland Club who were successful. First year student at UQ, Harry Nott was the winner of the Under 21 Men’s C-R 4 km Solo event. Harry praised the quality and handling of his Kanghua racing shell provided by Sykes Boatbuilders for the championships:
“The boat is higher and catches the wind more, and you have to be aware of the swells which vary in size and force … and you need to be efficient when on the breaking waves coming into shore by keeping rowing, even when you catch it – or it catches you.”
When asked whether he will continue with Coastal Rowing leading up to the possibility of competing at the 2028 Los Angeles and the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games, Harry said he was keen.
“My Grandma lives at Coolum so I would be able to row with the Coastal Rowing Noosa club on occasions,” he said.
Fellow UQ rower Harry Pettet won the bronze medal; both Harrys are coached by Michael Russell.
Specific races for rowers with a physical disability were included in the championships. Emily McOrist from Rowing Australia said, “a new para-rowing boat class was being used as a test-event for potential inclusion at future World Rowing coastal regattas.”
Donald Cameron from the Townsville Riverway Club was an able-bodied rower with Scotch College in Adelaide but had an industrial accident resulting in the loss of a leg in 2002. He returned to flat water rowing for rehabilitation in 2007 and, with an “adaptor leg” of his own design. In 2017 he won a gold medal as a para rower at the World Masters Games in New Zealand.
Donald performed successfully in both able-bodied and para rowing events at these Coastal Rowing championships in Noosa.
Another para-rower, Sue Donoghoe from the Australian National University Boat club, has rowed on flatwater since 1979 but now has a fused ankle (PR3 classification). Sue won several medals at Noosa in both able-bodied and para events. Sue commented that: “it was the unpredictability of the sport that keeps it interesting … you can be well ahead in a race and then suddenly you’re the very last”.
Sue and husband Peter, who is also her Pairs partner, intimated that future Coastal Rowing Championships “should be renamed ‘Carnivals’ because they are so much fun”.
Rachel Mecham of Coastal Rowing Noosa (CRN) combined with Don to win bronze in the PR3 Double Scull Beach Sprint. Ann Harrap from CRN also won three bronze medals in the para with Don in the Endurance race over 4km and the Endurance Quad and Beach Sprint Quad.
But Rachel remarked that a significant race for CRN was the Mixed Masters Coxed Squad 4 km Endurance event on the first day. The combined age of the four rowers and cox – Craig and Rachael Mecham, Ann Harrap, Karl Ellaway, and Stefan Prystupa is 65 years. Ann Harrap said: “One nice comment was from a young UQ rower – ‘It is great to see old rowers and paras out in the waves, so inspirational.”’
Boats for the events were supplied by Sykes Rowing. CEO Mark Nothnagel and sales manager George Richards were delighted with the way the competitors the Solo’s and Pairs Pairs handled the tricky conditions, which unfortunately proved too heavy for the Quads.
Although there were many experienced rowers on flatwater, including four Australian Olympians, George remarked: “For many competitors it was their first experience in the shells which are especially designed for rowing in the ocean and large lakes. Furthermore, being in the ocean, there was a steep learning curve for some of the athletes in regard to surf awareness. Nevertheless, we are pleased that most of the boats and all of the athletes emerged unscathed from some spectacular capsizes on both the steeper waves on the way out and in the Sprint Race competition on Saturday and Sunday.”
Secretary of Coastal Rowing Noosa, Peter Watson said: “It was a great event and a great learning curve. We have a lot to learn about Coastal Rowing. It is not surf boat rowing, we don’t want to catch waves, but learn to harness the power of the surf and row between the breakers. A small shore break is a helpful end to gain an advantage.”
Simon Walker, a World Rowing Umpire from New Zealand, came to Noosa because he was keen to observe the organisation as New Zealand is working towards holding a regatta in Nelson in January 2023. This event may double as the Oceania qualifier for the recently announced inclusion of Beach Sprints at the World Beach Games, which are to be organised by the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) at Nusa Dua Beach in Bali in August 5-12, 2023.
Sarah Cook, a member of the 2012 London Olympic Eight became a member of the World Rowing Council as Representative for the Oceania Region. She is also a member of Coastal Rowing Commission of World Rowing. Sarah said that the championships in Noosa were exciting and a great success. She greatly appreciated the support of Rowing Queensland, Coastal Rowing Noosa, and the Noosa Surf Lifesaving Club for their assistance, especially over the four days of competition, She added: “Rowing Australia and Surf Lifesaving Australia are working closely for the development of the discipline and are working towards a Memorandum of Understanding”.
Several Australian Olympic rowers were present to officiate, observe and enjoy: Ria Thompson (Tokyo 2020), Sarah Cook (Beijing 2008 & London 2012), Rachael Kinninmonth (Sydney 2000), Jane Robinson (Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004) and James Rook (cox – Tokyo 2020).
From discussions with rowers and officials over the four days of competition, it is anticipated the next Australian Coastal Rowing and Beach Sprints Championships will again be held at Noosa in August 2023 due to the superior condition and logistics of Noosa Beach.
Last week’s Noosa Today headline in relation to the recent Championships read, ‘Olympic Rowing beckons’. With the statement by the World Rowing President that ‘the Beach Sprints format is at the heart of our Olympic strategy to have coastal rowing included as a new discipline on the Olympic program for LA2028 and Brisbane 2032, the success of the 2022 four-day inaugural Australian Championships was a great start to having Noosa as the venue for the Games of the XXXV Olympiad.
(Dr Ian Jobling is Honorary Director of the Centre for Olympic and Paralympic Studies at the University of Queensland.)
