The Nagambie boat park at night

Mercs performed well at the Australian Rowing Championships at Nagambie led by some outstanding results from our Para rowers and our lightweights. 

Jess Gallagher was the stand out athlete of the regatta for us winning the PR3 women's scull, the PR3 women's pair, the PR3 mixed coxed four and the Interstate Championship PR3 scull - 4 gold medals! This is a great result for our newly establish para rowing area led by Sam Fennessy. Jess is an outstanding athlete not only in rowing, but also she is an Australian Paralympic alpine skier, track and field athlete, and tandem cyclist.

Also regularly in the winners circle were our men's under 23 lightweight rowers Ben Whitmee and Jordan Roberts who took gold in the under 23 lightweight, pair and four, and also in the lightweight eight. Great work and good leadership from coach Will Legge.

Red Matthews was not to be denied either taking out the lightweight scull and open double scull. He also finished third in the President's Cup coached by Mike McKay.

Our lightweight women also got into the act with a bronze in the under 23 lightweight quad. Great work Demi Kyriacopoulos and Olivia Evans.

Kat Werry with partner Lucy Stephan dominated the pair and performed well in other races during the week finishing in a win in the Queen's Cup coached by Al Matthews. Mercs was represented in the 3rd and fourth placed crews in the pairs with Anna Kirkwood and Paige Barr. Paige also won silver in the under 23 single.

The Club Women's eight shone with a good win and we were all pleased to see all Mercantile crews race in the under 23 men's and women's eights with the girls taking silver. This is always very gratifying to see.

The under 21 squads did well with our top men's and women's fours taking silver.

Even our clubbies got into the act taking silver in the sprint eights, beaten by the WA King's Cup crew. Great leadership again by Anthony Bergelin and Meghan Hester.

Thank you to our coaches led by Mike McKay and Alistair Matthews who did a great job. Club members were prominent volunteers and officials for the regatta with Duncan MacKinnon, Bill Webster and Andrew Guerin doing good work. RV CEO and club member Ian Jickell led the transformation of Nagambie from regional regatta to national standard and no doubt slept well after it was finished.

Special mention must go to the Carr family who laboured tirelessly all week. Their work was outstanding. Not to be left only as a volunteer, Louise Carr won gold in the Club eight and silver in the Club four. Great work.

The Carr family on the regatta set up day

In summary the Club finished third on the Club medal tally which demonstrates the breadth of the Club with all parts contributing. This is all part of the Club's strategic plan and it shows that it is working. With an increase in the quality of our wins in subsequent years, we should lift ourselves further up the leader board.

Now some images to remind us of all the good work.

Jess Gallagher in the PR3 scull

Jess in the PR3 Pair

Jess on the podium in the PR3 Mixed Four

From the left, Pru McKay, jenny Fraumano, Mike McKay, Al Matthews

Ben Whitmee and Jordon Roberts took gold in the under 23 lightweight pair

Jordan Roberts stroke, Ben Whitmee 3, Douglass Bell (Barwon) 2, and Hamish Roberts in bow taking gold

Podium shot of the lighties

Jordan and Ben were joined this time on the podium by James Rook

The lightweight eight coaches also look pleased

Red Matthews on the podium for the men's lightweight scull

Red Matthews and his mother celebrate the win

Demi and Olivia on the podium for the under 23 lightweight quad

Jess Hawker and Bethany Zmak take bronze in the under 19 pair

Lucy Stephan and Kat Werry take the prestigious Sarah Tait trophy for the pair

Kat Werry celebrates her gold with Anna Kirkwood who took bronze in the pair

Kat Werry, Paide Barr and Anna Kirkwood combined with Sarah Hawe of Sydney to take silver in the four

Joel Cain finished second behind Red Matthews in the open double with Jackson Free. Pictured above with Marcus Free

Angus Widdicombe, Ben Canham and Alex Wolf combined with Sam Walsh to gain bronze in the four

Paige Barr took silver in the under 23 scull

Louise Bongrain taking bronze in the under 23 double

Our under 23 eight took silver and note that we are the only full club crew

The boys under 23 eight narrowly finished out of a medal

The under 21 girls took silver in the four in a strong and improved performance

The ever present supporters

Also a strong performance with the under 21 four taking silver

Our Club four delivers with silver

Our women excel in the club eight

The Clubbies including some past greats such as David Crawshay took silver in the sprint eights

Jess Gallagher takes out the Interstate PR3 scull and then shares the moment with coach Sam Fennessy

Red Matthews is congratulated by RA President Rob Scott on his bronze in the President's Cup

Red on the podium for the President's Cup

The girls take bronze in the Bicentennial Cup

The boys match the girls with bronze in the Wilkinson Cup

The Queen's Cup was a resounding win for Victoria

A silver awaited the Victorian crew in the King's Cup