|
| The
signs are encouraging that this format of racing will only gain
in popularity over the next few seasons. And. driven by the huge
success of this type of indoor rowing regatta overseas, Concept
2 in Australia, with the continuing involvement of Ultra-FIT Magazine
are working towards the 2003 championships, which are due to be
held in Melbourne this November.
However, before we look to the
exciting future of this fledgling sport, let’s look back
at the highlights of last year’s finals, which
were held on the wharf of Sydney’s Darling Harbour on a
stunning Sunday back in November.
|
 |
| The morning kicked off with
the traditional weigh-in to establish which categories
the competitors would race in their respective agegroup
- heavyweight or lightweight.
Formalities over, the racing commenced
with the Veteran Men’s 2000m event. Of special interest
was John Harvey, who had flown in from Bali especially
for this event, with the aim of breaking ex-Olympian,
Lyall Harper’s long standing Australian record of
6:37.7.
Harvey was obviously completely focussed on the task ahead,
and led from the start to finish. Coming in almost 4 seconds
ahead of his nearest rival, and over 2 seconds inside
his own personal best over the 2000m distance, Harvey
shaved a second-and-a-half off the existing Australian
record.
 |
In an interview
a short time after his event, an exhausted Harvey
said that he was delighted with the result, and that
his next goal would be the world championships in
Boston, where he hoped to bring the world record back
to Australia. “To do that,” said, Harvey,
“I would need to take almost five seconds off
the time I posted here today, which is a long way.”
Having said that Harvey has managed to take over 20
seconds off his personal best time over the past 4
months.
We had to ask Harvey... what was that contraption
in his mouth that made him look like Hannibal Lector?
Was it something to help him breathe easier? |
“No... I’m
a tongue-biter, and it stops me taking chunks out
of my tongue. I’ve rowed in a couple of competitions
and bitten my tongue, only to spit blood over everybody.
People aren’t impressed, especially with the
aids scare,” explained Harvey. Well, now we
knew!
As a result of John Harvey’s
impressive performance at these championships, he
has since been invited to take part in the world
championships in Boston on 23rd February at the
expense of the organisers. Watch this space for
updates. |
| |
| Next up we
had the Master’s Men, which turned out to
be a one horse race, with Victoria’s Roland
Baltutis pulling his way to a seemingly easy victory
over the rest of the field. Finishing in an impressive
6:14.3, Baltutis shaved one tenth of a second off
his own Australian record, which he had set a few
weeks earlier at the Victorian champs in Melbourne.
A keen rower of 17 years, this was only his second
indoor rowing competition, but he said afterwards
that he’d definitely ‘caught the bug’.
The Senior men’s race was a
real battle of the big boys - big arms, big legs
and long levers. Stuart Maze was the victor in this
category finishing a comfortable 17 seconds ahead
of Allister Dalton and Trent Barry, who finished
just over a second apart.
 |
The turnout for
the women’s events was a little disappointing
with only four competitors, all up. However,
as they were all in separate agegroups, at
least this assured all the women of a gold
medal each!
The outright winner was junior
NSW rower, Lisa Tengdahl in 7:33.7, with last-minute
entrant Stacey Quitzau from the US, a worthy
second. Judy Brown, also from NSW, took the
overall bronze, plus gold in the Veteran category. |
The Adaptive Men’s race was
next up, and although there were only four in the
final, three of them - Benard Felten, Brett Horten
and
Ben Vines - were from the world conquering, coxless
4 team from the recent world championships in Seville.
And that’s the order they finished in, with
just 8 seconds between first and third. |
|
|
| A
Word From The Organisers We
caught up with Jeff Lawrence from Concept 2 after the event to
get his thoughts on the day’s racing and where he sees the
sport of indoor rowing heading in the future.
“Over the two events, we had a good quality field of participants
who
produced some great, exciting racing, and this put on a good show
for
the many spectators that came along watch. We also had good representation
from around Australia, with competitors travelling from the Northern
Territories, Queensland and Victoria.”
So, what are the plans for 2003?
“The target for 2003 is 1,000 competitors, and we will be
moving the championships to Melbourne. At the recent Victorian
championships
we had over 360 competitors and some great feedback.”
And beyond 2003?
“We see the sport growing enormously here in Australia.
Over the next couple of years we will be concentrating on nurturing
regional, satellite events, leading into one, major one.”
“Finally, I’d like to thank Ultra-FIT
for supporting the event, for helping
to raise the profile of the sport and for opening up the sport
up to your readers, and look forward to a continuing partnership
next year.” |
| |
|
|
