SEPTEMBER 2020 NEWS

Provided by your faithful correspondent Trident.

Past News can be found via the links on the right of this page

Above: Empty boathouses - the result of COVID-19

News covered this month:

• Annual General Meeting Saturday 17th October at noon

• Latest advice from RV on access to the river

• Round 6 of the Rocket Challenge kicks off

• Status of nominations for Committee

• How to win an Olymic gold medal

• Vale John "Jimpy" Shears

• Committe Nominations

• Drink wine to help the Club, now that is an idea

• Sydney Olympics 2000 - was it 20 years ago?

• Happy Birthday Mercs - 140 years old today

• Latest advice from Rowing Victoria

• Mercantile wins the Rowing Victoria active minutes challenge

• More disruption from Peppercorn lawn

• Mercantile and the Tour de France

• From the archives - Phil Batters 1995

• Congratulations to our NTC invitees

• Mercs dominates Rowing Victoria active minutes challenge

• 2020-21 dates

• COVID 19 impacts

• From the vaults - 1990 World Championships

• Member profile – Ian Jickell, new RV CEO

Annual General Meeting Saturday 17th October at noon

Published 13th September 2020

The Club will break new ground in October with it's first digital annual general meeting in its

140 year history. Notices of the meeting will go out this week with the details.

Further there will only be an announcement of trophy and award winners as it will not be in

person.

This will be a very interesting experience for us all.

We look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

Latest advice from RV on access to the river

Published 29th September 2020

Our HP squad can now return to the water with the biggest restriction being the 5km. Our

coaches have set up some boats at St Kevins at the Princes Bridge.

We look forward to the third step when we can get everyone back on the water.

Round 6 of the Rocket Challenge kicks off

Published 27th September 2020

Red Matthews has done an outstanding job with his invention, the Rocket Challenge. Round

6 kicks off on 27th September.

The competition has evolved with each round and has been a great part of keeping the

competition group fit and interested.

With lock down becoming increasingly tiresome for our ambitious rowers, we hope that

restrictions will be lifted soon the Rocket Challenge evolving to the water.

Status of nominations for Committee

Published 26th September 2020

The current nominees for Committee can be found in the member only documents section of

the Documents tab of this website. Nominations close noon on 10th October 2020. The next

update will be issued on Saturday 3rd October 2020.

Nominations for Committee can be sent to the Hon. Secretary at secretary@mercantile.org.au

noting the nominator and seconder as well as the approval of the person nominated.

How to win an Olympic gold medal

Published 25th September 2020

Club member Noel Donaldson and Paul Thompson attempt to answer this question on

Sunday 3pm.

Log onto the video chat at https://m.facebook.com/tvhostbenibrahim/ to listen.

Great news from Rowing Victoria

Published 22nd September 2020

The following was issued tonight from Rowing Victoria.

The return of crew boats for all ages

Rowing Victoria is incredibly pleased to announce that after much discussion with Sports and

Recreation Victoria and VicSport, the Guidance list of community sport prepared by Sport

and Recreation Victoria has classified rowing as a non-contact sport. As such from the

‘Third Step’ of Victorian COVID-19 restrictions we are approved to return to training

in crew boats for all ages.

Therefore, effective immediately rowers in Regional Victoria may return to crew rowing and

Metropolitan Melbourne will be expected to join them on October the 26th.

Adults will however still be limited to a maximum of 10 participants per club at one time,

indoor training facilities will need to remain closed and equipment must be appropriately

washed after use. Full Guidelines can be found HERE

This great win will see rowing clubs across Victoria returning to a degree of normality

earlier than anticipated!

For more details and to follow the latest Rowing Victoria updates including the Return to

Rowing Roadmap please CLICK HERE.

Great work by RV President and Mercs member Joseph Joyce. Many thanks from Mercs.

Vale John "Jimpy" Shears

Published 22nd Septenber 2020

The following information was received today from family members Amanda Thompson, Jo

Thompson and Peter Harvey.

It is with a sad heart that we have to inform you that Jimpy passed away peacefully last night

aged 94. He went quickly.

He was well cared for at his new home Japara by lovely staff to whom he had given amusing

nicknames. Not always politically correct !

He kept the photo of the the John Shears boat bedside his bed. He was very proud of this

recognition. He loved the phone and email updates Jim and was very pleased to catch up

with Phil.

Jimpy and the "John Shears" in recent times

He had been is reasonable health until recent times, always enjoying seeing his beloved

Geelong football play and weekly outings to the local cafe and surf club - until COVID

restrictions came in. It was distressing for all not to be allowed into the home to visit him.

Amanda was diligent with her daily calls to Jimpy trying to keep his spirits up and feeling

connected to the outside world.

Unfortunately due to Covid restrictions we are not able to plan a funeral service as we wish.

We are thinking of small family service for now and a celebration of his wonderful life when

allowable.

He had such great memories of his rowing days and in particular his friendships at the club.

Jimpy stroking a winning lightweight maiden eight with brother Bill in the seven seat in

1946

Jimpy was one of four brothers who were all loyal and enthusiastic Mercantile members,

Herbie, Ted, Bill and of course Jimpy. Jimpy first came to prominence as a coxswain in 1940

when he steered brothers Herb and Ted to a victory in the Champion Lightweight Eight. He

raced successfully after WWII and was a personality at the club thereafter.

He was perhaps best known for his jovial nature and wicked sense of humour. His company

was always sought out.

Jimpy as we knew him best

Jimpy will be sadly missed and our thoughts are with his family who looked after so well,

Amanda Thompson, Jo Thompson and Peter Harvey. Thank you.

We also sadly farewell the end of the Shears era at the Club.

Andrew Guerin

Hon Secretary

22nd September 2020

Committee Nominations

Published 22nd September 2020

As mentioned in the notice of meeting, now is the time to nominate for the Committee. The

details are in the notice of meeting and we will publish the nominations every Saturday night

until the meeting.

Keep safe and go Mercs.

Drink wine to help the Club, now that is an idea

Published 20th September 2020

Wild Fire Wines is a premium wine producer located near Warburton in the Upper Yarra

Valley. One of the owners, and the chief winemaker, is John Harry, a club member. John

competed at senior level in the 60s and 70s and was Captain of the Club; he is also a major

supporter and Trustee of the Mercs Foundation.

Wild Fire has agreed to provide the Club with a substantial donation for each case of wine

purchased by members and their friends and family. Bill Webster and Julie Orr are co-

ordinating the recruitment of Mercs athletes to help publicise the sales effort. The Committee

believes this program has great potential to assist our fundraising efforts and is keen for all

Mercantilians to get behind it.

The Committee has sampled John’s offerings and is confident that members will find the

wines of excellent quality, and good value. Wild Fire won two medals at the 2019 Victorian

Wine Show (Riesling and Cabernet) on its first try so its future looks promising.

So, how can you help the Club?

Grab some wine at www.wildfirewines.com.au and enter the code "MERCANTILE" at

checkout. This ensures any sales will be attributed to the Club.

Sellers Competition

The Club is also holding an internal competition to incentivise sales. The athlete who sells the

most wine in the next 2.5 months to the end of November will win a car pass to the restricted

parking at the rear of the boathouse. If you'd like to enter, please email

philwild@wildfirewines.com.au to obtain your unique code that your friends and family can

enter at checkout. Happy selling, and remember, each sale benefits the Club.

This is an efficient and practical way for members to help the Club - we look forward to the

development of the Wild Fire relationship as a solid source of funding for us for many years

to come.

Sydney 2000 Olympic - was it 20 years ago?

Published 20th September 2020

Well it does not seem 20 years ago but it is. The heady days of the home Olympics.

Some off the record photos follow that were not from the official photographers.

Member Ben Dodwell returns to the boatshed after taking bronze

Members James Tomkins, Noel Donaldson and Matt Long acknowledge then camera upon

their return to the staging

Just a fun shot of Kate Slatter and Rachael Taylor

The helplessness of a coach farewelling his crew - Tim McLaren and his four who took

bronze

Mike McKay taking in the loss of a gold and the gaining of a silver

Future President of FISA Jean-Christophe Rolland in the stroke seat forgets the golden

rule of pair rowing, hold onto your oar.

And of course Steve Redgrave takes his 5th gold medal.

And your unofficial photographer (and correspondent) taking a break from umpiring

Happy Birthday Mercs - 140 years old today

Published 19th September 2020

140 years ago today, Mercantile was founded by an energetic William Boyd as a break away

from the Warehousmen's Rowing Club.

William S Boyd

I quote from our Club history.

The spring of 1880 was a busy period for the City of Melbourne. Ned Kelly, the bushranger,

was to be tried and hanged. The great World Exhibition was to open in the newly constructed

Exhibition buildings on October 1, and the Mercantile Rowing Club was formed.

A new rowing club in the biggest city in Australia could hardly be described as a momentous

event. But it was an important moment for rowing as the club was to become one of the great

rowing clubs of Australia.

The founder of the new club was William S. Boyd, who called a meeting of the interested

oarsmen at Young and Jackson's Hotel on Sunday, September 19, 1880. He was the prime

mover in the foundation and establishment of the new club, and he played an active role in

the affairs of the various rowing associations and as a delegate to the Victorian Rowing

Association. He was assisted by his vice-captain, F. Williams and secretary, J. Baldwin. The

committeemen were Heale, Blade and W. Davis.

Young & Jacksons Hotel

The building was built in 1853, the hotel licensed in 1861 and then licensed to Henry Figshy

Young and Thomas Joshua Jackson in 1875.

The group which formed the club had a common interest in their association with the various

mercantile warehouses established in Melbourne around Flinders Street and Flinders Lane.

Most of those involved had prior association with the Warehousemen's Rowing Club.

Appropriately the new club which was to become the Mercantile Rowing Club was originally

designated "Junior Warehousemen's Rowing Club". It was established at a time when there

were a multitude of rowing clubs in and about the Melbourne area. It was a newcomer on a

crowded scene.

We might wonder today what motivation there was for the formation of a new club when so

many other organisations already existed. Obviously there was a need to be catered for, for a

club that does not cater for a need would soon wither and die. Mercantile survived its birth

pangs and grew and prospered to become, in time, the leading club in Victorian rowing, to

have a profound influence on the future course of rowing in this State, and to be known and

respected not only throughout Australia but throughout the rowing world.

Latest advice from RV on rowing in metroploitan

Melnbourne

Published 19th September 2020

Rowing Victoria has published the following guidance of rowing under the current lock

down.

Metropolitan Melbourne - Rowing approved for exercise

From 11:59pm on 13 September 2020, metropolitan Melbourne will take the First Step towards COVID Normal.

Regarding exercise and recreation:

• Two people or a household can now meet outdoors for a maximum of two hours for social interaction,

exercise or recreation within 5km of their home. • Outdoor exercise of up to two hours per day can be split into a maximum of two sessions. You can

exercise within 5km of your home with one other person or members of your household. • Outdoor playgrounds will reopen Skate parks remain closed. • Outdoor recreation must be within 5km of your home. All sport and recreation facilities remain closed. • You can drive to a location within 5km of your home to exercise, however if you live in metropolitan

Melbourne, you cannot travel to regional Victoria for the purposes of exercise.

Under the current restrictions you are permitted to participate in water-based exercise but not water-based recreational activities. Until recently rowing was considered as a recreational activity.

Rowing Victoria sought clarification of the classification and received the following positive response:

“ Individuals are not permitted to open a boatshed or other facility to access a boat, or share another person's equipment. If an individual has easy access to their own scull at the river, and complies with all remaining exercise restrictions, i.e. not traveling more than 5km from where you live, limiting exercise to twice a day and no more than two hours in total, and maintaining 1.5 metres distance from other people, they may row for exercise.”

It is important to note that although rowing is now regarded as exercise we are still required to follow all other regulations. As Rowing Clubs are closed, their safety management plans are not activated, consequently Maritime Safety Victoria have advised that the PFD exemption will not apply, so PFD’s must be worn. Please ensure the waterways and landings are open.

This is a big step forward and thanks to RV for their great work.

Mercantile wins the Rowing Victoria active minutes

challenge

Published 19th September 2020

Rowing Victoria has announced the results of their active minutes challenge with our rowers

dominating the event.

Congratulations to all involved.

More disrption from Peppercorn Lawn

Published 19th September 2020

Advice from the government on the Metro Tunnel works on peppercorn lawn disruption

attached. A lot more truck traffic will occur.

Mercantile and the Tour de France

Published 18th September 2020

Mercantile has connections with the Tour with former member Bridie O'Donnell being an

SBS commentator and Mike McKay gets a good wrap in commentary last night.

Our President was able to keep the eyes and ears open to the very end last night. In the last 5

minutes of commentary, the broadcaster commented that Mike McKay was head coach at

Mercantile, the strength of the club, and the cross training Mercantile has been doing with

Brunswick cycling club.

So your Club's training on bikes due to COVID has gained prominance. I wish we could call

it cross training but we are not on the water!

From the archives - Phil Batters 1995

Published 17th September 2020

It is amazing what comes up in the archives - 1995 and Phil Batters goes rowing, in a suit.

From all reports, he did not fall in. We will need to get him to do that in a racing single 25

years on.

Great work Phil and hope to see you in a boat soon enough - sculls will all the rage in

October.

You can see why we elected him President with such Boris Johnson style antics.

Congraulations to our NTC invitees

Published 14th September 2020

Congratulations to our 2020-21 NTC invitees from Mercantile.

Jessica Morrison

Katrina Werry

Amanda Bateman

James Rook

Angus Widdicombe

Liam Donald

There were no surprises with any of these invitees given their past performances at the 2019

World Championships and their training undertaken.

No lightweights have been invited and so Red Matthews continues to train with us.

Past senior team members such as Katrina Bateman are training hard with us also to gain

entry and sadly has been coming back from injury. Others trying to break into the NTCs for

the first time.

Those outside the NTCs are placed under considerable pressure training in Melbourne with

all of the restrictions. Our thoughts are with them.

Mercantile dominates the Rowing Victoria active minutes

challenge

Pubished 13th September 2020

Mercantile rowers have enabled Mercs to dominate this challenge with the latest progress

scores before it ended showing Mercs well in front.

2020-21 season dates

Published 13th September 2020

Your Committee is an optimistic mob and have laid down some social function dates for

members, even during a 'state of emergency'. Please keep the dates free.

• President's Christmas luncheon at the boathouse including boat namings - Sunday

13th December 2020 at noon and probably outside the boathouse.

• Henley on Yarra Eve Cocktail party at the boathouse Friday 19th February 2021 at

6pm, possibly outside also.

• ANZAC service and President's luncheon at the boathouse Sunday 25th April 2021.

• Olympic Games Finals Brunches at the boathouse - Wednesday 29th July, Thursday

30th July and Friday 31st July

COVID-19 Impacts

Published 13th September 2020

The impacts on our active members has been immense and on the current exit out of

lockdown, will continue to be so. It will be an enormous challenge for our younger members

to get the on-water miles under our belts in time for the National Championships and

selection activities. With unusual study and work commitments, and continuous off water

training, it is getting very tiring for our young athletes. They are currently doing 1100 hours

of off water training a week! For our older rowers, it is now six months away from the sport

we love. Our thoughts are with you all.

We may be able to get some athletes back on the water in October in singles, in groups of

two, with a coach, if the government commits to stage 2. The difficulty will still be the 5km

activity radius.

If the extremely high threshold of <5 cases on average over 14 days by 26th October is

reached, we might allow us to get back into boats, but not into the boathouse.

If the unrealistic threshold on no cases for 14 days is reached by the 23rd November, we

can open the boathouse.

As you might gather, your author does not believe the Victorian government is making

realistic thresholds for sports, let alone the community.

Needless to say, regattas in 2020 are a dream but regattas might be a possibility in 2021. The

Head of the Yarra has been cancelled.

Given the lack of regattas and so income for Rowing Victoria, their new CEO will not

commence until October and the staff have been asked to work part-time.

Given that we have the benefit of JobKeeper payments for three of our coaching team, the

Club coaching team continues to support our athletes and plans for better times.

From the vaults - 1990 World Championships

Published 13th September 2020

The first World Championships conducted in Australia were in 1990 at Lake Barrington.

They beautiful surrounds will host the Australian Championships in 2021, COVID

permitting. They heralded the start of the Oarsome Foursome, the rise of Stephen Hawkins

and Peter Antonie who were to take gold in 1992 at Barcelona, and validation to the World of

the strength of lightweight rowing in Australia - medals were won in both lightweight men

and women's crews.

The regatta was a great credit to David Schier, now President of the Shepparton Rowing

Club, who gained government support to build the course at Lake Barrington and then getting

FISA to agree to give teh World Championships to Lake Barrington - it was a bold move.

The Championships are perhaps best known as the last regatta at which East and West

Germany competed as different nations.

Some images to bring back the memories.

The Oarsome Foursome's first World Championship win

Silver medal medal winning women's lightweight four stroked by club member Bec Joyce

A youthful President Anthony Johnson in the back row with Captain Peter Murphy and

Chipper in the front.

Member profile - Ian Jickell

Published 13th September 2020

Club member Ian Jickell has recently been appointed the new CEO of Rowing Victoria.

Congratulations Ian and welcome. We have no doubt that you will do an excellent job. For

those who do not know Ian, the following profile is provided.

Barwon Rowing Club (VIC), Essendon Rowing Club (VIC) and Mercantile Rowing Club

(VIC)

1981 – Victorian Championships Sprint Four (Barwon RC), Coxswain - Gold

1982 – Victorian Championships Boys Junior Lightweight Four (Belmont HS),– Gold

1982 – Victorian Championships, Lightweight Four (Barwon RC), Coxswain – Gold

1982 - Victorian Championships, Lightweight Pair (Barwon RC), Coxswain – Gold

1983-1984 - Barwon Rowing Club Committee Member

1984 - Victorian Championships (Barwon RC), Under 19 Single Scull – Gold

1985 – Victorian Championships (Mercantile RC), Youth Eight - Bronze

1986-1987 - Mercantile Rowing Club Committee Member

1986 - Australian Henley (Mercantile RC) Grand Challenge Cup winner

1986 – National Championships (Mercantile RC), U23 Lightweight Four – Bronze

1986 - National Championships (Mercantile RC), Lightweight Eight – Silver

1986 - Jeff Wylie Memorial Trophy - Mercantile RC

1987 - APS Head of the River - Brighton Grammar School, Coach Second Eight

1988 – National Championships, Lightweight Eight (Essendon RC) – Silver

1989 - Victorian Championships (Mercantile RC) Lightweight Eight – Gold

From one of his first big wins as a cox in 1982 to....

..his last race in 1989 - Ian in front

Ian has had an interesting, varied and successful rowing career. Whilst not an international

level rower, he enjoyed his rowing and club life. His engaging personality and ability to

maintain the many friendships gained in his youth, are hallmarks of his continuing interest in

the sport.

It is little wonder that he has weaved his love of sport with his commercial, partnership and

marketing skills to become a leading sports sponsorship and commercial sports manager.

Congratulations Ian on your appointment.

Past News can be found via the links at the top right of this page