Rowing Newsletter

Welcome back to 2023 and the start of another rowing season. This year we launch our News from Rowing e-newsletter. This communication will come out monthly during the season and bi-monthly over the off-season. The purpose of the newsletter is to provide some important updates, upcoming events and also information about the programme for parents. 

As I write this, we have just finished our two-week rowing camp to kick off 2023. I would like to sincerely thank Miss Sarah Ashlin and Mr Barry Townsend for all their work in making this happen and also the many volunteer coaches and support that made the camp possible. I would also like to thank Sarah for her outstanding leadership of our rowing programme.

In this first issue, we will outline some of the various groups and their roles within the rowing community.

Nicholas Foster

Head of Senior Campus, Deputy Principal 

One Dream. ONE Team.

I’d heard about it, I’d read about it, but nothing quite prepared me for the spectacular Lake Barrington! After traversing the windy road down to the lake edge I was in awe of every driver who manages to tow a fully laden rowing boat trailer to Australia’s premier still water rowing course.

Upon arrival, I was greeted by our Rowing Captains Tess Klower and Ned Adkins. They presented me with a sports cap signed by all the senior rowers which I shall wear with pride on regatta days!

I jumped at the opportunity to go on the water for the annual Barrington Cup with all crews competing for the impressive homemade recyclable trophy with rowing camp mementoes! Each crew had a handicapped start time which would ensure a tight finish over 2kms. They were all in it to win it but it was the Under 16 Girls who were to be victorious!

I would write about the race had I actually seen it! Unfortunately, my tinnie ran out of petrol and Sarah Ashlin (our outstanding Director of Rowing) and I were ingloriously towed back to the moorings well behind the students. I’m not sure if Sarah planned it but it certainly was an opportunity for her to share with me about Grammar’s program and her personal aspirations in rowing which I hope are realised by this fantastic leader in our school.

The day concluded with the Grammar war cry by the students.  A bemusing and befuddling use of language that has been around nearly as long as Grammar has been. The pride the students feel for their sport, their school and their esprit de corp would be the envy of many boatsheds around the country. It was a wonderful welcome to this stunning part of the world!

Rowing, to my mind, is one of the best team sports that our students can engage with during their time at Grammar. It allows young people to have clear personal goals, the opportunity to continually improve and ultimately figure out how to get a boat moving with speed and precision! It takes a lot! Friendly and competitive by nature, students learn many life lessons from this awesome sport.

I wish our crews every success over the regatta season and they know I’ll be on the banks cheering on the blue, black and white as they leave nothing on the water come the Head of the River on March 18th.

Go Grammar!

Dale Bennett

Principal 

The annual Launceston Grammar Rowing Camps were held during January for our Senior and Junior rowers to kickstart the 2023 season. Our rowers and coaches were excited to return to Lake Barrington for this year’s camp which certainly did not disappoint. Our Senior Rowers were fortunate to partake in five days at rowing camp which involved quality kilometres of crew training together on the world-class Lake Barrington. The annual Lake Barrington Cup was held with the U16 Girls 8+ the champions for 2023.

Our Junior Rowers had the full rowing camp experience, including camping with their crews and supporters. This was a great opportunity for our crews to bond in a fun and inclusive environment in preparation for camping at regattas in their senior years. Our Junior rowers participated in a modified Lake Barrington Cup where crews had the opportunity to practice their race techniques in preparation for upcoming regattas.

Our rowers are in exceptional form after the progress made during our rowing camps which leave us in great stead leading up to championships and the penultimate event, Head of the River. I am proud to be leading the rowing program at Launceston Grammar, and I look forward to our results in the upcoming regattas.

Sarah Ashlin

Director of Rowing

Hi everyone,

Tess and Ned here. We are your Rowing Co-Captains for the 22/23 season.

It has been great to see everyone getting back into rowing at our summer camps.  We were pretty impressed with the Junior rowers and the way they swung into rowing in their first camp at Barrington.

The Seniors also had a busy camp finishing with Mr Bennett and Mr Foster travelling up for a surprise visit to watch the Barrington Cup. To welcome Mr Bennett all the opens had signed a new rowing cap and it was great to see him wearing it at Barrington. We also gave them both the very best Grammar war cry we could muster. For Mr Bennett, it is his first season with Grammar Rowing and for us, the Senior Opens, it is our last. We are really glad we were able to share this great moment with Mr Bennett, Mr Foster, Miss Ashlin, our coaches and our crews at the end of camp. Well done to the Under 16 Girls for winning the 2023 Barrington Cup.

Thank you to Miss Ashlin, our coaches and the camp parents for their organisation and time in making the camp happen.

See you at the lake where we’re looking forward to hearing the Grammar war cry a few more times before we Senior rowers retire from rowing, at the end of this season.

Tess Klower & Ned Adkins
Rowing Captains 

The RSG’s favourite time of year has arrived with the Head of the River Regatta on Saturday 18 March in clear sight. Until then the myriad of regattas continues to provide us with the very best opportunities to see out a golden summer.

We know the final part of the season can feel frantic but it is a special kind of wonderful. The busy run-up to the Head of the River always ends with a swell of parental admiration for our rowers and the extraordinary efforts we see them devote to their chosen sport!

The Rowing Support Group is in full swing preparing for our last events of the season. If you haven’t already, it is time to add these dates to your calendar; the Head of the River Cocktail Party (Tuesday 14 March) and the Head of the River Regatta (Saturday 18 March).  These are great events to share with family and friends. More details will be sent in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, we have our next Rowing Support Group meeting at Café 1846, Senior Campus on Tuesday 7 March at 7.00 pm. We have just two more meetings before the end of the season and before a whole raft of parents departs the RSG after their open rower’s last regatta. Please, if you would like to really support our rowing community come along and join us. We’d love to see you.

Jacquie Adkins

RSG President 

The Rowing Support Group are a crucial part of the significant fundraising that helps provide for our rowing programme. They organise many functions that serve to raise funds for the programme but they are also friend-raising events. Over the past three years alone, the RSG has helped raise over $120,000 to support our rowers. 

The RSG has run many successful functions which have served as both a social function and also a fundraiser through silent and live auctions on the night. 

Other fundraising events have seen the club sell bags of sheep poo, sourced from farms around Tasmania. They also sell rowing supporter merchandise at regattas. 

As part of the rowing levy that parents pay, $5 goes towards making all our parents a member of the RSG. The School has the controllable interest of the RSG under its constitution. 

The RSG are currently looking at joining the Australian Sports Foundation, which enables supporters to make tax-deductible donations to the rowing program. 

In our next e-newsletter, we will include more on this.
 

Our rowing programme is funded in four main ways: 

• Rowing Levies 
• Funds raised by our RSG 
• The School funding the programme 
• Substantial volunteer hours

So, what are the costs? 

Regatta Fees 
For every event that the School enters there are “seat fees” to race. For most regattas, the fees are $15 per seat, per race. This can see fees for a regatta cost up to $4000.

Boat/Equipment Replacement 
A sport like rowing utilises a lot of expensive equipment. Boats, dingeys, oars, rowing trailers, and transport costs all add up. 

Over the last three years, the School has contributed in excess of $300,000 in equipment and maintenance to support the programme. This does not take into account the staffing resources involved in supporting our rowers.

Rowing Levies 
Each year parents receive a rowing levy. For students that attend the Rowing Camp, there is also an added cost. All costs for the Rowing Camp are billed to just cover the costs of the camp. These costs include: 

• Venue Hire
• Food
• Transport Cost 

We are incredibly lucky to have so many volunteers that help make this camp possible. Many parents take annual leave in order to coach our rowers. We are incredibly grateful.

We would like to remind our students and parents about being mindful of security. In particular to lock vehicles when parked at the boatshed and to not leave valuables obviously sitting in plain sight in vehicles.

Unfortunately, we have had a recent theft of a motorbike from the parking area. We are currently exploring our process of locking exterior gates once all parents and staff are parked. Sarah Ashlin will provide more detail to all parents shortly.

Save the date for the Head of the River Cocktail Party, Tuesday 14 March at Café 1846 and Head of the River Luncheon Saturday 18 March at Lake Barrington.

The Rowing Support Group are finalising the official invitations for all rowing parents, supporters and rowers.

For more information and bookings Head of the River Cocktail Party and Head of the River Luncheon.