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We set off for the final JB Sharp regatta with ten rowers and were fortunate to have good conditions all day. Racing kicked off with Sarah taking out a win in the under 16 singles having been pushed the whole way by a UTS sculler. The women's intermediate quad of Aimee, Edee, Cleo, and Macayla took out a clear water win with a push to the line in the final part of the race. Later that day an open quad was boated with Aimee switching out for Sarah, and again they went away with the win. The final race for these rowers saw Aimee and Macayla face off against Sarah and Edee in the intermediate double. Aimee and Macayla went away with a good win. The novice racing saw our newer rowers take to the wate. Alliah has continued to improve, and this showed in her placing second in the novice single. The Penrith Highschool program continues to progress, and we had four boys rowing at this regatta. Alex, Tanish, Eric and Daming raced in the novice quad against only one other crew, Balmain. Although Balmain proved too strong for them, they worked together well and continue to show they are learning every time they go on the water. Alex, Tanish and Eric all raced the novice single. A special mention to Eric for competing in his first regatta and placing fourth in the single. Congratulations to everyone on your results. It is only very early in the season and is a good starting point for us to build upon for future racing. This series is always a good experience and we are appreciative of everyone involved who make it possible. A special thanks to all members who chipped in and helped with loading, on the day and unloading. It is everyone's efforts that make it all possible, so thank you. Our next event will be our own Head race on the 25th August. 
We celebrated the 2018/19 season on Sunday. We had a lot to be proud of this season and it was great to see so many rowers come and enjoy the day. Congratulations to all the award winners and boat name recipients. Thank you to everyone who helped make this a great season.
We headed off to the first regatta of the season with a squad of nine rowers. Glebe is always a fun regatta with 500 metre sprints always making for some exciting racing. Sarah placed second in the under 16 single, beaten to the line by a Sydney University sculler. The intermediate quad of Aimee, Annelise, Edee and Macayla took out the win. Aimee won the handicap single and Macyala placed third. The novice single saw two rowers go for a swim and Monique go away with the win. A big congratualtions on all those competing in their first regatta: Alliah, Annelise, Monique, Alex and Tanish.
 Sarah, Alliah, Aimee, Macayla, Alex and Tanish Jason and Aimee put their hands up (or were gently persuaded) to compete in the sixteen kilometre Perth to Fremantle race in their singles. They both endured some tough conditions and I know short and long term they have learnt (or will eventually) something from the experience that will help them further their rowing in the future. Aimee won the A-E grade category and Jason placed third in the A-E category. Will recently moved over to WA and lucky for us he put his hand up to jump into a masters composite eight. While cardio has never been Will's strength, we knew he was going into this event not prepared in the slightest, but he gave it a go, and that is all you can ask.
 Aimee, Jason and Will post race The much anticipated Australian Masters Championships was upon us once again. With the event being held over in Perth it was no small feat to organise a trip of this magnitude. A big thank you to Jason and Mark who were fundamental to the success of this trip. We had six rowers along with Mark make the trip from Nepean; Jacqui, Fiona, Aimee (coxswain), Andrew, Jason and myself.  Jacqui, Jason, Mark, Aimee, Daniel, Fiona With such small numbers we only had five events that saw exclusively Nepean rowers in the boat. Mixed A/B quad of Jason, Myself, Fiona and Jacqui placing third overall and first as a non-composite crew. Mixed A/B double of Jason and Jacqui wo placed second against Rowan and Shantelle from Newcastle University. A grade double of Jason and myself placing first. A grade pair of Jason and myself placing second. A grade single with Jason taking the silver.
Due to only having a small number of rowers we teamed up with numerous clubs to justify taking a trailer over to the other side of the country. These included: Manning River, Lake Macquarie, Newcastle, Newcastle University, Brisbane Waters and Endeavour. With many of these clubs we also formed composite crews. These proved very successful with the below resulting in medals. A grade coxed four- silver- Fiona, Dux (BWRC), Shantelle (NUBC), Jacqui and Aimee A grade pair- bronze- Jacqui and Shantelle (NUBC) A grade coxed four- gold- Sean (END), me, Sean (BWRC), Jason and Aimee A grade quad- gold- Rowan (NUBC), me, Rhett (Mann) and Jason C grade quad- gold- Sean (END), Rhett (Mann), Sean (BWRC), Jason B grade coxed four- silver- Sean (END), Rowan (NUBC), Sean (BWRC), Jason and Aimee Mixed A/B coxed four- silver- Shantelle (NUBC), Jacqui, Sean (BWRC), Jason and Aimee Mixed A/B eight- silver- Fiona, Dux (BWRC), Shantelle (NUBC), Jacqui, Sean (BWRC), Rowan (NUBC), me, Jason and Aimee
,We also had some very good performances, that while not producing medals, are still commendable, especially considering the high standard of racing this year. A grade quad- 4th- Fiona, Dux (BWRC), Shantelle (NUBC) and Jacqui B grade pair- 4th- Sean (BWRC) and Jason A grade double- 5th- Dux (BWRC) and Jacqui A grade single- 6th- Jacqui Jason and myself were privileged this season to be part of the interstate racing as coaches of the men's quad consisting of Gary (Drummoyne), Sean (Endeavour), Sean (Brisbane Waters) and Rhett (Manning River). While they did not have the perfect race they still went away with a fourth and learnt a lot form the experience, as did Jason and I.  NSW D grade Quad: Jason (coach), Gary (DRC), Sean (BWRC), Sean (End), Rhett (Mann) and Daniel (coach) A big thank you to everyone who made this such a great trip. I will leave you all with some pictures I got on our way back, along with some great snap of Mark.
 I was seeing double The final NSW regatta for the season was finally here, and the older members of the club had the opportunity to race against the best in the state in their respective age groups. We only had a small contingent of six Nepean rowers competing, however we were able to organise a few composite crews which enabled us to have more racing. Saturday racing commenced for Nepean with Jacqui teaming up with Dux (BWRC) in the A double. A strong Glebe crew pushed off early and while the Nepean composite crew began to claw back Shellharbour City, they did not have enough left in the tank to bring back the early lead they established. They went away with the bronze. Jacqui shortly after this race jumped into the mixed double with Jason to defend their title from last year. Newcastle Uni and Nepean pushed away from the rest of the field and it was a two-crew race for the gold. While Jason and Jacqui started to gain on the Newcastle Uni crew in the later stages of the race it was not enough and they had to settle for second with only eight one hundredths of a second separating first and second. In other mixed racing, Jason, Magnus, Jacqui and Fiona teamed up to take out the mixed quad. The other big boat of the day saw Jason, Sean (BWRC), Magnus and Daniel line up for the B quad. A good start and smooth racing resulted in them having a boat length lead coming into the final two hundred and fifty metres. A crab by the Nepean composite crew saw the trailing Black Mountain crew take a brief lead but this did not faze the crew who lifted for the final couple of hundreds of metres to take the gold.  Mixed A quad: Jacqui, Fiona, Magnus and Jason  C single champion: Magnus In the small boats, Magnus had a tough race in the C single. A Melbourne University sculler was the one to watch and he got off to a good lead with Magnus trailing in second. Magnus kept his composure and while some would say his recovery was not seamless, he pushed through in the final stages of the race to claim the victory. Paul had a tight tussle with Sean (BWRC) in the D single and got on top in their battle, with Paul taking the silver by four hundredths of a second. Jacqui had a good race in the A single to place fourth. While still not attaining a medal, she continues to move in the right direction having placed sixth in the same event last year.  A single: Jacqui Jason and Daniel raced the A pair, with only having raced the pair once previously, one of the members was a bit nervous (easy guess as to who that was). A mishap by the starter did cause some confusion but the pair got on with the race at hand. Keeping their composure, they came into the final stages with the Black Mountain crew who lead from the start in their sights. A less than desirable few strokes by someone who will go unnamed was not ideal and saw the Black Mountain crew take gold and Nepean take silver. While not happy with the result due to matters both outside and within the crew’s control, we always need to learn from experiences such as these and implement this into future racing. Sunday racing began with still conditions but much like the previous day the conditions changed throughout. The first final of the day for us was the women’s A four. This crew has improved since first coming together, however they are still a very new combination and are still working on moving the boat together. The crew of Jacqui, Shantelle (NUBC), Dux (BWRC) and Fiona got off the start cautiously but began to find their groove as the race went on. They pushed away from the remainder of the field to claim a six second victory.  A four: Fiona, Dux, Shantelle and Jacqui This same crew combined for the A quad and went away with bronze. Shantelle (NUBC) and Jacqui then came together for the A pair. They have had a few training sessions in the pair and have come together well. They were off a two second handicap from the other two crews in the race but they made this back within the first two hundred and fifty metres to then push away and go on to claim the gold. Jason and Daniel progressed through their heat to make it to the A double final. A controlled start saw them in the mix early on with Manning River crew pushing off to a lead coming through the middle of the race. However, the Nepean crew kept to their plan and pushed through them to take away the win. Jason went on to combine with Sean (BWRC), Rhett (Manning) and Sean (Endeavour) in the C quad. They reclaimed their title from last year with a good race to row through the early leaders from Glebe. Later in the day Jason raced in the A single. It was a two-boat race early on with Newcastle Uni pushing Jason for the first half of the race but with three hundred metres to go Jason pulled away to take away a good win and claim the title for the second year running.
 1st A single: Jason We have come to our final regatta for the regular season, with only master’s racing ahead of us now. The NSW grade Championships is a highly anticipated regatta in Nepean’s regatta schedule as it gives us an opportunity to boat competitive crews with rowers of various ages. We were welcomed by great conditions over both days of racing. We had a smaller squad than in previous year’s, however we were able to still boat various competitive crews over the weekend and a few good small boats. Saturday saw some strong results in the big boats. The men’c C eight of Jason, Miles, Joel, Magnus, Daniel, Trent, Jooya, Hugh and cox Aimee got off to a good start but it was Glebe who pushed off to an early lead, claiming a boat length lead on the field in the first few hundred metres of the race. The Nepean crew did not let this phase them and continued to race to their plan. The third 250 metre saw Nepean take to the lead, and then push away for the win with Glebe dropping back to third and Canberra taking away second.
Jason, Magnus, Miles, Jooya and Aimee once again took to the water shortly after the eight in the C four. They went away with a comfortable win in the end. However, Jason, Magnus and Aimee did not get to rest long as they went back out with the two roughies from the C eight, Trent and Hugh, to contest the D four. They got off to a good start and slowly pushed through the field to claim another win for Nepean. Surprisingly the oldest rower in the D crew was able to make it through the three races, but that is probably just because it was favourable conditions, otherwise we may have had issues.
 Men's D four on the podium: Aimee, Jason, Magnus, Hugh, Trent  Paul in the C single Paul raced in the C single and after a strong heat race he was in a good position for the final. He went off hard and had a good race but unfortunately, he was just short of claiming a medal, taking away fourth place. Victoria and Tallara took to the water to contest the women’s C pair. There was some strong competition with ANU and UTS hosting strong crews. The girls have been training the pair consistently in the lead up to the regatta, and this was fortunate because when they started training it had its fair share of issues, with a capsize being a big one. Though, I am assured stroke seat rows perfectly, so bow is presumably to blame for any issues. The girls had a good row and took away the bronze which was a great result for them given their limited preparation.  Tallara and Victoria in the C pair  Harry heading out for the D single A special mention to Harry for competing in his first race, contesting the D single. He progressed through to the semi final which was a good achievement for his first regatta. Unfortunately, he had a bad stroke early on in the semi and went for a swim. He, in true Harry form, raced the remainder of the race despite this mishap. Sunday again saw good results in a couple of big boats and also good racing in the small boats. The women’s sole big boat for the weekend, saw Tallara, Victoria, Fiona, Aimee and cox Sarah take to the water for the C coxed four. A strong UTS crew took to the lead early but the Nepean crew did not let them go easy and held off the UNSW crew to claim the silver.  Tallara, Victoria, Fiona, Aimee and Sarah rowing to a silver medal in the C four In the small boats, Aimee claimed a bronze in the C single with gold and silver going to women older than her mother. This however was not a first for Aimee, with her being accustomed to her elders being quicker than her, with a fifty year old beating her just last year.  Aimee with her bronze medal from the C single Sienna took out the win in the A single with Sydney closing in on her in the final stages but she had enough in the tank to hold her off. Sarah and Cleo both progressed through to the semi-finals in the D single however were unable to progress through to the final.  Sienna rowing to gold in the A single
A certain rower who will go unnamed, dislocated his finger on Saturday afternoon at footy. Some would say that if he was not dogging the boys this would never have happened, but that is just what I have heard. Despite this late withdrawal all the men’s racing was able to go ahead with Paul stepping up to race the C quad and B four and Miles racing the B pair. The C quad of Miles, Jooya, Hugh and Paul progressed through to the final after a steady heat. In the final they got off well but some of the other crews as expected got off very quick in the early stages of the race. The boys crawled back to place third with second place Leichardt only being five tenths of a second in front of them on the line. Miles then quickly jumped out of the quad and into the pair with Jason. We were all excited to see this great transfer Miles talks about translate to a fast moving pair. Fortunately (probably for Miles mostly) the boys had a good race and were able to claim a clear water lead 500 metres into the race and could settle down as the race progressed so as not to exhaust themselves too much with a four race shortly after. The B four saw Jason, Miles, Jooya and Paul face off against ANU and UNSW crews. Early on it was clear it was going to be a battle between Nepean and UNSW but Nepean proved too strong and they went away with the win.
 Gold medallists in the B four: Jason, Paul, Miles and Jooya  Women's C double: Letisha and Cleo A few special mentions must be made for Sunday’s racing. First, Edee competed in her first single race in the D category and performed well for the amount of rowing she has done to date. Everyone’s first race is a daunting experience however we realise in in retrospect that it was not as scary as we thought and we learn a lot form this. Second, Letisha competed this weekend for the final time for a long time with a knee surgery this coming week meaning she will be out of the boat for a minimum of twelve months. We wish Letisha all the best for the surgery and during her recovery. Third, Tallara backed up twenty minutes after competing in the C four in the A single. This was a credit to Tallara, it was no small feat. This year saw only the one women’s crew boat for the regatta due to a lack of numbers and depth on the women’s side meaning small boats were a bigger focus. A big thankyou to Tallara for showing the team spirit I think we should all aim for, in putting the team in front of herself, and racing in a crew so close to her single.
Fourth, Mark’s feats are often marvelled by onlookers and this weekend proved no different. Due to Tallara’s tight turn around in the single she was unable to get back to the boats to row to the line. Mark stepped up and carried her single 1500 metres to the start line. While it was a sight to be seen, Mark’s continual work at the club is something that I am very grateful for and even the not so entertaining to watch jobs he does do not go unnoticed. As always, a big thank you to everyone who made the regatta the success it was for Nepean. We came fifth in the medal tally which was a good achievement given the number of rowers we had competing over the weekend. For some this marks the end of the season and the beginning of off-season training that recommences this week. For master’s two big regattas remain, in the state and National titles still to come.  Aimee travelled to Grafton with her mum to compete in the Combined High schools Championships having won the under 16 single last year at SIRC.
Heavy winds were expected though the regatta went ahead as planned. Aimee raced up an age group and competed in the schoolgirl single. She won her heat which placed her in a good lane for the final, which could prove useful in windy conditions. She had a good race in the final and she was happy with her performance, going away with second place, only three seconds behind the winner. She also had the opportunity to jump into an inter regional eight which was a good experience and the crew came second. Our next school events for our junior rowers will be the Schoolgirl and Schoolboy Head of the River's on the 16th and 17th March respectively. The pinnacle event for age racing for the state was finally upon us. We had a small group of rower’s head to SIRC for the event. The NSW State Championships is the strongest state Championships in Australia with many interstate competitors competing in all age categories. We had very good rowing conditions for all three days and the rowers took advantage of this along with some good training coming into the competition, to pull very good times. First up was Miles in the under 19 singles on the Friday afternoon. Being an under-age rower in an event with half the competition from interstate, meant it was going to be hard to progress to the final. Miles executed a very good race a and pulled a personal best time but unfortunately missed out on making it into the final by just one and a half seconds. He then went on to compete on the Sunday in the schoolboy single representing Penrith Anglican College. He progressed through to the semi final where he had a good race, but he was not quite quick enough to progress to the final, coming in sixth, with the final qualifying fourth spot being one and a half seconds quicker than him. In the under 16 single Sarah had a comfortable heat to progress through to the semi-final. She pushed hard off the start but paid for this in the later stages, and she was unable to progress to the final. She did pull a personal best time, and learnt from the experience. Hugh competed in the under 16 singles. He had a tough heat and pulled a big personal best to progress to the final. He had a very disciplined race in the final, racing his best race to date and pushed through the field as the race progressed to place fourth. While not attaining a medal, this is a very good achievement, and one he should be very proud of. Aimee competed in the under 17 singles. She progressed through the heat and semi to make it into the final. She raced her own race in the final and came off the start at the back, but worked hard to place sixth in the race and fourth against the NSW rowers. Jooya was the final race on the Sunday for us and competed in the under 17 single. He did what he had to in the heat to progress through to the final. He paced his race well in the final and was out the back off the start. He worked through rowers as they tired, to come second against a Queensland rower. A silver medal after a tough off season due to an injury is a good demonstration of his good work ethic which has allowed him to get back on track so quickly. I was personally very happy with the results on the weekend and for anyone who knows me, knows that does not happen all that often. The rowers sent to this year’s regatta worked very hard this season to achieve these results and they should all be very happy with their own personal achievements. While I was happy with many aspects of the racing over the weekend, I was most impressed by the mature racing of such young rowers. The ability to flat pace, especially in young age categories, is tough with so many other rowers positive splitting races. The ability to do this shows great maturity and puts these rowers in a good position for future racing.
For the first time in my memory, a regatta was held on Australia day. High temperatures were predicted but our small squad of rowers were keen to have a last hit out before State Championships which is only three weeks away. There was tough competition for this regatta with the vast majority of rowers competing also preparing for State. A notable performance by High saw him place third in the under sixteen single, this places him in a good position for State. Unfortunately due to the schedule and hot weather, some of the afternoon racing was cancelled. Good luck to everyone competing at the NSW State Championships.
 Setting up for the weekend Our annual rowing camp kicked off on the 2nd January as usual. Approximately twenty rowers took part in all or some of the week-long camp. The weather started off warm and cooled down as the camp progressed. The increase in training load and intensity was a shock to many of the rower’s systems but they all pushed through and saw some great improvements over a short period of time. We were able to boat larger boats that we can rarely boat in normal training sessions to prepare for the Taree regatta and other large club regattas where we will boat these larger boats. We headed off on Friday morning to Taree Summer regatta with nineteen Nepean rowers in total. This is considerably lower than last year but was still enough to be able to boat several larger boats. Over six hundred rowers from across the state entered this year’s event which is one of the biggest club events in the state and one we always look forward to. Upon arrival the weather was okay, warm and a slight tail wind though this wind turned far worse as racing began but did not lead to any racing being cancelled. We setup our tents, organised boats and got ready to begin for another year.  Getting ready for racing on Friday First up was Jack and Hugh in the D grade double. They had a good race but the Mosman and Macquarie Uni crews proved too strong and they went away with a third. The boys again teamed up on Sunday in the C double and improved on their performance and subsequently went away with a second against a strong master’s crew from Manning River. Next up was the women’s C quad of Aimee, Eleanor, Jacqui and Victoria. Though we had not practiced this combination this experienced crew put up a good race but the UTS crew proved too strong and the girls claimed second place.
The women’s D doubles saw Fiona and Sarah along with Letisha and Cleo claim wins in their respective divisions. The men’s C quads were up next with Jason, Jack, Daniel and Hugh facing off against Miles, Joel, Will and Jooya. Some healthy banter was exchanged before the race to build it up even more. Rough conditions meant a clean start was vital to set a good platform for the remainder of the race with conditions only getting rougher as the waterway opened up further down the course. Jason, Jack, Daniel and Hugh got off well gaining a lead early and holding on to it to claim the win with the other crew taking away fourth.
The final event of the Friday was the mixed quads. The first race saw two Nepean crews face off and resulted in a first and second. The crews were respectively Jason, Joel, Tallara, Aimee and the other Miles, Jack, Eleanor and Jacqui. The last division of the day saw a composite crew with Brisbane Waters with Daniel, Finn (BRISW), Fiona and Sarah (BRISW) take on Hugh, Will, Sarah and Victoria. Again there was much talk between the crews pre-race (that may have to do with one particular rower who was also in the C quad) about what the outcome would be. The composite crew got off well but the Hunter Valley crew proved too strong and they settled for second while the other Nepean crew took out fourth.
While banter and chat within and even to other clubs in the appropriate manner is all well and good, we must always be aware of the importance of respecting fellow rowers and being good sports. Never should the pursuit of winning over shadow good sportsmanship and no matter what the outcome, or your own personal performance, you should genuinely congratulate fellow club members and other members on their performance sincerely. One day was down. We went back to the accommodation and had good feed from the pizza shop across the road, went for our traditional walk down to the shops to get our ‘healthy snacks’ and we were in bed early to get ready for another day of racing.  Relaxing at accommodation after Friday's racing We arrived to the course with a small squad of those racing in the early races and the conditions on the water were far more favourable than yesterdays. First up was Sarah in the under 16 single who went away with third against some strong competition from Glebe and Mosman. A highlight of the weekend was the number of composite crews we were able to boat, in particular in the master’s categories. The men’s master eight saw five clubs combine to form the B crew of Jason, Daniel, Rowan (NUBC), Sean (ENDVR), Rhett (MANN), Conrad (NUBC), Gavin (SRC) and Colin (MANN) and coxed by Aimee. The E crew from Sydney was the crew to beat and with a ten second handicap it was a big ask for a scratch crew, but they put up a good race however Sydney went away with less than a two second win with the composite crew placing second. Next up was another composite master crew in the coxed four with Eleanor, Jacqui, Sarah (BWRC), Shantelle (NUBC) and cox Tiffany. They had a good row for their first race and took out second place with an experienced Leichardt crew claiming the win.  Jacqui, Eleanor, Sarah, Shantelle and cox Tiffany: masters coxed four The master’s single has been an event Jason has had much success at recently however he was facing off against Hugh McLeod who beat him at the CDRA Sprint Championships late last year. It was a good race for Jason who moved through Hugh as the race progressed and went away with a clear water win. The women’s D grade four of Fiona, Letisha, Sarah, Cleo and coxswain Aimee were not the most technically proficient crew but they worked together well to go away with a win.  Fiona, Letisha, Sarah, Cleo and cox Aimee: D coxed four The men’s C grade eight was next up and there were high expectations for the crew with Nepean having claimed three consecutive wins in this event from previous Taree regattas. A last-minute sickness meant Will was unable to race and a call was made for Tallara to jump in. This was a long-awaited call up for Tallara who has always wanted to row in the men’s eight. The crew got off to a good start and UNSW held with the crew for the first half of the race but the Nepean crew proved too strong and the crew of Jason, Daniel, Jack, Joel, Miles, Tallara, Hugh, Jooya and cox Tiffany took out first.  cox Tiffany, Jason, Daniel, Jack, Joel, Miles, Tallara, Hugh and Jooya: C eight The men’s master pair saw Jason and Daniel take to the water and with a thirteen second handicap to St George and a nine second handicap to Sydney who were the crews to watch, it was going to be a tough race. Though unable to catch either crew they made substantial ground on the two crews and placed third in the race. The two teamed up again later in the day and with a smaller handicap implemented due to versing younger crews, went away with the win.  Jason and Daniel: masters pair The much-anticipated mixed eight’s race was finally upon us. This is a wonderful spectacle even if you do not have a club crew in the race with fifteen eights lined up across the river. We for the third consecutive year were able to boat a crew. The handicaps for some crews was questionable but the crew did not let this affect them and they went out there and did the best they could. While not a perfect race (is there ever one?) for the crew it was a great effort and one everyone in the crew should be proud of and a respectful sixth place was attained. On a side note we were the fortunate recipients of the lucky draw prize for the none placing crews and claimed a $750 Croker voucher.  cox Tiffany, Joel, Miles, Jack, Jooya, Tallara, Jacqui, Aimee and Victoria: mixed eight The afternoon racing saw many more Nepean crews take to the water. In the pair racing Jack and Joel claimed the win in the C pair and Joel later on in the day teamed up with Jason to claim second in the men’s open pair. The single racing saw Aimee and Sarah claim second’s in their respective C grade divisions while Cleo won her division. Aimee also raced a light weight single and placed third while Tallara placed third in the open’s single. Hugh and Jooya both placed second in the under 16 and under 17 singles respectively behind Hunter Valley Grammar rower’s who will be tough competition come State Championships next month. The big boat racing saw Victoria, Sarah, Cleo and Letisha take second in the D grade quad while the C coxed four of Miles, Jack, Jooya, Hugh and coxswain Tiffany had a rough row with the crew taking away third.
Another day of racing was behind us and back to accommodation we went. Food was prepared and we had a good feed together. One of the great parts of racing at Taree is not just the many races but the gatherings after where we can talk to each other (mostly banter about each other) and just relax from the day of racing. We were up early again (one individual decided to have a sleep in but I hear he is important so it is okay) the next day with the open, under 23 and lightweight men’s singles up first. Jason was the first to race and while having a good performance (though still grabbing during the drive) with a strong finish a strong UTS sculler claimed the win and Jason took out a well earnt second place. Jack was up next and he had an improved race compared to past single races to take fourth. He improved on this with a better row later on in the day in the C single where he took second. Joel was next and rumours were he was super excited to race a 2km single, though not as excited as we was to have four 2km races in one day, which he thanked his coach for. Joel claimed fourth in his race and Miles took out second in the lightweight division. The women’s masters eight was next. Four clubs made up the crew of Katrina (NUBC), Sarah (BRISW), Katrina (ENDVR), Diane (ENDVR), Shantelle (NUBC), Jacqui, Fiona, Eleanor and coxswain Conrad (NUBC). The crew had time to make up on most of the crews and they did so to take out the win. The men’s masters coxed four saw another composite crew of Sean (ENDVR), Daniel, Sean (BRISW), Jason and coxswain Tiffany take to the water. A large margin of thirty-four seconds was made up on the eventual second place crew from North Shore with the composite crew taking away the win. The same men’s crew also contested the master’s quad and went away with second with an experienced Glebe crew taking the win.  Fiona, Katrina, Eleanor, Katrina, Jacqui, Conrad, Sarah, Shantelle and Diane: masters eight  Jason, Sean, Daniel and Sean: masters quad In the remaining small boats racing for the day Letisha claimed third in the D single. Aimee went away with a second in the under 19 double with Mosman rower, Bronte and then went on to claim another second in the B double with Jacqui. Jacqui later on in the day teamed up with Eleanor where they like the whole field had issues at the start with an issue in the handicapping by the starter, but they pushed on and raced hard regardless, taking third place. Jason and Joel rounded off their weekend of racing in a tough open double against strong UTS crews to take the second place.
The big crew boats remaining for the day were the men’s B four and the women’s C eight. The four had a good chance though with one rower past his prime, another who is small, a social rower and one old man, they definitely had their flaws. The conditions did make keeping a straight course hard but the crew managed to gain a lead early and hold a reasonable line and hold off the other crews to take the win. The eight had not rowed together before the race due to the difficulty of organising all nine rowers to be available at one time. A strong Hunter Valley crew took out a good win with the Nepean crew taking out second. The speed of the crew was respectable but there is still plenty of work to be done before the eight reaches its potential.
 Mark hard at work Racing concluded and we swiftly packed up so we could get on the road for the long trip back home. A weekend like this would not be possible without the help from many people. I would like to thank everyone for there help packing/unpacking the trailer, helping at camp, at Taree with boats, food preparation, cheering on fellow rowers, helping each other on and off the water and so much more. It is always a highlight of this regatta to see fellow rowers help each other out. Special thankyou to Jeff for being our photographer for the weekend. Lyn, Michelle and Nigel for helping with food at the accommodation and other odd jobs. Thanks to Mark and Lisa for providing food at the course over the regatta. As always, the regatta ran so smoothly because Mark was busy in the background rigging and de-rigging boats continuously. Thanks to Mark also for again towing a trailer and to Jason for towing the other trailer and assisting with coaching during camp and at the regatta. The results were again a reflection of the hard work of all rowers and supporters and something everyone should be very proud of. Now we buckle down and get ready for the upcoming championship regattas that are held locally knowing the hard work put in during this period will help us achieve our goals for the season.  Packing up on Sunday The second day of racing is one we always look forward to with the change of distance to only 500 metres, though when you are racing you can feel every metre of it. The anticipated high winds were in the back of our minds but when racing began conditions were great, and we were keen to get going. Jason and Magnus faced off in the master’s single with Magnus having a two second handicap on Jason due to his old age, I mean, because of his age. Jason caught up with the field early and pushed away for his first win of the day and Magnus though unable to hold his lead on Jason, held off the Shoalhaven sculler to take silver. The two then teamed up for the master’s double and seeing as they placed first and second in the singles, the pressure was on them to perform. Shoalhaven put up a good challenge but Jason and Magnus went away with the gold.
Jason also raced the open single which he also won after gaining the lead early. Jack placed sixth in the same final. Paul raced in the lightweight single and while there was a clear winner, he was in the mix for the remaining medals but he narrowly missed out, placing fourth. Will made a surprise appearance in the single to contest the under 23 single. With only one other rower in the race from UNSW it was a straight final. Will got out early and ensured he held off the UNSW sculler who put on several pushes throughout the race and he went away with the win.
Jack, Paul, Will and Miles teamed up for the opens quad and again like Will, it was a two-boat race against UNSW. They got off well and went away with a well earnt win.  MO4x: Will, Miles, Jack and Paul A starter's error along with inexperience lead to Jooya and Hugh missing their start in the under sixteen double and instead of starting the race, they struggled to get their oars under control. Fortunately for the boys the umpire kindly gave them another chance giving them a spot in the final. They raced hard in the final and went away with a fourth placing.  MU161x: Jooya and Hugh On the women’s side Jacqui had a good race in the single, racing her own race and in the late stages taking over the leader from the start to take gold. She then less than thirty minutes later teamed up with Eleanor in the open double and this time in a more comfortable race took another gold. Though with the conditions getting worse as the day went on it would not have felt comfortable.  Fiona and Jacqui heading out for masters single Aimee contested the under sixteen single. She comfortably made in through to the semi final and after a harder race made it through to the final. She put in a good effort in the final but the other scullers were too strong on the day and she went away with a fifth.  WU161x: Aimee Unfortunately, due to strong winds the regatta was cancelled at the lunch break. Meaning many of our races were cancelled. Rumours are that the Nepean open men’s doubles will face off in a sprint on the river in the coming weeks to see who is the fastest crew.
A big thankyou to everyone who helped over the whole weekend. Especially for everyone’s efforts on Sunday. On a few occasions when big gusts came through, I saw several rowers and their families rush to help tie down boats and the like to ensure no equipment was damaged. Also unloading was completed without any incidents which was quite an accomplishment given the strong winds. That is it for the year for regattas. We can now focus on training and look forward to one of the most anticipated regattas of the year, the Taree Summer regatta. The first regatta for the weekend was the Reindeer regatta. While it is a fun regatta in its nature in crews dressing up for the event, we used it for speed testing for crews as we get closer and closer to the major regattas of the season. We were also fortunate to have good conditions that saw some quick times recorded. Congratulations to Trent on competing in the novice single and completing his first race. Hugh went off with a bit too much excitement which he paid for in the later stages of the race. However regardless of this he went on to record a personal best and placed second with the Penrith sculler pushing through him to take first. Jacqui did not get into her rhythm in the early stages of the master’s single but it improved as she progressed through the race and resulted in a third place. The women’s under sixteen single had a lot of entries and Aimee and Sarah placed second and third respectively in their own divisions. Jason pushed away early in the master’s single and went hard the whole way in the pursuit of pulling a quick time. He went away with the win and a quick time but also many points to work on for future races. Miles was the final race for us in the under seventeens single. He faced up against some familiar faces from last season and knew it would be a tough race. He, like his brother, Hugh, went off too hard and paid the price as the race went on. There were some positives to draw from his third placing but again may things to improve on before State next year.
The annual Nepean Rowing regatta was back after a year off due to the bridge construction. Great conditions all day saw a very successful event unfold. The under 19 single was first up and Miles went away with a good win. Paul was the next win for Nepean in the master’s single holding off a Glebe sculler. Miles and Paul together with Jacqui and Tallara teamed up to race in the mixed quad and had a battle with Glebe for the majority of the race, but Glebe pushed away in the last three hundred meters to take the win. Miles and Paul then teamed up with Jack and Hugh and won the C quad. Hugh pushed hard in his single, going away with a personal best and taking away another medal. Aimee contested the lightweight single and performed well to beat Glebe and take away first place. She also contested the open double and quad in composite crews and placed second in both. The D quad of Sarah, Cleo, Fiona and Letisha being a scratch crew gave it their best but were beaten to the line by Penrith to claim second. The big event of the day was the mixed A grade eight. The handicap of four seconds was questionable but the crew just wanted to get out there and give it there best and see what they could produce. The crew were happy with the race but Sydney were too good and took away the $500 prize money with the event being gratefully sponsored by @Print and Powersmart. We were sadly informed during the week that the club Patron, long time member, ex board member and rower Ken Henson passed away. As a sign of respect for Ken’s amazing contribution to the club over so many years all club members wore a black arm band at the regatta. It was a great honour to row in the mixed eight that was only two years ago named after Ken in recognition of his service. A big thankyou to all the club members who baked cakes, setup and packed up the course and helped on the day. Also, the boat race officials contribution was greatly appreciated and without which the event could not have run as smoothly as it did. Thankyou also to all the clubs that came to the event and supported us.
 Mix8+: Tiffany (cox), Jason, Miles, Daniel, Jack, Tallara, Jacqui, Aimee and Genevieve We travelled for the second time to Newcastle to compete in the CDRA Sprint Championships. The penultimate event of the day was the GPA Matrix Linwood Throsby Gift Relay. After last year's victory we were keen to give it another go this year. There was plenty of more racing also which gave everyone the opportunity to test out their sprinting abilities with NSW State Sprint's less than a month away. Non-championship events kicked off our day with Jack and Hugh taking out their division of the D double while Miles and Will put up a good effort but a late substitution in the other boat resulted in the boys placing second in their C double. Jack went on later in the day to claim a comfortable win in the C single.
Next up was the much anticipated relay. Daniel and Aimee were first off in the double. Getting off to a good start they pushed away from the other crews throughout the race with a rough but effective last push in the final stages to ensure a good lead for the next crew. The four of Jason, Tallara, Will, Jacqui and cox Hugh capitalised on the lead and continued to push the other crews further away. The quad of Jack, Miles, Victoria and Hugh started with a less than desirable line but quickly corrected this and sealed a well deserved team victory.
We had some fantastic results in the singles. Jason claimed second in the Championship event and won the Wavecutter invitational. Though rumours are that if he rowed more aggressively like his brother he could go faster but this is only speculation. Tallara won the Championship event with a tight race in the final against Newcastle University though in typical Tallara fashion it looked very controlled, some would say too controlled, but it was enough to take the win. Jacqui claimed the Master's title after a protest in the first race meaning she had to race twice but this proved to be in her favour with her second race being a better one than her first. Hugh and Aimee both claimed third in their under 16 singles.
The doubles were another successful event. Tallara and Jacqui claimed the championship double with a good win over Hunter Valley Grammar. The men's Championship double saw the two Nepean crews progress to the final to face off with each other in the final. Will and Jack had a good race but Jason and Daniel proved too strong in the later stages of the race and they went away with the victory. It was a good accomplishment to have an all Nepean final in this event. In the younger age categories, Miles and Hugh claimed second in the under 17 double while Aimee and Genevieve placed third in the under 19 double.  Tallara and Jacqui: Championship double  Will and Jack along with Jason and Daniel: Championship double In the big boats we claimed a good win in the Championship quad with Jason, Daniel, Jack and Will while in the Championship coxed four the crew of Jason, Daniel, Will, Miles and cox Hugh had a tough race against Newcastle but were able to push enough in the final stages to take the win.  Jason, Daniel, Will, Miles and Hugh: Championship coxed four Retaining the relay title for the second year and winning many other events was a great accomplishment by everyone racing on the day but it all would not have been possible without the support from everyone. From loading, unloading and everything in between. As always, a big thanks to Mark for towing the trailer and looking after the boats on the day.
We had sixteen new comers take to the water and experience rowing for the first time. Everyone enjoyed themselves with many taking on the challenge of the single, with a few going for a swim. Thankyou to all the rowers who came out to help and make this day possible. Our next 'Come Try Day' will be held on Sunday 25th November.
 We had two girls head off to SIRC to represent their schools. Sarah raced for St Paul's Grammar in the year 9 single and placed second in her division. Aimee represent Blaxland High School in the schoolgirl single and placed second in her division pulling a big personal best in the process.
We were off to Newcastle for the second time this year, though this time we had a much larger squad with twenty rowers travelling for the regatta.
The mixed doubles were first up and it was Miles and Jacqui to claim the first win of the day followed by Jason and Aimee who took out the next division. After a short break Aimee and Jacqui teamed up for the open double. They had a tussle with the Newcastle/Newcastle Uni crew early on in the race but they pushed away for a good win. The women’s seeded singles saw Tallara, Letisha and Sarah go away with wins. The Campion squad had six singles in the same event and went away with some good results with Dominica taking the best placing, with a second. The commentator did mention on a few occasions the good technique of a few Nepean scullers but some would say otherwise. Aimee took out another win in the C single and Jason in the seeded single. Aimee combined with Dianne from Brisbane Waters, Will and Miles to take out the first division in the mixed quad and Jason raced with Daniel, Sarah and Libby from Brisbane Waters to take out the second division. While the two races had close winning times rumours were that the second division crew would have been the crew to beat if the two crews had to face off. The women’s seeded double saw Tallara and Jacqui win the first division and Letisha and Sarah claim second in the second division. The final event before lunch break saw the Nepean composite crew of Sarah (BWRC), Eleanor, Jacqui and Tallara with cox Hugh face off against Dominica, Cecilia, Bonnie and Kate with Sarah as cox. The composite crew took out a convincing win but it was great to be able to boat two fours in one event. After the lunch break the much anticipated mixed eight race was upon us. Hunter Valley Grammar was going to be our key competition for the race. As always, we went out at our own pace without concern of what other crews were doing. Hunter Valley pushed out to an early lead but this did not bother the crew. As we approached the final 250 meters we climbed the rate and pressure up with some calls made from the power seat rowers and we began pushing through Hunter Valley. We went on to take away the win with a two second margin. We found out later that at the start of the race a fish landed in the boat and remained in the boat until the end when a rower (who will not be named) threw the fish out accompanied by what was later remarked by another rower as a very high pitch squeal. The women’s D grade doubles saw the first win for the Campion squad with Dominica and Bonnie taking out a well-earned victory. Head Coach Jason was happy for his crew though he had to go out one last time to race in the men’s seeded four with Daniel, Miles and Will with cox Hugh. In the early stages of the race the Hunter Valley composite crew held on but the Nepean crew proved to quick and pushed away for a clear water win. Thank you to everyone for chipping in, from loading and unloading the trailer, helping setup and pack up on the day and for helping each other when needed. As always the support Nepean rowers give to each other is a pleasure to witness. Our first regatta at SIRC for the season was upon us once again. We had good conditions all day and some good racing was on display. Twenty Nepean rowers came out for the day and we were able to boat many crews but also many singles took to the water. Sienna and Aimee teamed up for the B grade double. They had a good start and held with the leaders, Glebe. At the 1000m mark the girls continued to push and first placed Glebe could not hold on and they went away with the win. Tallara and Jacqui made their return to the C grade pair after moving back down a grade. Their training preparation was not ideal and the start of the race was not pretty to say the least, but they made improvements as the race progressed and held out a late push from Sydney to take the win. Jason and Magnus competed in the B grade double. After one practice row that saw the boys work out some technical differences and try and work together to get the boat moving, it was looking good for the race. They had a well paced race and while Cranbrook stuck with them throughout the boys had enough to hold them off and go away with the win. The women's D four of Sarah, Letisha, Cleo and Pal with cox Hugh took to the water without high hopes given this was the first time they had taken to the water in this boat together and three of the girls had very little experience rowing sweep. They had a crash course tin sweep rowing he week leading up to the race, practicing in pairs. They started well and pushed away from the Sydney Women's MLC crew to claim a comfortable victory. Congratulations to Cleo and Jackson for competing in their first regatta. Cleo came fourth in her novice single. Jackson though having a good race in his novice single unfortunately fell out in the final 100m. Though rumours were he was more disappointed he did not get to row the D double with one of the finest technical rowers due to his fall. Sadly this week we were informed of the news that long time member Lee Chaumont passed away after losing her long time battle with cancer. Lee gave so much over the years to rowing not only at Nepean but also to the wider rowing community and this was recognised in 2016 when she along with Tine De Vries was awarded the RNSW volunteer of the year award. She was also awarded the honour of a single scull being named after her in 2017 in recognition of her year's of dedication to Nepean and the sport of rowing broadly. Lee will be sadly missed and her contributions will never be forgotten. As a small token of our respect to Lee Nepean rowers wore red tape on their arms for the regatta.  C quad: Miles, Jack, Will and Paul
 D coxed four: Pal, Cleo, Letisha, Sarah and cox Hugh NRC Scullers Head held on the 18th August was another successful event for the club. With 128 entries, numbers were slightly down from past years, but it was still a well attended event. Thankyou to all the clubs that attended, to the many members who helped out on the day and the boat race official, Greg that all contributed to another successful event. Nepean went away with a win in the under 23 single to Sienna, second in the under sixteen women's single to Aimee and a third to Magnus in the master's single. NRC Head held on the 16th August saw our second largest entries to date with 44 crews in attendance. A strong tailwind ensured quick times but still allowed for another smooth event to unfold. Again the help of many members and the boat race official, Steve, were fundamental in this success. A big thank you to them all. It was great to have the Campion squad boat a women's eight and quad along with a men's quad. The mixed quad of Aimee, Jack, Sienna and Paul took out the win in their category.  Again, we are at that time of year where we can reflect on the season and recognise the individuals who made it all possible. We had another very successful season which has been made possible due to many years of hard work by people both past and present.
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 Jason and Sean (BWRC) rowing to second in the MMA 2x  Jacqui and Rachel placed fourth in the WA 2x  Di (BWRC), Libby (BWRC), Fiona and Sue (BWRC) claimed bronze in the WMD 4x |  Jason, Sean (BWRC), Rhett (Manning River) and Sean (Endeavour) won gold in the MMC 4x  Mark claimed silver in the MMPara 1x  Ian and Magnus going on to win the MMC 2x |
Jason and Flo going on to place first and third respectively in the MMA 1x