Welcome to Westies!

For everyone who has been at WARC for less than a year, we thought we'd put together the following guide to who's who, what's what and everything that's happening at Westies over the coming few months.

We hope you've been made welcome thus far, and if you have any queries at all, please contact either myself, Jen or Jonesy.

Cheers,
Glenda Hirsch
WARC Captain 2010

What's On?

The next few months at the shed will be increasingly busy as we ramp up for Nationals, the Lord Mayor's Cup and the winter season 2010! The main events happening between now and April are:

January

• Summer casual rowing will continue on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings, with crews organised by Marian Tromp for the Black and Red Squads, and Leanne Youngs for the Yellow Squad.
  
• The Thursday afternoon yoga classes run prior to Christmas have proved to be very popular and beneficial for those who participated, so will most likely continue. Further details will be sent out in January. These classes are great for your flexibility, so everyone who needs longer hamstrings are strongly encouraged to join in!
  
• Each year Coca-Cola hires the shed for a function on Australia Day. This function involves putting up a tempoary scaffold over the deck and clearing the gym, so the shed will be CLOSED for a week around Australia Day, as it will not be possible to launch boats. Exact dates will be confirmed soon.
  
• The third Learn2Row class begins on Saturday 30th January.
  
• The National Training Squad will continue to ramp up through Jan/Feb - by now they will be training up to 12 times per week! Whilst all members are welcome to use the weights and ergs in the gym, please be aware the Nationals squad has priority use of all equipment.
  
• The club's rowing and social calendar for 2010 will be set in January, and will be distributed once dates for all regatta and social events have been confirmed.

February

• Each year Wesites runs a corporate regatta named the "Lord Mayor's Cup". 30+ novice crews train in coxed fours for 5 weeks, then race over 500m at a regatta in mid-late March. This event is a huge fundraiser for the club, but takes a lot of work! During the 5 weeks of training, most of the club's fours will be moved offsite to make way for a number of borrowed, more robust boats suitable for novices. Further information about the LMC will be released closer to the date. Please note that some water sessions may have to start earlier in order to accommodate the LMC crews.
  
• Here's the one you've all been waiting for: in the first week of February, formal land training begins! One erg session and one LABA session per week for men and an identical session for women will be run per week. These sessions are for all athletes, whether non-competitive or competitive, and for all levels from novice to senior. All new members are strongly encouraged to attend. The programme will be set by the WARC coaching staff, though may not be coached until March, as the coaches will be busy with the nationals squad. Formal, coached water sessions start in the first week of April.
  
• Finally, in the last week of February the club hosts a sundowner to welcome all new members for the coming season, and farewell the Nationals Squad before they travel to Victoria to take on the rest of Australia!

What comes next?

After summer rowing comes the competitive pennant season!

The WA Pennant season starts in early April, and runs through to September. This is what WARC is all about - we race against other WA-based clubs in head races, masters regattas and at pennant regattas (more on those later), leading up to the climax of our season: the State Championships, held in late September.

Competitive rowing at Westies ranges from sub-junior and school-aged through to veterans of the sport, and the club can also cater for all skill levels. The squads are divided into men, women and skill level so athletes are able to row with their peer group. Rowers train between three and four on-water sessions per week, although senior crews may train more often towards the State championships.

From April through to September, the regatta schedule averages out to have about one event per fortnight.

Head races are single-race events over a longer distance than the FISA-ruled 2km pennant distance, and are usually held in the first half of the season. The races usually award line honours and fastest crews for different categories. The longest headrace of the winter season is the Perth to Fremantle. At 17km (or 10km, or 14km, depending on who you talk to) it is one of the longest riverboat races in the world.

Pennant regattas are held mostly in the latter half of the season and provide the more traditional style rowing. Race lengths vary from 500m for sub-junior (under 15) events to 2000m for open events, with most heats held over a shorter distance. Competitors are usually expected to enter more than one event during a pennant regatta and may race multiple times. Regattas are held at the new Champion Lakes facility in Armadale, and there are also two regattas per year held in the Leschenault Estuary in Bunbury.

Masters regattas are held at Champion Lakes in Armadale throughout the pennant season, open to anyone 27 years of age or older. All races are run over 1000m, and like pennant regattas, athletes usually compete in multiple events.

What if I'm unsure about joining the competitive programme?

Don't panic! All competitive athletes are encouraged to compete and train to their own levels - although we recommend completing as much of the programme as possible, you can limit your training and regatta entries based on your fitness and availability. Try coming to the formal land training sessions once they start, and speak to the coaching staff or Captains, who will be more than willing to answer any questions you may have.

Who's Who

Glenda Hirsch
Captain
Glenda manages all of the on-water operations at the club. If you have any queries about training, boats, regattas or coaches, Glenda is the one to see.
captain@warowingclub.org
0401 876 517

Mike Jones (Jonesy)
Mens Vice Captain
Jonesy supports Glenda in her role as Captain, and acts as an informal coordinator of the mens squad. Jonesy is also responsible for all boat maintenance, so report any boat damage here.
mensvc@warowingclub.org
0403 042 465

Jen Davis
Womens Vice Captain
Jen acts as cordinator of the womens squad. Jen is overseas at the moment, so contact Glenda or Jonesy for any enquiries.
womensvc@warowingclub.org
0430 035 226

Sten Campbell
President
The buck stops here. Sten manages all of the off-water aspects of the club, so if you have a question about fundraising or anything non-rowing related, Sten is the one to see.
president@warowingclub.org
0419 912 171