What a day we had for our 24th Saltwater Challenge Regatta!

The weather kept us all on our toes, and made for some fast racing conditions and course record times.

The regatta grew again this year, with the return of 4 brackets, with 150 entries and 630 athletes racing on our great river! 

ERC had a great day on the water, with 17 entries and 5 wins, including the Female Open Quad winning the Fastest Female Crew, and the Female C Grade Coxed Quad winning the Biggest Winning Margin for their event. The support we bring to our home head race regatta is special, so thankyou for the clubs support of our race. 

I would like to say a massive thank you to all our volunteers for the day, without all your help the regatta can't operate. 

In addition to the support from inside the club, I would also like to acknowledge and thank the RV Officials, lead by Duncan MacKinnon, who ensured we had a successful and safe day racing. 

The regatta was supported this year by the wider community, with numerous businesses coming on board to support the regatta in various ways, being:

* Trafman Solutions * FoodWorks * The Happy Apple * 776BC * ERGFit * Energy Pulse * Officeworks Maribyrnong * The Regatta Shop * Anchor Fish Bar and Grill * Ascot Vale Florist * Discount Chemist Warehouse * ChadTax * Glasshouse * Pulcra * Cadbury * Family Games * Anaconda

Finally, thank you the other members of the regatta organising group. A lot of work goes into organising an event like Saltwater Challenge, and without the help of Karen Fitzpatrick, Rachael Hatherley, Zara Mason and Lukas Matic we aren't able to host such a great event. 

Next year is the 25th Annual Saltwater Challenge, I hope you are all looking forward to the event, as we look to continue to grow and improve the regatta.

Thank you once again for all your support of both the Saltwater Challenge, and the Essendon Rowing Club.

Luke Mascaro - President

Don't forget to register for our first ever Hyrox event, to be held this Saturday, 26th September!

This will also be a fundraising event for the club, conducted with friendly competitive spirit. All funds raised will go towards boat maintenance and the purchase of new equipment.

Hyrox for those who are not familiar is a global indoor fitness racing series that runs with 8 functional workout stations. For the event this has been adapted based on location and rowing specific fitness with this having shorter outdoor runs and having stations where exercises relate more to rowing.

For the day there will be two events on offer:

Hyrox 5: for beginners/ intermediates of five stations with a half runs between stations; and

Hyrox X: with 10 stations and a mix of half and full runs between stations.

The event will be $5 entry, and is open to people of all abilities and ages with matchmaking occurring to make the event fun, fair and competitive. Pay cash or tap on the day to enter.

We will have the BBQ going, with music and the bar open after the events have concluded.

Register through our events website here

The October Thursday Night dinner will be hosted by the ERC committee on 1st October. 

On the menu will be Vietnamese Bowls, with a choice of Lemon Grass Chicken or Lemon Grass Tofu. Desserts will be Yuzi Lemon Cheesecake and Ice Cream.

Dinner will be served at 6pm, with tickets again at $15 per person.

All welcome !

(poster courtesy of James Drew-Finn)

Please take note when your squad will be hosting their next Thursday Night dinner:

We look forward to seeing you all at the club on ERC Open Day, Sunday, 11th October.

We will also be christening the new "Grant Williamson" quad on the day.

Along with the usual quad races, some past members will be coming along for a "trip down memory lane" race, with 2 or (potentially) 3 x 8s set to race down the ERC straight. 

The Senior Women's & Men's Squad will be holding a Halloween Fundraising party at 6pm on Saturday, 24th October, to help raise funds for their travels to the Australian Rowing Championships, at Champion Lakes, Perth 15th-21st March, 2027.

Ticket prices will be $20 per person, which includes finger food.

All ages are welcome to attend!

Tickets can be purchased online here, with ticket sales closing at 5pm on Sunday the week prior to the event (18th October).

Tax deductible donations to the 2027 Nationals Fundraiser can also be made through the Australian Sports Foundation.

We are still taking expressions of interest to purchase 776BC zooties. 776BC has a minimum order quantity of 10 per gender, and we will only open the 776BC order store for you to place an order if we manage to get an EOI of at least 10 of each gender.

To express your interest please click on this link and complete the Google Form.

Once the order number has been reached we will send you an invoice for payment. 

Last Sunday we said goodbye to the 5 Stars quad, which has been sold to make space for the new boats coming into the club.

The 5 Stars has been purchased by Hamilton Rowing Club who are sure to get a lot of pleasure out of it for many years to come.

Did you know that all ERC members, coaches and volunteers are covered by Personal Accident Insurance as part of their Rowing Victoria membership?

The cover applies at all Rowing Australia sanctioned regattas, competitions, training and fundraising activities, with cover extending to travel to and from these activities. 

Policy details are available on the Rowing Victoria website here or through the Policies and Procedures page on the ERC website (scroll down to the Rowing Victoria section).

The Captains Team have compiled a list of contacts for all members to be able to report issues on our river. Examples of the issues and where you can report them to are shown below. There is also a copy of the list in the gym area downstairs.

Thank you to Jacob Owens and Greg Bird for retrieving and removing a huge log that was floating on the river recently. 

Welcome to new members Martin Foster (Social Membership) and Nicole Stupka (Senior Membership), both ex Richmond Rowing Club, and their daughter Colette Foster, who has joined the Junior Girls Squad.

Welcome also to Social Member, Andrew Armfield. 

It is time to say farewell to our beloved member Zoe De Silva Abeyewickreme as she embarks on an exciting journey to Hobart, TAS to begin her work as an ambulance paramedic!
Zoe has been a valued member of ERC since 2019, joining the junior girls squad and becoming a regular competitor at regattas. Up until recently she has been a part of the senior girls squad, always keen for a morning row and offering a helping hand wherever she can.
We will miss you lots Zoe and hope to see you back soon!

Q1: Why did you join ERC?

A few mates and I went down to ERC in 1982

Q2: What made you want to join ERC?

There was a kid in our Year 9 class that was very built, he told us that he rowed at Essendon. We thought we would end up looking like that. That never happened!

Q3: What do you do outside of rowing?

I have been working as an electrician for the last 42 years (No I don't do love jobs for people at the club, Ha Ha Ha). Still enjoy going for a run, heading to the bush, camping, never get sick of that! I also play golf occasionally.

Q4: Some fun facts about you.

My Dad rowed at Yarra Yarra in his 20’s. My siblings all gave rowing a go at some time, with my brother rowing for many years and his wife is also from the club. I met my partner Lisa at the club over 35 years ago and now both of my daughters row - it took me a long time to persuade them to join so I could get back down there. He He! Every month for the last 30+ years, I still catch up with the guys that I rowed with for dinner and a yarn, “Back in my day!”

Q5 Favourite time of day on the water?

Definitely as the sun rises, rowing down Footscray straight with the sun reflecting off the city skyline, listening to the beat of the boat. I remember having fish jump into the boat on a few occasions and one time while rowing a single, a dolphin swam alongside me.

Q6: Most memorable rowing experience.

There has been many, many moments, but I think the most memorable was in 1985, the club fundraised for our Junior Four (U18) to go to the NSW State Champs for experience. I felt so much pressure to perform, due to all the organising from the club to get us there. We won the title by a very narrow margin, but that opportunity was definitely the catalyst for our rowing careers.

Come and join us on ERC Open Day, Sunday, 11th October, for the naming of our new 'Grant Williamson' quad !

A very young Grant Williamson, centre of photo, (Glenn Bottrell far right)

Hyrox Event - this Saturday, 26th September

Thursday Night dinner - Thursday, 1st October

ERC Open Day - Sunday, 11th October

Halloween Party - Saturday, 24th October

Thursday Night Dinner - 5th November

Bunnings BBQ fundraiser - Sunday, 29th November

Henley on the Maribyrnong - Saturday, 12th December