Women rowers dedicated to hard training

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31862, 14 December 1968, Page 11

Women rowers dedicated to hard training

rpilE tremendous boost rowing received in New Zealand after the success of the fours at Mexico has increased the numbers at most clubs in Christchurch—and not just among men. There are four women’s four-oar crews in Canterbury and it may not be long before several others are tempted into a rowing boat. The Avon Club has two crews of women but only one is training in earnest. Darryl Walker, Charmayne Long, Carol Blackford and Carmel O’Gorman have been training since the rowing season began and although they lost their first race through nerves they avenged their defeat in the second and do not intend to be beaten again. The girls have been coached by T. McQuinn and A. Young, both members of the Avon club. "They had a difficult time at the beginning,” Mr McQuinn said. “One fell out of the boat five times before she learned how to balance in the small seat and another fell out three times. But it took them only three weeks to iron out the faults.”

They have been training six days a week for the last two months. Their first race was at the Kaiapoi Centennial regatta three weeks ago. On the first day they were the last crew to finish but the next day against the same crews they lost their nervousness and won easily.

The training takes about two hours each night at Kerrs Reach. Rowing takes up most of the time but the girls are also going for regular runs round the park and do special rowing exercises. They have done little weight training—an integral part of the men’s build-up for rowing. The training has been fairly rigorous and orderly. They first began rowing with a young girl as coxswain but a 12-year-old boy, Robin Clydesdale, from Shirley Intermediate School, has taken over and they act promptly on his commands. The girls prefer to let men take charge. “They are able to boss us about more,” Darryl Walker said. However, the other men in the club give them little help apart from verbal hints. They are readily accepted in the club and have been an inspiration to some of the men by their obvious dedication to training, but they must, like any other rowers, lift their boat down to the river and haul it up again when their training is completed. The only thing they have not practised is throwing in the coxswain after winning a race. The club has no women's boats and the girls are using

one of the men’s four-oar boats, which is heavier. The seats have been raised slightly and the oar positions are changed slightly. None of the girls have rowed before this season, although two of them have close associations with the sport. Charmyne Long is a niece of the Avon club coach, Mr E. R. Lindstrom, and Carmel O’Gorman is a sister of the former Canterbury sculler, F. O’Gorman, who is now living in Whakatane. In spite of the rigours of a rowing training schedule, the girls are emphatic that the sport does not make them heavy and muscular. They have not put on any weight since they began rowing. Their strength is not in question either. They easily carried the cumbersome four-oar shell up the I banks at Kerrs Reach and even with a head wind and choppy water they were able to make the boat glide through the water and draw approving glances from other crews. They will compete in all the Christchurch regattas in which there are women’s events and will travel to the Picton and Wairau regattas over the Christmas and New Year.