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21 May 2006 - Melbourne Argonaut rower helps bring home gold for Victoria
20 Nov 2005 - Gay rowers jeered at Dimboola regatta
13 Jul 2005 - Melbourne Argonauts commit to Montreal en force
13 Feb 2005 - Melbourne Argonauts claim victory in inaugural Midsumma Festival Regatta
01 Nov 2004 - Aussie women prepare for second National Lesbian Rowing Weekend
13 Sep 2004 - Brisbane gay and lesbian rowers group forming
22 Feb 2004 - GLRF debuts in Sydney at New Mardi Gras Festival
15 Feb 2004 - Rowing at the Melbourne Midsumma Festival Argo Style!
06 Feb 2004 - Melbourne Argonauts announce twice yearly rowing camps.
30 Nov 2003 - Australian Women Host First Ever National Lesbian Rowing Camp
News Digest:
Melbourne Argonaut rower shines at Australian Masters Rowing Championships
21 May 2006 - Nagambie; Melbourne Argonaut rower Meredith “Maxi” Williams, competing in a composite crew with rowers from the Allan Mitchell Club, rowed to victory in the women’s Masters B 8+ at the 2006 Australian Masters Rowing Championships. The boat, representing Victoria, won by 0.3 seconds, and closed a six year gap for Victoria at the winner’s podium.
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Overall, Maxi brought home 2 gold medals, 1 silver medals, and 3 bronze medals. Maxi commented that it was “a special moment” wearing the Argonauts colors and hearing the Melbourne Argonauts name being called out as part of a composite crew at the regatta.
The event marked the first time that any rowers from the Melbourne Argonaut Rowing Club had competed in the national competition. Several other club members competed as well. The weekend event was one of several that the club will use in preparing for the 2006 Montreal 1st World Outgames Regatta 30 - 31 Jul.
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Gay rowers jeered at state-sanctioned regatta
20 Nov 2005 - Dimboola; In an unusual display of homophobic behaviour at the Rowing Victoria sanctioned Dimboola Regatta, spectators from a well known Melbourne-based rowing club sledged and jeered a boat from the Melbourne Argonauts Queer Rowing Club. Phrases such as “you have to beat the gays” were allegedly shouted from the shore. In another incident, another Melbourne Argonaut boat was booed by spectators as it crossed the finish line.
Such deportment is unusual in rowing but is evidence of the underlying homophobia that still exists in sport.
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Melbourne Argonauts Queer Rowing Club commits to Montreal 1st World Outgames
13 Jul 2005 - Melbourne; The Melbourne Argonauts are gearing up to compete in the Montreal 2006 1st World Outgames regatta. Twenty rowers have already registered and those numbers are expected to climb as the year progresses. In the lead up to the games, the club is hosting a rowing boot camp in Nagambie 23-25 Sep 2005, and a women’s rowing camp in Dimboola 02 –04 Dec 2005. The club’s competitive boats will also participate in the upcoming Rowing Victoria regatta season.
Many rowers and clubs are faced with deciding between competing in the Chicago Gay Games Regatta and the Montreal World Outgames Regatta. According to Argonauts spokesman, Peter Sagar, the club decided to make Montreal the principal focus because the regatta will be staged inn the Montreal Olympic rowing basin. The course is a fully buoyed, 6 lane international standard course. Many of the rowers are also very proud that the regatta will be sanctioned and calendared by the world international rowing body, FISA.
The Melbourne Argonauts welcome other Australian rowers to join them in Montreal. Any interested rowers are encouraged to email the club. Sagar’s parting comment: “We look forward to meeting and racing the world in 2006 in Montreal. SEE YOU THERE!”
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Crews converge for inaugural Midsumma Gay & Lesbian Festival Regatta - by Sandy Mitchell
13 Feb 2005 – Melbourne; Meandering through the city center of Melbourne, the Yarra River provided the aquatic landscape for the inaugural Melbourne Argonauts Queer Rowing Club Midsumma Festival Regatta on Sunday 13 February 2005. Organized to coincide with the Midsumma Gay and Lesbian Festival, the event drew two hundred and eighty oarsmen and oarswomen from 14 Rowing Clubs in the Australian state of Victoria.
Crews converged along the banks of the Yarra as boats launched from the Alexandria Gardens adjacent to the Midsumma Festival. With a perfectly clear, sunny, 25 degree day, the races provided a wonderful show for the 50,000 strong crowd attending Carnival Day, the traditional closing of the Midsumma Festival.
The event lasted six and a half hours to accommodate 104 races. The Melbourne Argonauts, a gay and lesbian rowing club based out of the Lord Somers Powerhouse, featured well in their events, winning by healthy margins the Male Novice Eight, the Male Beginner Four and the Female Masters Four (in composite with the Alan Mitchell Club). The Argonauts came a close second to Richmond Rowing Club in the Female Open Eight, losing by approximately 10 centimetres in what was an exciting neck and neck struggle from start to finish.
The first, second and third place winners were treated with specially struck medallions imprinted with the Melbourne Argonaut logo and a black and purple fashioning of the seven-pointed star of Australia. Around the edges were the words Pride, Equality, Participation, and Community which are the guiding tenets of the club. Naturally, the purple ribbon medallions were the talk of the river bank and immediately became THE hotly contested item for every event.
Amongst the competitors was former world champion sculler and FISA Thomas Keller Award winner Peter Antonie. He raced with the Melbourne University Boat Club, who won the Male Open Eight event in a closely fought contest with their boatshed neighbours, the Banks Rowing Club.
Once their races were over, many of the competitors took the opportunity to mingle with the festival crowd in the gardens next to the course.
The Argonaut rowers will now turn their focus to the 2006 World Outgames in Montreal where approximately 30 of its members look forward to testing their skills against the global gay and lesbian rowing community.
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Women prepare to converge on Dimboola
01 Nov 2004 - Melbourne; Hordes of women are set to invade the northwest Victorian town of Dimboola in December, as part of the second National Lesbian Rowing Camp. Organised by the Melbourne Argonauts Queer Rowing Association, the event is expected to attract women from across Australia. Argonauts vice president Michelle Gee said the December 3-5 camp would involve a full program of weekend rowing, social activities, and hopefully strengthen interstate ties between the gay and lesbian rowing communities.
About two dozen women took part last year -- including friends of rowers who enjoyed the perfect weather and lazing on the banks of the Wimmera River. ``It's open to all women,'' Michelle said. ``The camp is not only going to be great fun, but for those thinking about going to the 2006 Gay Games, it is also a great opportunity to link up with other women rowers.''
Dimboola Rowing Club facilities have been booked, and camp participants are already signing on. Many bunked down in the Dimboola clubhouse last year, while some hired nearby cabins. Dimboola, which has a population of about 2000, is located on the tree-lined Wimmera River, 334km northwest of Melbourne, near the Little Desert National Park.
For more information about the camp, and where to sign on, contact Michelle Gee on kittens@rabbit.com.au.
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Melbourne isn’t the whole world. There’s rowing in Brisbane too!
13 Sep 2004 - The Melbourne Argonauts are branching out. Argo promoter Sandy Mitchell recently held exploratory talks with Greg Howell, CEO of Rowing Queensland (RQ), about starting a Gay and Lesbian Rowing Club in Brisbane.
The meeting went very well and Sandy came away with the sound impression that RQ would actively welcome a gay and lesbian club into their association. So much so that Mr. Howell even showed Sandy some rack space that was available directly under the RQ offices on the Brisbane River at the West End. Said CEO Howell, “anything that breaks down barriers to participation and helps develop the sport” is welcome.
A Brisbane gay and lesbian rowing club would be the fourth organized group in Australia. The Melbourne Argonauts are super organized and home to over 80 members. A loosely organized group in Sydney continues to row together on a regular basis. Adelaide lays claim to the oldest rowing group - a small group of women who have rowed together for ... “a very long time.”
Sandy is looking for expressions of interests from rowers in the Brisbane area who would like take this initiative and run with it. If you have some kind of rowing pedigree, whether it be from School, University, Club, no matter how long ago, please send him an email. Alternatively, if you hear or know of someone who might find this of interest, please send them this article.
You can reach Sandy at his Argo email. GLRF has set up a Brisbane community email to provide immediate organizational support. All rowers with an interest in being on a Brisbane email list, or would like to be part of this new club are encouraged to send an email to brisbanerowerinfo@glrf.info.
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A Midsumma Festival to Remember - by Martin Azzopardi
22 Feb 2004 - The Melbourne Argonauts hosted their third annual, and most successful, rowing promotion at the Melbourne Annual Gay and Lesbian Midsumma Festival Held in what is called the sport precinct of the carnival, the Argo’s large stall was divided into two sections: the information area and the erg section. Over 60 forms were collected as visitors thronged the very popular booth. Festival organizers gave the rowers the premium space in large part due to the unique interactive style of the booth. At first, the Argo’s demonstrated the use and proper form of the ergs but soon had visitors on the machines for a few quick pieces. Brochures were handed out and everyone was able to review the posted articles and pictures of the Argonauts rowing to victory across Australia!
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The event also marked the GLRF Melbourne City Launch, held to increase awareness of GLRF and foster interest in forming boats for the 2006 Montreal Regatta. Local Rower Brian Barry did his duty in front of the stall, passing out brochures about the Regatta and answering questions. During the event, the local gay and lesbian radio station, JOY, conducted a live interview that, although intended to promote the Melbourne Argonauts, spent most of the airtime talking about the GLRF City Launch initiative!
Club President Chris Thomas was heard to remark: “I’m sure that ours was by far the best marquee of the day.” Sixteen cheers to all the Melbourne Argonauts for making the day and the GLRF Melbourne City Launch such a success. Bravo to Lorelle, Beck, Annie, Dimitri, Mark, A Misting Fairy, Cliff and all those whose names were missed!
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Melbourne Argonauts establish twice yearly rowing camps - by Mark Stewart
06 Feb 2004 - After the enormous success of the first National Lesbian Rowing Camp at Nagambie in Victoria, Australia, the Melbourne Argonauts have announced the establishment of biannual rowing camps (twice a year for you erg monsters..) .
According to Annie Smith, “the Women’s Camp definitely achieved it’s goals of reinforcing the lesbian presence in the club and provided a secure and supportive base on which to build our female membership.” It is envisaged that the women only camps will have an ongoing place in the long term structure of the club.
Building on that success, the club is now extending the rowing camp model to incorporate the whole club twice a year. Each camp will have a slightly different focus. The first, scheduled towards the end of the season(Oct-Nov), will serve as a club building exercise with a bit of a recap of the season and an off season training focus as well as a large social component – open to all members and visitors. The second, scheduled towards the the start of the season(Mar-Apr), will focus more towards the competitive members and regatta preparation.
The next camp is to be held on the weekend of the 3rd and 4th of April, again at Nagambie. Anybody interested in attending for all or part of the weekend, are welcome to contact the club via the website at www.melbourneargonauts.com
The weather should be hot & the beer cold.
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Australian National Lesbian Rowing Camp - by Annie South
30 Nov 2003 - Dimboola; The first Australian National Lesbian Rowing Camp was held over the weekend of 29th, 30th November, 2003, in Dimboola, Victoria. Dimboola is a small town (population of around 1500) in North Western Victoria, approximately half way between Melbourne and Adelaide. The attraction of this sleepy country town is the scenic Wimmera River which winds around the Little Desert National Park.The women of the Melbourne Argonauts Queer Rowing Club banded together to host the camp, which attracted 22 female rowers from Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
The three day camp officially kicked off on the Friday evening, with rowers meeting at the Dimboola Rowing Club for social drinks. The relaxed and friendly atmosphere on this night was to continue throughout the camp.
Serious rowing began on Saturday, with three 90 minute sessions of rowing each day. Women had the opportunity to row in eights, fours, pairs and singles.
The focus of the camp was to improve rowing technique, specifically trying to establish a good rhythm and contrast through the rowing stroke. As we know, rhythm must be established as a crew, rather than individually, and poor rhythm can become part of an entrenched culture within a club very quickly. Having most of the women from the club able to work on this aspect across the long stretches of scenic Wimmera River gave us an excellent opportunity to establish a strong culture of slide control.
Over the course of the camp, all rowers were cycled through a women’s eight, which had an accompanying coaches launch. The launch was set up to take video footage and this provided valuable feedback for the rowers. The afternoon session on Sunday saw a handful of rowers practicing a safety drill, which involves deliberately falling out of the boat, and getting back into it, from the water.
New rowers had the opportunity to try their hand at coxing. This led to a number of crews snaking their way up and down the river in a manner that was equal parts amusing and alarming.
The warm weather over the weekend made for perfect rowing conditions, and also for swimming in the river afterwards. The schedule was not all hectic, with sufficient time for sitting on the riverbank, reading and watching boats go by, and casually chatting to each other. One of the biggest hits of the camp was the food with ample supplies of fresh fruit, nutritious breads and salads.
Probably the best moment of the day was saved for sunset, when the boats had been put away, blisters had been dressed, bellies were full and rowers could take time out to watch some spectacular sunsets over the Little Desert.
The attendance of women from Sydney and Adelaide delighted the hosts, and serve to mark the emergence of organised lesbian rowing in Australia. Probably, lesbians have been involved in rowing since women have participated in the sport, but to our knowledge, there was no organising body that aimed to cater specifically for lesbian rowing in Australia.
Arguably, Adelaide has the claim to be the first presence, when a group of queer friendly women purchased their own boat around 13 years ago. They have been rowing together on a social basis ever since. Three years ago, they were joined by the Melbourne Argonauts, and this was followed late last year with the establishment of the Argonaut’s counterparts in Sydney.
Leading up to the camp, the Argonauts had worked closely with the members of the Dimboola Rowing Club to arrange access to boats, facilities and suitable accommodation. This is typical of the strengthening relationship between the Argonauts and the wider Rowing community, who have warmly welcomed the Argonauts into the sport.
Last year, Argonaut’s former President, Sandy Mitchell was invited to join as an executive of the Rowing Victoria Board, and the current Vice President, Annie South is a member of the Rowing Victoria Technical Board. The Argonauts have become a familiar feature at rowing regattas and often receive positive feedback and encouragement from other clubs.
For the Melbourne Argonauts, the camp was the culmination of a series of events designed to attract more women as members. This had become a recent focus when the proportion of women in the club dropped from around 50% in 2001 to 30% earlier this year.
In June, the Argonaut women held a meeting to discuss what could be done, and explore some of the barriers that may prevent women from participating or continuing to participate in the sport. With the support from the men, a number of strategies were devised, such as running women only Learn To Row courses. Since then, the Argonauts have run a series of women friendly events, culminating in the rowing camp in late November. For the Argonauts, these strategies appear to be working, with female representation within the club climbing back up to 38% and growing.
There was great support for repeating the rowing camp on an annual basis at a similar time each year, and it is hoped that next time, lesbian rowers from other states and overseas may join the growing throng.
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