INCC Yarra Paddlers update – February 2020 

Take a look at what has been happening around our club this month

If fires and floods were not enough this summer, we now have COVID-19 to worry about. As a paddler, its times like this that I appreciate being able to take time out to clear my head, enjoy nature and keep fit by paddling on our beautiful stretch of the Yarra.

We are now officially in Autumn but there will be plenty of warm days to come and the water will stay warm for a few months yet – so leave the panic behind, get out and enjoy the river!

Racing news
From Penny Young, Competition Co-ordinator 

FRANK HARRISON MEMORIAL RACE

February 22-23 saw ten of our INCC Yarra Paddlers race up in Albury at the Frank Harrison Memorial race as part of the summer series. We had some great results on Day One with Rachel de Kretser taking out 2nd place in the Open Women’s full distance event, and Brianna Jones following in 3rd. Nicole Tattersall also took on the challenge of full distance and came in in 11th place overall and 3rd in her category. Emily O’Rourke also raced, finishing 2nd overall out of the women starting at Waterworks.

INCC had some great results in the men’s full distance events too, with Hamish Young finishing 3rd in the Open Men’s event, with Isaac Johnson in 6th. John Young and Dominic Scarfe finished 9th and 11th overall, placing 1st and 2nd in the Vet 35+ category. Frank O’Rourke raced from Waterworks, finishing 3rd in the Vet 55+ K1 division. 

Day Two was just as successful, with Hamish and Isaac winning the Open Men’s K2 event, followed by John and Dom in 4th. Brianna and Nathan Jones finished 2nd in the mixed category, and Rachel de Kretser and Megan Macko placed 2nd in the Women’s Open K2. Nicole Tattersall teamed up with Andrea Szkibik from PLCC to finish 1st in the Vet 35+ Women’s  TK2. 

VICTORIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

There was a great turn out from INCC at the Victorian Marathon Championships held this past weekend in Geelong. We had lots of juniors from our affiliated schools, Camberwell Grammar and MLC, giving their best. Some of the students were racing or portaging for the first time; others extended their race distance with great results.

There were also other club members racing, and some very impressive results – too many to list here! Results have been posted on Webscorer: https://www.webscorer.com/CVMarathon?pg=results

Credit to all the volunteers who made the weekend such a success. Many hours of preparation are needed behind the scenes to make such a big event happen. Much of this effort was shouldered by dedicated INCC members. 

Thank you to club members Frank O’Rourke, for capturing Saturday’s racing, and Rob Godwin, Kristian Martin, Arabella Eyre and Rachel de Kretser for the photos from Sunday. Have a look through the photos on the Paddle Victoria Marathon Facebook page. 

Lots of INCC members on the podium!

Reminder – 2020 Australian Canoe Marathon Championships

As we advised last month, entries are now open for the 2020 Australian Canoe Marathon Championships to be held on the Barwon in Geelong, April 16^th to 19^th.

Many of our members are on the organizing committee, which is headed up by John Young.  We are hoping to have 350 paddlers at the event, so we want to see a big turn out from the host state and more specifically, INCC Yarra Paddlers. This year there will be a novice event which is an opportunity for novice paddlers to join with more experienced paddlers in a team event in a 3 X 1km relay.

Below is the most recent newsletter for the championships