Melbourne Girls’ College Gymnasium came alive on Friday 19 October 2018. Male and female students gathered to take part in the inaugural Indoor Rowing Championships. You could sense the atmosphere building as the various events unfolded on the day. A full day of competition involved both individual races and relay races, with the cheers so loud they could be heard from outside the gym.
A number schools took part in this fantastic event, consisting of over 220 students.
Adam Harrison from Rowing Victoria was instrumental in the delivery of this event, his focus at Rowing Victoria has been to engage schools, not normally involved in the sport of rowing. "We're so encouraged by the amount of schools that have taken up this opportunity, it has all run so well", he said, as he watched one of the many exciting races on the day. "It is great to see so many students enjoying themselves and cheering on their team mates, we hope that everyone has had a great experience and will return in 2019."
20 Ergometer - Rowing Machines, more commonly known as Erg's, filled half the Gymnasium floor. Each machine was wired, labeled with a number and correlated to the live results system that was projected on to a large screen. This allowed the competitors and the spectators to know what position each numbered erg.
Nick Mooney, Interim CEO of School Sport Victoria, was encouraged by the entire event, "This is an exciting day, watching the school groups cheer on their peers is always great to see. This event has so much potential, we will work with Rowing Victoria to raise the entries next year and see the whole gymnasium filled with erg's, that'll be amazing."
A novelty race that involved a Year 12 student, Adam Harrison from Rowing Victoria, a teacher from Melbourne Girls' College and Dual Olympian and current Indoor 2000m World Record Holder, Josh Dunkley-Smith, took place in the middle of the day. Although the race was a one minute sprint, it was no surprise to see Dunkley-Smith take line honors in a convincing time.
The medal presentations were given extra flare with the involvement of Josh Dunkley-Smith. Dunkley-Smith was kind enough to bring one of his silver medals for the students to handle and have photos with this rare item. Students awarded medals were given a photo opportunity with the two-time Olympic silver medalist.
You can watch the short interview of two-time silver medalist Josh Dunkley-Smith as he describes what it feels like to watch over 200 students take part in a sport that he loves so much.
