Scotch College

Cardinal rowers have a successful Saturday

A growing number of the Scotch Family are enjoying the Yarra on Sunday mornings.

As part of the Cardinal Club's activities; some participants are experienced rowers making a comeback after thirty or more years; some are total novices, most fall between those extremes.

However, all enjoy the mental and physical challenges involved in achieving that apparently effortless progress along the river.

A group of Cardinals took on the challenge presented by a much longer river, by participating in this year's 'Operation Pelican' the Royal Flying Doctor's one-day rowathon down ninety-five kilometres of the Murray.

While the challenge of covering the course, which involved each participant rowing for about three hours, was well met with the Cardinal's team being fastest over the distance, the second and more important challenge - of raising funds for the RFDS - was also tackled head on, with the event raising a total of over $5,000.

The Cardinal's team, in its second year of participation, was judged to be the 'best organised and presented' of the entries, which included about 120 rowers in crews from Canberra, South Australia, Melbourne and a number of country clubs. They won the Jack Joel trophy, most convincingly.

Bob Symonds, one of the organisers of the Sunday rows, and stroke of two of the legs of the rowathon, said while contemplating his blisters after the event, 'The fact that several of our team learned to row through the Sunday morning programme and two of them only started this year, demonstrates that people can pick up a real skill, as well as enjoying whatever level of exercise they are ready for on Sunday morning.

Any member of the Scotch Family is welcome to join us at the Cardinal Pavilion at 8.30 am on Sundays;

We would love to see a still larger contingent enjoying the Yarra throughout the year and, for the real masochists, working towards another big Saturday on the Murray next year.'

Dr Jean Clark