A contingent of Manning rowers will be heading to Perth next week for the Australian Masters championships.
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This event is for competitors aged 27 and over.
Graham Nix, Rhett Pattison, John Cross, Roy Halliday, Ray Beeton, Kay Smyth and Mandy Cavill will be heading west from next Monday to prepare for the four day regatta starting on Wednesday, May 22 on Champion Lakes. All races will be decided over a 1000 metre course in single and double sculls, quad and eights.
The majority of the Manning rowers have been regulars at the national championship for many years. Nix has rowed in an Australian Masters regatta in every state.
Events are held in age categories. Pattison is the youngest of the Manning group. He'll row in C category, for competitors aged 43 or more, with Nix and Smyth in H, where the average age is 70 and over.
We certainly won't be going there expecting to be guaranteed a medal. Just making the final will be an accomplishment
- Graham Nix
The oldest category is M, for rowers with an average of 89 or more - although Manning doesn't have a starter there, yet.
Nix said the competition will be strong.
"There'll be rowers there from all the Australian states and there's also interest from England,'' he explained.
"We certainly won't be going there expecting to be guaranteed a medal. Just making the final will be an accomplishment.''
Pattison has also been selected to row for NSW in the quad in the interstate series along with Sean Donza from Endeavour Rowing Club, Gary Foster from Drummoyne RC and Sean Ryan from Brisbane Water RC.
The national Masters will be the final event of the 2018/19 season which began in September. Nix said the majority of Manning rowers heading to Perth started training back in August.
There'll be a brief break after the Masters before preparations resume for the 2019/20 season.
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Meanwhile no date has yet been announced as to when work would start on repairs to the Manning River Rowing Club.
The club was badly damaged when a wild storm hit the area on Saturday, March 9 while the club was hosting the Central Districts Regatta. The roof was ripped off, causing major damage to the upstairs section.