March was a month of outstanding achievement for The Guerin Club, with members stepping up both on the water and behind the scenes.
At the Victorian State Championships held at Lake Nagambie on March 1st, our male athletes delivered exceptional performances. The Mercs men powered their way to victory, securing state titles in both the Male A Grade Eight and the A Grade Pair events and silver for the Male B grade 4+ — a testament to their commitment throughout the season.
Our women also made their mark, with the Female B Grade Eight crew putting in a stellar performance to claim the silver medal in a highly competitive field and the Female C Grade 4+ winning a state title, well done girls!
Later in the month, on March 15th, Guerin Club members played a key role in the successful running of the Scotch Mercs Regatta, once again held at Nagambie Lakes. From event logistics to athlete support, their contributions ensured a smooth and enjoyable day of racing for all involved.
As we reflect on the month, the Guerin Programme continues to represent the spirit of Mercantile — combining competitive excellence with club-wide dedication. Congratulations to all involved!
Nick Reynish – Coach/General Committee
Junior Development Boys
This small squad of boys who row at Carey and Xavier were keen to do some club racing at Mercs over the season and thankfully Mercantile was able to facilitate this.
The squad consisted of:
Austin Locke
Tom Bergelin
Joe Dwyer
Jack Harrington.
The season started for them at Melbourne Head where Austin and Tom raced in the MClub2X and came a respectable 5th which wasn’t bad for their first race in a 2X over the Melbourne Head 3400m distance.
December and January regattas where not attended due to school commitments and family holidays, however the boys assured me that they did lots of land based training over this period!!!!
The Nagambie Regatta in February was our first big hit out. Noting the Saturday before the boys competed against each other racing for their respective schools at the Barwon. In his first race ever for Mercantile Joe Dwyer absolutely smashed it and won the U171X and was presented his medal by Xavier alumni Pat McNamara. In the same race Austin and Tom came 4th and 5th respectively. It was also Jacks first race for Mercantile and he did well to secure 2nd pace in MB1X. The boys then teamed up in the quad and raced MB4X+ where they came a respectable 3rd. Thanks Izzy for coxing!! A really great experience and results for the boys.
We were back at Nagambie for the State Champs a few weeks later on the Sunday minus Joe who had school commitments. Jack came 4th in MB1X narrowly missing out on a medal in an extremely tough competitive field while Tom and Austin came 5th and 8th respectively in U171X. This was a massive improvement for Tom and Austin who were consistently well behind the Bailey boys from Corio Bay by 20+ seconds for the last 2 seasons. To come within 9 seconds of them was an awesome effort and showed persistence and improvement over the long-term. The highlight of the regatta was getting to race with Mike Kelly from the Guerin Club in the quad. Mike, Tom, Austin and Jack raced in the MB4X+ expertly coxed by Izzy and managed to get a Bronze medal after having a blade snag a buoy mid race.
Apart from racing and winning a few medals, the boys loved being around the club and seeing how the older more experienced athletes do their thing. Other highlights included 2 weekends away staying in cabins at the caravan park, dinner at the pub, massive BBQ where they ate so much it hurt and they were even spotted doing some homework…..once! Massive thanks to the parents that helped and also support from Alex Clarke, Kingy and Nick from the Guerin Club. Cheers Berge
Anthony Bergelin – JD Coach
