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Melbourne Argonaut rower Meredith “Maxi” Williams, competing in a composite crew with rowers from the Allan Mitchell Club, rowed to victory in the women’s Masters B 8+ at the 2006 Australian Masters Rowing Championships.
http://www.glrf.info/gotchagallery/data/media/286/a_DSC00036.jpg
The boat, representing Victoria, won by 0.3 seconds, and closed a six year gap for Victoria at the winner’s podium.
Overall, Maxi brought home 2 gold medals, 1 silver medals, and 3 bronze medals. Maxi commented that it was “a special moment” wearing the Argonauts colors and hearing the Melbourne Argonauts name being called out as part of a composite crew at the regatta.
The event marked the first time that any rowers from the Melbourne Argonaut Rowing Club had competed in the national competition. Several other club members competed as well. The weekend event was one of several that the club will use in preparing for the 2006 Montreal 1st World Outgames Regatta 30 – 31 Jul 2006.
In another sign that GLRF is gaining ground in Central Europe, a rower from the Czech Republic registered with GLRF. The membership marks the 19th country worldwide to have rower representation within GLRF.
Although significant gaps within GLRF’s European membership remain, specifically Spain, Austria, and Switzerland, the addition of the Czech Republic is important because it provides an increased online presence for rowers in a region of Europe that does not sustain as much visibility for gay and lesbian athletes.
Team Saint Louis and Growing American Youth will be the joint beneficiaries for a special advance screening of the award-winning movie Summer Storm
Read the press release: aStLouisBenefitd.pdf
The event, presented by here!Films, will be held at the Landmark Tivoli theatre in St. Louis on 05 April, at 7:30 pm. GLRF, through its e-commerce system, will coordinate both the online and on site ticket sales. The event will also support several local St. Louis organizations who will act as “ticket sellers” to their membership. Local restaurant and uber hip bar, 609/U Lounge, will host a post-screening reception with free drinks for all ticket holders.
here!Films, an independent film and production company, has joined forces with GLRF to promote the United States theatrical release of the German rowing film Summer Storm. The movie will open in select cities nationwide on 17 March and continue through June 2006, when it will appear on the here! television network.
GLRF will work with here!Films to promote the film among straight and gay rowing clubs, and among gay sports clubs and organizations.
The movie focuses on two best friends at a rowing camp who begin to face their inner longings, one for men, and one for women. The film helps to break down many of the common stereotypes that continue to exist in the sports world, and it speaks to everyone about the difficulty of finding yourself growing up. Read the press release: here__Films_GLRF_Summer_Storm_Press_ReleaseFL.pdf
The first weekend of March is the occasion for the annual general assembly of the European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF). Member sport teams and clubs from all over Europe gather to select the next year’s board of directors, discuss programs and issues, conduct the business of the organization, and to select the host cities for future Eurogames events. Rowing will be one of the featured sports at Eurogames 2008 in Barcelona.
GLRF attended the meeting as a guest in order to develop greater organizational awareness within the European gay and lesbian sport community. Delegates were provided with a GLRF presentation folder that provided demographics, services, and link information as well as samples of the GLRF Global Rower program.
It is surprising to find how conservative and closeted the European rowing community can be in some countries [one example in particular is Spain!] Rowers from the Czech Republic, Danmark, and Bulgaria will hopefully register soon with GLRF, and links to GLRF will appear on various sports websites.
They are twelve men intent on winning their races at the 2006 Montreal World Outgames. They are the Qrew Chicago rowing team. Having set in motion a demanding training schedule of erg time and 4 days a week of on-the-water practice, this team is determined to bring home the Canadian gold.
The group initially began rowing at the Dammrich Rowing Center in Evanston and will soon switch to the Lincoln Park Boat Club come April. The team is actively looking to recruit additional members and expand their competitive entries in Montreal.
GLRF Member @Arnaldo11 talks with MixBrasil about his training for the upcoming Montreal Outgames regatta, the promise of a new event that celebrates a universal cultural diversity, joining GLRF, and the lure of Montreal in the summer.
Looking ahead, Arnaldo compares the sensation of rowing in Rio de Janeiro’s Lagoon Rodrigo de Freitas to Montreal’s Olympic Rowing Basin, and the possbility of bringing home medals for Brasil. Is this difficult for a modern gay man? Arnaldo thinks he can step up to the challenge.
Read the full article, with some rough spots in translation from Portugese to English, below:
Gay rowers were the hot topic of discussion in the Croatia media this week. Over the course of seven days, three different media articles and a TV segment appeared on the subject of gay rowers and their membership in European and international organizations, with specific mention and display of the GLRF website. In a single day, hits on the GLRF website skyrocketed to record levels. New membership registrations from Croatia more than doubled, although that number can be misleading since the number of registered rowers the day before the media frenzy was only 6.
The tone of the articles was matter of fact, neither positive nor negative, simply stating that rowers from various Croatian cities had registered with GLRF. There was some odd mention of some of the rowers having wives and families, which seemed to come out of nowhere. The articles inferred that some of the Croatian National Team had registered and that overall, approximately 20 rowers had registered with GLRF. Croatian Olympic rowing medalist Siniša Skelin was quoted as saying he was unaware of the organization, that he did not know any gay rowers on the team or that had registered with GLRF. The Secretary of the Croatian Rowing Federation, Zdravko Gajšek, commented that it was inevitable that there could be gay rowers but he felt the number suggested in the press, of 20 gay rowers, was probably more hype than fact, and that a number like 2 might be more realistic.
The first article appeared in the online media website Index.hr - Croatia_Index_GLRF.pdf.
The second article appeared in the major national Croatian newspapers, Slobodona Dalmacija - pictured in print: and online: slobodnaGLRF.pdf.
The third article appeared in the national morning newspaper, Jutarnji List - . The TV segment was part of a political quiz show that is a regular feature on Croatian nighttime television.
The impetus behind the sudden interest in gay rowers remains a mystery. GLRF remains the only international sports organization that has created separate, identifiable pages within its website for each country (GLRF Countries).
Their last day on the Harlem River was Wednesday, 23 Nov 2005. Reports were that it was a VERY cold row but that last one is always bittersweet for rowers. You never quite want it to end. However, members of Crew New York already have a goal for next season: winning at the Montreal World Outgames regatta.
Seven rowers have registered for the regatta and they are looking to recruit more to field several boats in multiple categories. The team has now shifted its focus to an intensive schedule of winter conditioning. The thought of endless hours on the ergs may make many groan but you haven’t seen the amazing views of the Harlem River from the second floor of the warm, airy, and light Peter Jay Sharp Boathouse! What are you waiting for?
In an unusual display of homophobic behaviour at the Rowing Victoria sanctioned Dimboola Regatta, spectators from a well known Melbourne-based rowing club sledged and jeered a boat from the Melbourne Argonauts Queer Rowing Club. Phrases such as “you have to beat the gays” were allegedly shouted from the shore. In another incident, another Melbourne Argonaut boat was booed by spectators as it crossed the finish line.
Such deportment is unusual in rowing but is evidence of the underlying homophobia that still exists in sport.
