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Four years ago there weren’t enough athletes to pull together a crew. Now Australia’s Para-rowing mixed coxed four are hoping to make it to the podium.
The Aussie PR3 mixed coxed four made its debut at the 2016 Rio Paralympics with a team that featured Kate Murdoch, Brock Ingram, Jeremy McGrath and Davina Lefroy, coxed by Jo Burnand. The following year there weren’t enough athletes nominated to hold trials for the 2017 World Championships.
Under the leadership of Rowing Australia’s Para Rowing Head Coach Gordon Marcks, a project called ‘training for Tokyo’ was established that saw James Talbot and Nikki Ayers recruited to join the squad and Alex Viney joined after the 2018 World Championships. Pretty soon that squad grew to eight athletes competing in various combinations over the next two years.
After placing fifth in the 2018 World Championships and 4th in 2019, the world got put on hold as the impact of Covid made its mark. Regattas were cancelled, athletes remained in their home states and the program decentralised.
Then in March this year Rowing Australia held their trials, with 10 athletes nominating and eight invited to trial. What followed was an intense and brutal process.
The coach of the P3 mixed coxed four, Elizabeth Chapman, said breaking the seven minute barrier was the key to the crews’ success.
“I’ve always said that if we broke seven minutes we might be in a position to medal, but we needed to get to be as fast as seven minutes,” Chapman said.
“At trials in 2021 we had one crew that did seven minutes and one that did six minutes 59 seconds and it makes you think we’re all at that speed and it makes it really hard to select the final crew. But it’s also so exciting.”
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The final team selected saw Talbot, Ayers, Viney and coxswain Renae Domaschenz joined by Tom Birtwhistle, setting the path for the Tokyo Paralympic Games. After the Nationals they were able to get together in May for a week-long camp. Then another wave of Covid hit. State borders closed and getting the team together to train became impossible. Viney lives in Melbourne, Talbot and Birtwhistle in Sydney and Ayers and Domaschenz in the ACT. Finding that crew rhythm became impossible prior to departure as each athlete maintained their fitness and skill in isolation.
Which leads us to Sunday August 22. Their first training session together in three months on the water at Sea Forest Waterway.
After a few adjustments to the boat to get the set up right, they are in the water and off for their first look at the course.
While they have had plenty of time to physically prepare, it’s the communication between the newly formed crew that takes time to get right.
“In terms of communication styles, they are all very different and that has been hard, really hard, in not having any time together,” Chapman said.
“That’s been something that every time we get together we had to work out so that as well as the rowing is something you iron the wrinkles out as you go along.
“They have had to work on how they communicate in the boat and condense their messages down to one word in order to meet the pace of the race.
“Each session we go out, that improves quite rapidly.”
The experienced coxswain, Renae Domaschenz, who is a doctor with an extensive career in sports administration, is the key to pulling the team together on the water. Her role is to keep the team working as a single unit and allay any nerves or issues that arise on the water.
“Her personality is a real facilitator, very calm. And very good at assessing the situation and drawing up a strategy. James in the stroke seat is a real strategist too so we have either end of the boat covered.”
With competition starting on Friday, we won’t have to wait long to see just how far this crew has come.
Watch the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games live and free on Seven and 7plus from August 24 – September 5.
By: Paralympics Australia
Posted: 25 August 2021
