An 11th-hour change of venue will have Lake Nagambie play host to the Australian Rowing Championships, beginning next Monday.
Australia’s rowing fraternity will descend on Nagambie after the last-minute change, with Rowing Australia confirming a shift from the Sydney International Regatta Centre due to water contamination issues late last Tuesday night.
The decision has left organisers scrambling to make arrangements for the major event, with little time to find volunteers, arrange transport and secure accommodation.
Former Rowing Australia chief executive and Shepparton Rowing Club founding president David Schier said it was tremendous news for the Goulburn Valley.
“It’s going to be a huge challenge for our local organisers because of the shortness of notice,” Mr Schier said.
“The Nagambie Lakes regatta course is the best in Victoria, but it hasn’t had a regatta in 12 years.
“The fact that it’s coming to Victoria as the preferred venue speaks volumes for the facility and it will also assist the venue when it comes to the bid to have Commonwealth Games rowing at Nagambie.”
Mr Schier said the championships would result in a boost for the region, with accommodation far and wide set to be booked out.
“We need as many beds and as many hands as we can get for this event,” he said.
“Last time we had it, the supermarket in Nagambie ran out of supplies, so we’ve got to get around to those organisations and tell them there’s a big event coming.”
Nagambie Rowing Club captain Sue Andrews said things were getting busy.
“We've got a lot of work to do both in Strathbogie and in Shepparton in relation to people and getting it ready — volunteers, there’s lots of jobs to do,” Ms Andrews said.
“That’s probably the biggest stress I guess at this point, making sure that we can present a good championships.”
Ms Andrews said it was a fantastic opportunity for regional Victoria to showcase what it could present.
She said since the course for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games had been built, the national championships had remained in NSW.
“We have hosted Olympians and other national teams in recent times, so that is another reason why Nagambie was chosen,” she said.
Nagambie Rowing Club treasurer Pat McNamara said Nagambie ticked all the boxes for a major event.
“We were thrilled that Rowing Australia have selected us. I think its another endorsement of the quality of the course,” Mr McNamara said.
“Aside from football matches at Kardinia Park in Geelong, we’re (rowing) probably the next biggest sporting event that is in regional Victoria.
“The council did an analysis in about 2000, an independent economic analysis, and it identified that the benefits for the region for that week of competition was worth $6.5 million. So that’s 20 years ago, so it obviously would be multiples of that since then.
“We’ve obviously got on the agenda now the Commonwealth Games, where we’d like to see rowing re-introduced as a sport.”
Mr McNamara said the benefits of hosting the event were clear, with people able to spend time around the region.
“We want to see this benefit the whole region, not just Nagambie,” he said.
“A lot of people who are looking for accommodation now are booking Shepparton, they’re booking Bendigo, because Nagambie’s being booked out pretty quickly, so we can spread the benefit everywhere.”
Members of the community are pitching in to help ensure the event runs smoothly, with caravans already being offered up, and Mr McNamara called on people to do what they could to offer accommodation.
“It’s a mad scramble. Normally these events are awarded 12 months in advance,” he said.
“There’s plenty of people at the moment looking for something.”
With preparations now well under way for the event, it is sure to be an exciting one
The Australian Rowing Championships will be held at Lake Nagambie from Monday, March 28, until Sunday, April 3.