Victorian Marathon Championships / Victorian team selection
This is a reminder to all marathon paddlers that the 2017 Victorian Canoe Marathon Championships will be held at Geelong on Saturday, 25th February and Sunday, 26th February.
The Victorian Championships is also the selection event for paddlers to represent Victoria at the 2017 Australian Canoe Marathon Championships, to be held in Sydney on 11th-12th March.
(Please note, you do not have to be selected on the Victorian team to paddle at the national championships; you can still paddle for your club.)
The Victorian team selection policy is explained in the 2017 Marathon Diary. If you wish to be eligible for selection you need to have paddled in at least three summer or winter series races in the past twelve months.
If you haven’t yet done that you still have time to qualify, with the Saltwater Classic (Summer Race 7) at Footscray on 5th February and the Frank Harrison (Summer Races 8 and 9) at Albury on 11th and 12th February.
Whether you plan to nominate or not, please come along and support the event by racing, hopefully in both singles and doubles.
Team uniform
This year we are making some changes to the Victorian Team uniform.
Members of the Australian Cricket Team earn the right to wear the “baggy green”. Whilst keeping an appropriate perspective on life, from this year paddlers selected to represent Victoria will earn the right to wear the “Vic blue” paddling cap. This cap will be presented to paddlers the first time they represent Victoria at Nationals. Whilst there is no rule against a paddler obtaining a replacement cap, as with the baggy green we hope this seldom occurs, and an ageing cap will become a sign of experience. Other paddlers may purchase a Victorian cap, which has the same logo, but has the words “Canoeing Victoria Marathon” instead of “Victorian Marathon Team”.
The Victorian navy blue paddling cap will replace the previous state uniform of singlet and shorts. We have done this for a number of reasons, including reducing the cost for paddlers (and parents) and simplifying the sourcing uniforms in the limited time between Vic Champs and Nationals. We hope over time the cap becomes an important symbol of competitive paddling in Victoria.
Volunteers required
We need assistance to help run the Victorian Championships. We ask that each club please provide two volunteers to assist with turn buoy and portage monitoring, time keeping and safety boat crewing. Don’t worry if you haven’t done these roles before; we can explain the requirements on the day, the roles aren’t onerous and you can still watch the races. If you can help please contact Peter Currie at curriepg@hotmail.com
CV Marathon Committee
