Alastair is a former World Champion in rowing, winning a Gold Medal in Australia's renowned 1997 lightweight eight.  Alastair has an extensive background as both a rower and coach with success in both areas.  As the former Director of Rowing at Genazzano FCJ College he coached crews to Gold (defeating 41 other crews) and Silver at the National titles in the schoolgirl quad as well as Silver in the Under 19 eight.  He also coached the Genazzano First Quad to back to back Head of the Schoolgirl victories.   Alastair has University Degrees in the areas of Sports Coaching, Psychology and Education and combines these well with his 21 years of personal rowing experience.  "Throughout my career I was coached by some of Australia's greatest coaches including Noel Donaldson and Lyall McCarthy.  I feel fortunate that I can draw on what they taught me to develop my own career in coaching.  It is great to get the opportunity to be part of Australia's magnificent rowing community.  With the formation of the National Rowing Centre of Excellence it is an exciting time to be part of high performance rowing in Australia".   Alastair still enjoys getting out on the water whenever he is not spending time with his beautiful wife Katrina.

David “Chipper” Colvin has been instrumental in the reinvigoration of the Mercs L/W Women’s Squad. David brings tremendous experience from his time as a national representative cox, coxing at the 1992 Olympics in the Men’s eight and numerous World Championship medals in all classes of boats. David has developed some of Australia’s best U23 lightweight Women over the last 3 years, and is the current coach of the Victorian Lightweight quad. David’s technical knowledge is second to none, and is a constant sounding board for all rowers and coaches alike.

Simon has been instrumental in the development of our Youth and Junior Men since 2004, with many members of his squads gaining selection in both Victorian and Australian teams in recent years. Simon coached the Victorian Men’s Youth 8 to gold at the 2008 Interstate Regatta. His crews are consistent medallists at both state and national championships in U19, U21 and U23 events as well as gold in the Men’s Open 4+ at the 2009 Nationals. With a coaching background spanning some 28 years, Simon has been the Director of Rowing at a number of Victorian schools including The Geelong College (a period which saw wins in both the boys and girls Heads of the River), Melbourne Girls College, Melbourne Girls Grammar and Fintona Girls’ School.  Simon also devotes considerable time to coach mentoring, assessment and development as a regular presenter and assessor at coaching courses. Amongst his tertiary qualifications, Simon has post graduate qualifications in Sports Science and a Masters Degree in Physical Education.