Our President with other parents at the Nationals

At the end of the day, what happens at Mercantile comes down to the people standing next to you. Our athletes often talk about a culture that’s as much about the work as it is about the support. It’s that balance of pushing each other to be better while actually having each other's backs—on and off the water.

Between coaches who support and nurture our ahtletes and a community of families and volunteers who keep the club running, there’s a real sense of belonging at Mercantile. We are all proud to be part of Mercantile supporting our athletes, coaches and members.

Season Highlights

• Squad Depth: Strong racing from our U19, U21, U23, Senior and Masters Athletes
• National Stage: A huge week of racing at Lake Barrington for the Australian Rowing Championships, where Mercantile is ranked No2 on the National Medal Tally
• Teamwork: Constant support from our coaches, parents, and volunteers.
• Representative Honours: Seeing our athletes earn their spots for Victoria and Australia.

Selections
A huge congratulations to the following athletes. Whether you're representing Victoria, Australia, or heading over to the Henley Royal Regatta, we’re proud to have you representing the club.

Australian Teams

Senior World Cup
Emmie Frederico women’s 2-
Hayley Verbunt and Paige Barr women’s 8+ 
Austin Reinhr, Jack Robertson and Fergus Hamilton men’s 8+
Susannah Lutze PR3 Mixed Four

Australian Under 23
Susannah Lutze PR3 women’s 1X

Australian Under 19
Emma Peele, Piper  Hallam and coach Will Ackermann women’s 2-

Victorian Interstate Championship Teams

Scott Rowe - head coach

Paige Barr, Emmie Frederico, Ruby Gioulekis and Hayley Verbunt - Quieen's Cup

Fergus Hamilton, Jack Robertson, Angus Widdicombe and Austin Reinehr - King's Cup

Oscar Tyrell and Alex Tomanovits - Penrith Cup

Sophie Perton, Catherine Ross, Ruby Ivers, Yve Sadler, Eloise Adem, Lucy Gillon, Gabi Price, Rachel Carton and Mackenzie Pugh (reserve) - Bicentennial Cup

Eric Wiseman, Luke Vallely, Harry Pollock, Sara Chapman and reserves Joe Lee-Conway and Joe Collingwood - Wilkinson Cup

Susannah Lutze - PR3 W1x

Victorian Under 22 Team (all but two members are from Mercs)

Eloise Adem, Lucy Gillon, Ruby Ivers, Sophia Perton, Gabi Price, Mackenzie Pugh, Catherine Ross, Yvette Sadler

Joe Collingwood, Fletcher Douglas, Matisse Kerr, Joe Lee-Conway, Harry Pollock, Henry Reinehr, James Simpson, Emile Stigter

Coxswains - Rachel Carton and Sara Chapman 

Coaches - Dean Kloufetos and Ed Ryan 

Victorian Pathways Team

Girl's eight - Emily Rasmussen, Jordan Roberts (coach)

Boy's Eight - Joe Dwyer

Girl's Quad - Violet Whithouse

Henley Royal Regatta - Mercantile entries

Wargrave Eight - Laura Chancellor, Georgia Campbell, Lucy Gillon, Anna Morrison, Yve Sadler, Ruby Ivers, Gabi Price, Mackenzie Pugh, Rachel Carton, Eloise Adem

Thames Eight - Matisse Kerr, Jake Polkinghorn, Joe Lee Conway, Myles Laburn, Sam Chin, Harry Pollock, James Simpson, Charlie Mackintosh, Sara Chapman, Nick Andrews

Wyfold - Fletcher Douglas, Jordan Roberts, Alex Tomanovits and Oscar Tyrell

The Captain caught feeding the troops at the April working bee

Whilst others will cover on-water matters, let me just add my congratulations to our Australian and Victorian representatives and those who rowed, coached and assisted our large team at the National Championships. It was a very successful week.

Junior Camps - an important part of Club life is our junior camps, and an information night for rowers and parents was recently held. Many of the past attendees of the camps competed in the Victorian Pathways crews which competed recently at the junior trials in Sydney.

Junior rowing - We have been encouraging junior rowing for Mercs during the season with great success. The picture below is of our juniors competing at the Nagambie Regatta.

Here is the story of two of them. Tom Bergelin and Jack Harrington (pictured on the right above) have been racing for Mercs as U15’s and U17’s since 2023 at grade regattas including State Champs and have contributed to proving that a Junior Development/Performance Program at Mercantile can be both possible and successful.  After a challenging but successful hit out at Carrum one morning with the seniors, Tom and Jack were considered fast enough to compete at the Nationals in U19M2- even though they have had very limited formal training in this boat. The experience of competing in a pair at Barrington in the first half of the week was awesome. The focus and professionalism displayed by both of them was well beyond their years, particularly the lessons around planning and organisation. Being amongst senior RA athletes in the boat-park going through their pre and post-race rituals was a buzz and helped them to zero in on the task at hand. Big shout out to Jack Robertson who gave them a massive Mercs rev up while they were on the way to the start!!

The lads had a nervous but great row in still conditions in the heat where they came 3rd qualifying straight through to the semi avoiding the Repechage earning themselves a day off to catch up on homework! The semi in dead still conditions, was their best race clocking 7:16.61 however only managed 5th place qualifying for the B final. They would have come 3rd in the other semi-final and easily qualifying for the A final BUT that’s boat racing! The B final, in a howling headwind, they managed to come 2nd in a tight race decided by less than a second.  In a total field of 20 they recorded 6th fastest time overall and considering very little/limited preparation was a very solid result.

ANZAC Day Service - it was my honour to lead the annual Mercantile ANZAC Day Service at which we focussed on member Doug Cook who was killed in action in the Milne Bay battle with the Japanese. For those who could not make the service, Doug's profile can be found at: Cook, Douglas D - Australian Rowing History . Guy Yunghanns kindly read the names of those members who paid the ultimate sacrifice and laid the wreath. Thank you Guy.

Working Bee - The April working bee was a great success and thank you to the key organiser Geoff Barden and the many members who assisted. A great deal was achieved.

Our Head Coach Scott Rowe supervising at the Nationals

Its been a busy yet very productive time across the squads. Our national’s campaign was an incredibly productive one that showed great results right across the squads. Our performance showed that as a squad we are building great depth and providing an excellent base from which some of our athletes have been able to shine. We finished second on the Club medal tally and more importantly at the end of Saturdays racing prior to the sprint regatta and interstate races occupied 1st place. Our focus has been on developing our small boat skills to enable our bigger boats to flourish and I was particularly pleased with our victorious Women’s U218+ and our Silver winning U21 Men’s 8 together with both our men's open and club eights making the podium. Our lighty men dominated across the sweep events, winning gold in almost all LW sweep events across the week and will now look forward to a Henley campaign.  I look forward to continuing to improve our performances next year in Perth.

My squad focus continues to be to prepare our athletes for further pathways and selections. This demonstrates the depth that we wish to maintain.

Congratulations to our Australian representatives already named, there are still a couple of team selections to be finalised and our hope is to add to our national representative list for this year.

High performance - Recent focus has been on National selection trials, 4 of our ladies were successful in gaining an invite to the U23 selection trials and in the juniors we are excited to have both Emma Peele and Piper Hallam, together with Will Acherman as the coach gain Australian selection as the Junior Women’s pair. They will be preparing across the next 3 months before travelling to Bulgaria for their World Championships.

Additionally for the Victorian Oceania Under 22 team selection, and finally the Club's Henley Royal Regatta selections. We are very well represented in the Victorian Oceania event with 18 of the 20 rowers coming from Mercantile. We also plan to send a large team to Henley Royal Regatta - a Wyfold four made up of our men's lightweights, a Thames eight for the men and a Wargrave eight for the women.

Coaches – Our coaching cohort continues to develop and grow; we have structured our HP program around enabling athletes to grow within the squads and train with like paced crews.  Our developing squads are large and our small boat sessions often see 20+ pairs plus singles heading out in the mornings. Our coaching team is blessed with many excellent coaches whose work in recruiting and coaching our rowers, has enabled our athletes to develop and reach their potential.  Specifically, I would like to mention Ed Ryan & Rhett Spiller and of course the legend that is David “Chipper” Colvin for their tireless work in this space that has already yielded great results on both the state and national stages.  Welcome back to Will Ackermann we are excited to work together again.  My sincere thanks to Tim Frederico, Peter Somerville, Roy Zhang, Alister Taylor, Anthony Bergelin & Suzie Franklin for all their efforts.

Men's Club Four win at the Nationals

Club rowing - Club rowing at Mercantile is at a high standard with National Championship wins in the women's double of Freya Axton and Hannah Hills coached by Peter Somerville, and the men's four of Charlie Mackintosh, Matt Fielding, Henry Reinehr, Joe Collingwood, Coaches: Scott Rowe and Ed Ryan. Placings in the Club women's eight and a fourth palce in the women's four shows the depth and strength of the Peter Somerville squad. Similarly the finalists with the second men's four and eight shows the depth in the Tim Frederico coached squad. All very pleasing.

Guerin Club - After a packed regatta season with a solid win ration, we're looking forward to the 2026/7 season, and to providing that place for rowing where you're on the water a few times a week without a full time commitment but still able to have a crack, or to bridge to HP after school has finished. We are on the water on Tuesday and Thursday night, and Saturday mornings, with (optional) ergs and we're looking to expand. Know anyone who's interested in rowing without the stress?

Andrew Rees has created a vibrant and large group who train and race regularly. Often two eights depart at 6am in the morning to train. Some of the more ambitious of this group have raced with Guerin Club rowers and at Masters events successfully. The next regatta is the State Masters this weekend to defend their titles. But it is not all that serious. Camararderie and good fun prevails. 

The standard of the 'young' (average age 50) masters group is outstanding and international events beckon. Expect to see many Mercs Masters crews at the Head of the Yarra.

Of special note was the Guy Yungahanns organised eight which got out early on ANZAC Day for the 6am last post at Morell Bridge.

Marty Aitken with Andrew and Leeanne Ambrose at 2025 donor luncheon

The Foundation has been blessed with enormous generosity this year from our members. Sadly space does not allow us to mention them all. This year we welcomed Martin Aitken as a bequestor, and Andrew & Leeanne Ambrose and Michael & Majella Donovan as new benefactors of the Foundation. Our Club Patron Sean Colgan stunned the 2025 donor luncheon by promising $1mil for the boathouse renewal project when it commences in a few years time.

Marty Aitken was a prominent cox and coach at Mercantile before becoming a national coach in Australia, UK and Switzerland. He has also been the high performance manager at the Victorian and Scottish Sports Institutes. He is a proud Mercantile member and is currently an Australia's Under 23 selector.

Andrew Ambrose raced senior for Mercs and Australia in 1990s after moving down from Sydney Rowing Club. Leeanne is also a prominent national rower in lightweights with her rowing commencing in Dimboola before moving to Banks and MULRC.

Michael Donovan and Tim Frederico at the 2025 donor luncheon

Michael Donovan raced for Mercantile in 1980s before a back injury left him unable to continue. His fellow rowers at Mercantile became life long friends and he has taken this opportunity to help enable other rowers to experience the same fellowship and rewards of the sport of rowing.

It is one thing to have generous donors, but another to see what the Foundation achieves for the Club. The Foundation is a capital fund which provides grants to the Club equal to 4% of the capital annually for boathouse, equipment, athletes, volunteer support and coaching. In 2025-25 the Foundation has provided grants of $210,000 for equipment from both 2025-26 and 2026-27 budgets, and will also generously support our 2026 international rowers. 

The Foundation is critical to the Club's security and success.

Drew Ginn just keeps on pumping out irresistible, interesting and informative podcasts on Mercantile Radio. During April we heard - 

Episode 28 - Architect of the Stroke: Dr. Valery Kleshnev & Drew Ginn on the Science of Speed

Episode 29 - The "Anti-Secret" Method: Sharing Our Way to Faster Boats with Ken Davey

Episode 30 - Mindset and Medals: A Journey with David Crawshay

Episode 31 - The Power of Faith: Lucy Stephan on Tokyo Gold and the Art of the Call

Episode 32 - Stroke of Genius: Unpacking the Marty Aitken Method 

Bonus Tech Talk episode with James Tomkins

All his podcasts are compelling listening and should be compulsory listening for all members.

Sean Colgan and Andrew Cannon at the 2025 Foundation luncheon

Merchandise 

We are excited to launch the new season range of casual Mercantile Kit.

• Mercantile Puffer Vest - pre-order only by 17 May ( minimum order 25 units)
• Mercantile Puffer Jacket - pre-order only by 17 May ( minimum order 25 units)
• Mercantile Crew Neck - Navy
• Mercantile ¼ Zip - Navy - see below

Your can preorder your garments now.

Patron Sean Colgan

Sean Colgan is in the news again for all the right reasons. The American Rowing Magazine posted a story of Sean and Brian Colgan's work helping Ukraining rowing. A synopsis of the story 'Colgan Family Driving Support for Ukrainian Rowing' follows.

As the war in Ukraine continues to disrupt daily life and destroy sporting infrastructure, a sustained international effort—led by the Colgan family—has played a central role in keeping rowing alive.

Through their Boats for Ukraine initiative, Sean and Brian Colgan have coordinated the shipment of rowing equipment from the United States to Ukraine. Working with schools, clubs and donors, they have organised multiple containers of boats, oars and gear, ultimately providing more than 500 seats for Ukrainian athletes.

This support has been critical. Russian attacks have damaged boathouses and severely limited training conditions, yet Ukrainian rowers—many of them young—continue to train, often under the threat of air raids. The equipment supplied through the Colgan-led effort has enabled clubs to keep operating and given athletes a sense of continuity and purpose.

The initiative builds on long-standing connections between the Colgan family and Ukrainian rowing, dating back to Cold War-era sporting exchanges. Today, those relationships underpin a highly practical support network—handling logistics, sourcing equipment, and coordinating deliveries into a war zone.

A letter from Kyiv highlights both the challenges and the impact: despite power outages, difficult working conditions and ongoing risk, rowing activity continues, supported directly by these shipments. Ukrainian officials stress that the program is about more than sport—it provides stability and hope for young people.

Further containers are planned, alongside continued fundraising, ensuring that the Colgan family’s effort remains central to sustaining rowing in Ukraine.

Bromley Grant recipients

Congratulations to Emma Peele and Piper Hallam on being given grants from the Bromley Fund upon their selection into the Australian Under 19 team. The Bromley Fund was established by the Late Ted Bromley to support pair oared rowing. Club Co-Patron Andrew Guerin is a trustee.

Will Achermann (coach), Piper Hallam and Emma Peele

Members will interested to know that Emma is the daughter of our President and dual Olympian Gina Peele and grand daughter of member David Douglas, silver meadallist Olympian.

Mercantile and Leander Club

Following Dom Frederico's visit to Leander, and a return visit by Leander member Matt Fielding here during summer, it was no surprise that the feature image of the latest Leander Club newsletter features Mercs members of course. 

Andrew Guerin, Susan and Andrew McDonald enjoying a Leander luncheon

• Masters State Championships, Sat Sun 02-03 May 2026, Nagambie Lakes
• MERCS Season Finale/Boat Christening, Sat 02 May 2026 17:00 - 23:55, Boathouse
• Oceania Under 22 Team Championships, Lake Wyaralong QLD, 22-23 May 2026
• National Masters Championships, 27-30 May 2026, Champion Lakes, Perth