Bulli Boaties smash Kiwis 3-0
Our Bulli Open Men's crew on Saturday 7 February 2015 representing AUSTRALIA. They smashed the Kiwis 3-0 in the Trans Tasman Boat Series and then proceeded to win the final of the Northern Island Boat Championships on the same day.
Here is a story below from Jamie Troughton Dscribe Media Services from NZ;
Proudly watched by his father and decked out in green and gold, Heath Mercer enjoyed the finest day of his fledgling sporting career yesterday.
The 23-year-old second stroke helped his Bulli men's boat crew - representing Australia - to an emphatic win in the trans-Tasman series at Waihi Beach, New Zealand, beating Kiwi crew Piha 3-0. Making it even more special was the presence of Mercer's dad Rod, who also rowed for his country in 1991, the year Heath was born. "It's been one massive goal in life and I've ticked that off," a jubilant Mercer Jnr explained. "I've made him a very proud dad and this morning, he was privileged enough to present all our caps to us. That was a really touching moment and one I'll always remember. I couldn't wish for anything more than my dad to be here watching me row for Australia."
The Mercer family have a long and storied association with the New South Wales club - Rod's father, brothers and nephews have also rowed for Bulli over the years. Together with Adam Barlow (bow), Ben Lowe (second bow), Dean Roberts (stroke) and sweep Shane Geloven, Mercer and his crew had the polish to see off the challenge of renowned big-wave chargers Piha, with only a small half-metre wave to challenge teams.
Instead, it came down to teamwork and acceleration off the cans, with Geloven steering cunning lines all the way home in each of the three races, eking out every hint of swell. Their closest race was in the decisive second test, where Barlow out-sprinted Piha's Jean-Paul Smit up the beach after Smit tripped in a hole. "Luckily Adam's the quickest of all of us across the sand - it would've been even closer if the New Zealand guy hadn't tripped running up the beach but I had high hopes for Adam holding him off regardless," Mercer said. "We came into this event feeling a lot of pressure and to get the first two races under our belt really eased it a lot and meant we could enjoy ourselves a lot more."
To add further misery to locals, the Bulli Boys won the final at the North Island championship, held in conjunction with the trans-Tasman event.
Images are free-to-use, provided they are credited to: Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media Services
