From little things, big things (g)row

Sometimes, a setback leads to something even greater. 

That’s what happened when small South West Rocks Surf Life Saving Club on the NSW mid-north coast was preparing for the Gotcha4Life 24 Hour Row.

Their first 24 Hour Row had been a great success. The surf club’s lifesavers, staff, a local rugby league team and others from the beachside town of 5,500 rowed around the clock to raise funds and awareness for mental fitness and Gotcha4Life.

Everything was in place to do it again - when a very difficult decision was made just two days before the event. 

A spate of break-ins at the surf club, which is located in parkland on a headland, made board members, including Row organiser Brienna Elford, uneasy. The safety of those taking part in the early hours of the morning had to come first.

They had to make the call: the Row was off. 

The event had lost its venue, but the community hadn’t lost its determination to come together and make a difference.   

Enter young husband and wife team, Amanda and Issac Mainey, who had opened local gym, Ritual Strength, a year earlier. 

Isaac and several of his gym members had already signed up to row, and he had offered the gym’s two rowing machines. As soon as he heard the news, Isaac called Brienna, who is also a member of his gym.

“We’ll host it,” he said.

The Row was back on!

“The 24 Hour Row was a challenge I’d wanted to do for a while, and mental health has always been a big thing for me,” Isaac said. “I’ve had struggles in the past and it’s something I still have to work through every day. So the cause was definitely close to our heart as a business.”

“We’re all about being community focused, so it was a great chance to get involved in the local community and do something for mental fitness.”

With just 24 hours left to pull the event together in a new location, the surf club and gym teamed up to spread the word through social media, member messages and the wider beachside community. Amanda organised supplies.

“I did a big shop the night before, so we had a table of lollies and water and Gatorade and tea and coffee - whatever people might need,” Amanda said.

“We wanted to make it fun. We organised races and bought a television to put Netflix on. We wanted everyone to have a good time, not just sit there and row.”

Row day arrives

You’d think hosting a 24-hour event would be enough for a busy couple with three young boys, including a three-month-old baby. But not Amanda and Isaac.

The pair had committed to a power lifting competition raising funds for the RSPCA on the same weekend as the row. They got up at 5am Saturday, drove 80km to Port Macquarie with the kids, power lifted (both placing second), and made it back before the Row started. 

“Hosting it was so last minute; we didn’t know if anyone would show up. I told Isaac, if no one turns up, it’s just us, and the kids are having a sleepover at the gym. We were prepared to do the whole row by ourselves and juggle the kids.”

But it didn’t go that way. 

More than 50 rowers clocked up almost 800 kms on four machines.

“We had members, non-members, friends of members, lifesavers, surf club staff. People we hadn't met before. We just said, ‘Come on in’,” Amanda said.

The surf club brought their rowing machine. So did the local fire brigade. They were rowing in sports gear when they got a call out. They returned and kept rowing - in full firefighting uniforms. 

Isaac was there the entire 24 hours. Amanda rowed for five hours. Children Ollie and Archie hopped on, with Archie, 4, proudly rowing 50 metres.

The importance of why they were doing it was not lost on anyone. Everyone was invited to share what mental health meant to them on a wall at the gym. Ollie, 10, wrote, “looking after my brain and being able to be happy.”

Supporting mental and physical fitness

Together, Ritual Strength and South West Rocks SLSC raised $1,600 - enough for 33 people to do a Gotcha4Life workshop to build their mental fitness and learn how to support others doing it tough too.

“It's awesome that we can help our community in that way and provide those opportunities for people,” Amanda said.

The importance of mental fitness is something the gym owners learnt first-hand when Isaac was struggling in a difficult work environment.

“I was too busy and not opening up and just trying to push everything down. I had depression there for a bit and it was affecting our marriage, but thankfully with Amanda's help I was able to turn it around.” 

“The fitness side of things really helped me, and continues to help me, to stay on top of it. That’s why this is so important to me, and why I do what I do,” said Isaac, who has worked in the fitness industry for 14 years.

“Anything I can help others with mental fitness or mental health-wise, I will. The benefits of fitness is not just building a healthier body, but a healthier mind as well. And the mental side of it is the biggest thing, more than the physical changes.”

It’s a passionate belief Brienna shares, and that encouraged the surf club to get involved in the Row in the first place.

“I’ve been a boat rower and know the importance of communication when you're in a surf boat crew or in surf lifesaving itself, working together as a team, and having that positive mental focus to get the job done,” she said. 

“It’s about having good mental health, not just being physically fit, but mentally fit too. We wanted to help build that for others with the row.”

“To have a husband and wife team with a small business put their hand up to help us achieve the goal of hosting the event and to work together to benefit the community was just so positive. 

“We’re already looking at it as another joint event next year and talking about how we can make it even better.”

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