Woonona's Chris Mercer shares his marathon commitment to surfboat rowing

If you go to any gym around the Illawarra this week you’ll hear groans of protest as resolutions meet reality.

Woonona’s Chris Mercer, however, took part in one of the greatest physical tests in Australia to ring in the new year – the George Bass Surfboat Marathon.

Not bad for a bloke who’s just cracked his 70s.

Organisers boast it’s the longest and toughest surfboat race in the world, held once every two years since its inception in 1975.

The Bass, as it’s fondly known, is a seven-day, 190-km, open-water row from Batemans Bay to Eden and for its 50th anniversary it ran from 29 December 2024 to 4 January 2025.

“The masterstroke of that race was having it every two years,” Chris said.

“A lot of thoughts go through your head while you’re out there, mainly ‘What am I doing here?’.

“When you’re out there alone, whether you’re in front or behind, it can be pretty soul-destroying.

“Two years is about long enough to forget how tough it is.”

Chris would know.

A life member of Bulli Surf Life Saving Club, he rowed in the first George Bass Marathon in 1975 and hasn’t missed many in between.

He said the first event was very different to today.

“I’d made an elaborate system with tubes and a pump to keep soapy water on the seats for us to slide on; I thought it was the bee’s knees,” he said.

“Then we got there and saw these guys with rolling seats.

“Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club wrote the rule book – I don’t think we paid much attention to it.

“It said you were allowed to have two rowers, and we assumed that meant you swapped day by day.

“About halfway into the first leg our sweep noticed two of the Cronulla rowers go into the water, and then pop back in.

“When we looked a bit closer we realised it was two new rowers, and the penny dropped.”

The open-water changeover, along with cutting-edge sliding seats, gave Cronulla a serious competitive edge.

There were 12 teams competing in the first marathon and Bulli just couldn’t edge Cronulla out of the top spot.

Chris’ crew came in a consistent second or third every day until the final leg.

Determined to finish on a high the Bulli crew dug deep to be first to the beach at Eden.

“Cronulla had set up tables with white tablecloths and champagne to celebrate,” Chris said.

“It was so satisfying when we came around the headland. They weren’t happy!”

Since that first race the Bass has grown steadily, despite ebbs and flows in finance and popularity.

The 50th anniversary saw 27 entrants, with crews from juniors to super veterans, and surfboats to spec skis, a single-person surf rescue craft.

Female rowers were included in the race in the late 90s and six female crews answered the starter at the last Bass.

Over the years, entries have come from every state in Australia, Great Britain, Wales and New Zealand.

Chris said the temptation was there each time to call it his final marathon, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it yet.

“A lot of training goes into it; you have to do long hours, there’s no shortcut to that,” he said.

“You’re training six days a week, doing long work out in the ocean for an hour, an hour and a half.

“It’s something I never set out to do, but every couple of years the mates I’ve always rowed with ask if we’re going to do it again and we say, ‘Yeah, why not’.

“While I physically can I want to keep doing it.”