04/05/2026
We’ve been trying to find the words since the rowers stepped off the machines today, and honestly, we’re still a bit lost for them. So here’s the story.
A few weeks ago, Tom Demaio reached out to us about his close mate Yak. A bloke in need. A bloke none of us at Rhino had met. Tom asked if we could help in any way, and we jumped at it and started thinking.
What if we rowed for 26 hours straight, one hour for every year of Yak’s life?
We had three weeks. The Joeys boys had a bye from footy that weekend. It was now or never.
The original plan was simple: 26 one-hour slots, members rowing for a stranger. $100 a slot for Yak. Then the boys looked at each other and said, “Nah, f*** it — let’s get a team and row the whole 26 hours straight.” Then another team said they were in. Then another. Then another. Suddenly we had four rowers going non-stop for 26 hours, and let me tell you, without those four, the vibe of this event doesn’t exist. They were the heartbeat.
Then the boys decided to make it harder. “Let’s hit 300km.” They absolutely crushed it. 400 Bloody Kms in the bank. Thanks for bloody coming!
And then you lot showed up. Pretty much ever single one of those 26 x 4 rower community slots got filled. Groups of four, groups of three, pairs, and those one legends going solo for an hour. Every one of you rowing as hard as you could for someone you’d never met. Just because his story moved you. What a community we have.
*continued in the comments*