Coach Walsh

This week I have been helping The University of British Columbia Men's Rowing Coach, Mike "Fierce" Pearce drill the current crop of top University athletes in the program. Actually, I was trying to give the Novice Men's Crew a helping hand just prior to the spring racing season. I really enjoyed the three mornings I was on the water this week and experienced a healthy dose of nostalgia for the old days when I was super-keen and super-fit! Such fun to see a new crop of dudes out there training like mad and trying to get going fast. It was however, a classic novice rowing shmazzle! The first practice the guys showed up with only 7 rowers, not the requisite 8. What this means is that the boat is always lop sided and difficult to row. So, as a result we sent the remainder of the practice doing "drills." Really annoying if you are new to rowing and just want to get going and pull hard man! The next practice we had a full crew, but before we could get going we managed to knock the fin off (the rudder on a crew shell) and bust a rigger (the thing that holds the oar in place) during some sloppy rowing. So what did that mean? More drills. The guys were learning an essential lesson: show up with all the dudes and don't break the boat, otherwise rowing can really suck! Finally friday rolled around and we had a great "pre-race" practice. The dudes went out there and did their level best to make like Mercury motors and haul ass. All the effort had little to no effect on hull speed, but hey, that never stopped The Walshman! Thanks to Mike for letting me get involved and "give a little back" to the program. With the prospect of the new U.B.C. crew shell house being built this year, it has certainly given me pause to think about all I gained in body and mind from my formative years on the crew. It is a relationship based on pure love of the sport that brought me so much and I hope to continue it for some time to come!