3 Weeks' of Gratitude - Foundations: University Rowing

Rowing wasn't merely a significant part of my life following school, it was my life. At the start of my final year of school my family moved back to Sydney (having moved from Sydney to Hobart 4 years earlier). I stayed in Hobart. The decision was justified by "don't move cities before the final year of school" but in reality was because I was enjoying rowing, and wanted to continue what I had. Simple. Thanks again to Mum and Dad for their amazing openness and flexibility!

Tasmania University Boat Club

A Boat Club is simply a rowing club that is attached to a university. But unlike other clubs, university sport has a unique combination of a steady stream of new members joining as they start university, along with a strong cohort of past members, many of whom have their own fond memories of the club and actively contribute back to ensure its ongoing success. A number of us from school joined Tas Uni before we had finished our final school exams. This wasn't unusual given the overlap between the rowing season and our exams, but it did create an interesting mix of freedom ("study" time, early access to university culture) and obligation (apparently it was expected that I do well in my exams). As a then 17 year-old I of course made a number of poor decisions as I adapted to the increased responsibility, but through a combination of good grounding, and good people around me, I successfully learned slowly started growing up (something I don't think I've yet finished).

Hard Work, and the big little pond

At Tas Uni I had another two influential coaches: Cam Crichton and Sam Carroll. Allow me to introduce them both, and some of the lessons they taught me.

In many ways Cam is the quintessential Aussie Larrikin and many of us thoroughly enjoyed his leadership. I look back fondly at the mateship within our club - much of it led by Cam. At times he was the disciplinarian (leaving the pub at 5am to go straight to training is not a good idea) whilst at others he would join in the fun (taking championship silverware from pub to pub is a good idea). He taught us good habits and bad, but all came from a place of good intentions. He allowed us the freedom to make mistakes and learn from them, and he would allow us to make him the butt of a many a joke. However the thing I learned most from Cam was opening my eyes to the world of adulthood - not only through the many pubs we visited, but more significantly through lifting my gaze to see the wider world of opportunity. Suddenly I was no longer a schoolboy, but rather a young adult competing against men. The bar was suddenly, and very clearly, lifted. I did my best to meet the raised bar, and when I did Cam deserves the majority of the credit for showing me the way.

Practice does not make perfect, Perfect practice makes perfect

If Cam opened my eyes to the wide world, it was Sam Carroll who gave me the belief that I could succeed in it. Where Cam was the larrikin, Sam was the manager - no stone was left unturned (for the informed, there were some things I didn't learn from Sam). Cam's training was old school - we'd run up Mount Wellington, on occasion this would involve starting in the clouds before emerging through into clear sunshine at the summit. On the other hand Sam's training would be scientific and precise involving specific intervals with specific training intensities and specific rest periods. All carefully designed to tune our bodies. Through all of this training we built confidence - the same sort of mindset behind the 4, 5, 6, or 7 Ps (prior preparation prevents poor performance). One of Sam's favourite expressions:

Someone has to win it, it may as well be you

The pitfalls of Amateur Sport

My time at Tas Uni was golden. We travelled the country and later the world, trained hard, played hard, and it was ultimately later back rowing in Tasmania where I met my wife. However it wasn't all beer and skittles. As with most amateur sports conflicts arose. I took an unpopular (within the club) position to stand up for what I thought was right (please note that the issue itself was absolutely a 1st world problem, but the peer pressure was every bit real). In doing so I damaged friendships that I valued highly, but many years on received positive feedback from several surprising sources - a pattern that I've continued to see over the years that your actions are more visible than you might think. This is summed up by one of my son's current teachers:

Keep doing the right thing even if its not the most popular - Coach Rice

Tough Love

With all our success came recognition. We had a very good relationship with the Vice Chancellor - something that was useful given the number of lectures I skipped for training camps and regattas. After our initial success at Inter-varsity we were disappointed to see that we "only" received Half Blues. In our (young and immature) minds we'd been slighted; but I discovered through follow-up discussions with my old school coach Roger Drummond that this was a conscious decision - something to push us to greater success. It worked, and after further success in the year following several of us received Full Blues as recognition. I'll admit that I still struggle with this lesson, but I see it over and over again:

What I think is fair isn't always fair; when it is fair it isn't always in my best interest

Thank-you

There were so many people involved in my Tas Uni rowing days that they're too numerous to mention. But to all of you who were part of that wonderful phase of my life - thank-you, you know who you are.