The Sport of Rowing

A book authored by Peter Mallory

Those who are regular followers of my blog know that from time to time I mention my grandson Kendall who has been a member of the Orange Coast College crew  these past two years. Prior to my grandson taking up the sport I had only a distant knowledge of the sport of rowing, that as a young kid watching the Orange Coast Crew row past our beach house in Newport Harbor as they diligently trained. I would never have imagined during those young years that I would ever have a grandson, let alone a grandson that would be participating in the sport of rowing at that very same school,  years in the future. 

In my following of the Orange Coast Crew  I stumbled upon Peter Mallory and his book to be published this fall, The Sport of Rowing - Centuries of Competition, along with his newsletter. I love reading what Peter writes about this sport, a sport he loves and has participated in both as a competitor and as a coach. Reading his newsletter has helped me to understand all the nuances that goes into being rower.

His latest newsletter contained a letter exchange between young Garrett, a Granby High School rower and himself. I want to share a portion of that letter with you because it made me feel so good to know that young men out there have such good mentors, as exhibited by the words here from Coach Peter:

Pictures!  I want pictures!  Borrow a nice camera, not Paul’s camcorder.  I want a good photo of the five of you lined up with your oars and Coach Phil and Coach Torsten and Coach Paul. 

What’s wrong with this picture?  Take charge, Garrett!  Are the oars straight, Chris?  Tuck in your shirts!  Someday your grandchildren are going to look at this picture.  Posture, Sean and Bradway!  Smile, Autumn!  And I want you each to sign it.  It will go on my wall alongside all the other champion crews I have been associated with. 

And your job isn’t over!  There is the rest of your rowing season . . . and then there is the small matter of  the rest of your lives.  We didn’t encourage you all to believe in yourselves, we didn’ t show you that you could achieve magnificent things you’d never dreamed of before, we didn’t do all that for nothing!  So now go out there and make something of yourselves, on land or water, makes no difference.  Promise yourselves that every day from now on you are going to create opportunities for yourselves, take advantage of the opportunities that come your way, and make the world a better place one day at a time.

Take the rest of today off.  You earned it.  Start tomorrow.

Warm regards,

Coach Peter

I think maybe Coach Peter had this photo in mind, taken from his website, http://www.rowingevolution.com/home  when he passed on his words of wisdom.

Tip of the cap to you Coach Peter and to all the good mentors that help our kids (and grand-kids). For more information about Peter Mallory and his sport,  check out his website. You can sign up for his newsletter there as well, it really is enjoyable reading. Click here: More About Peter Mallory and The Sport of Rowing

And a special thank you to the coaches, crew and support team for Orange Coast College Crew for a year well done.