By Noah Seixas, Rat Island Rowing
Imagine jumping into a new sport and, within a week, finding yourself participating with an Olympic bronze medalist. That is just what happened for a group of Port Townsend Maritime Academy (PTMA) students last fall.
A collaboration between the Port Townsend Maritime Academy and Rat Island Rowing and Sculling Club in Port Townsend has been working over the last few years to provide students in the academy a chance to learn about the legacy of Northwest Rowing, the wooden boats developed and built by legendary boatbuilders, George and Stan Pocock, and in concert with the hands-on learning philosophy of the school, learn the basics of rowing a shell on the water.
PTMA students were divided into four groups, each spending a week with Rat Island rowers learning about the boats and the basic techniques of rowing a sliding seat shell. Though the students had previous experience rowing in dinghies and skiffs, none had been in a slide-seat boat built to race. They started with land-based skills using an ergometer (rowing machine) to learn the sequencing of a stroke: legs – body – arms – arms – body – legs. Sounds easy—but getting that sequence of movements right doesn’t come naturally to most people. Next, students were given oars and a seat in the club’s quadruple (four-person) sculls, with experienced club rowers in bow and stern seats. Translating the erg skills into a boat is a further set of challenges, requiring balance and hand placement while moving the oar into and out of the water for stroke and recovery phases, while also feathering the oar blades on the recovery: a lot to learn all at once.
At the end of the month, Rat Island rower Ted Shoulberg invited Seattle-based rower Evan Olson to spend a few days in Port Townsend and share his experience (and rowing technique) with the students. Evan was recently home from the Paris Olympics, where he rowed with the US Olympic Rowing crew, winning a bronze medal in the men’s eights. To everyone’s delight, Evan agreed not only to talk with the students but also to jump into a classic wooden “oct,” built in the 1970s by Stan Pocock and restored by the Rat Island Club in 2019. Evan rowed in the “stroke” seat (stern-most rowing station) so the learners could follow his lead. Six students and one Rat Islander rowed behind Evan.
Later, Evan addressed the students, relaying stories of his development into an Olympian, expressing the deep commitment and hard work over many years required to get there. His style was easy and youthful, but inspiring to all of us. Especially surprising to many was his description of the sense of defeat, even as they brought home bronze. “We should have had gold,” he said, before discussing his intention to go on training, competing, and winning. Inspiration enough for all.
About Rat Island Rowing
The club was founded in 2000 as a place for rowers, both old and new, to come together and share their passion and excitement for rowing. We want to create a comfortable and considerate environment where everyone is free to contribute and enjoy. In 2005, The Port Townsend Rowing Club became the Rat Island Rowing and Sculling Club, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping neighbors of all ages discover the joy of boats, the water, and each other. Our boathouse is located in the Northwest Maritime Center in historic Port Townsend.
The mission of the Rat island Rowing and Sculling Club is to provide opportunity to youth and adults in the Greater Port Townsend community to learn and improve sweep and scull rowing skills through recreational and competitive rowing programs, to preserve and celebrate the legacy of traditional wooden racing shells, and to be stewards of our marine environment.
