No getting away from rowing

Rowing stalwart Stew Mitchell is leaving Oamaru this  year, but suspects he may still be involved...
Rowing stalwart Stew Mitchell is leaving Oamaru this year, but suspects he may still be involved in the sport in some way. Photo by David Bruce

Stew Mitchell believes his first contact with rowing was when he was still in a pram.

Now, about 75 years later, during which time he helped rebuild the Oamaru Rowing Club, he hopes to step back a little.

Mr Mitchell (77) also suspects he will again get a ''tap on the shoulder'', just as he had

as he worked in places around New Zealand before retiring in Oamaru.

His first involvement with rowing was through his father George, who rowed for the Port Chalmers club.

It was a natural progression for a boy who spent much time on Otago Harbour with his father and other relatives in an old clinker boat, fishing and going out to Quarantine Island.

But his first rowing was with the Oamaru club back in the late 1950s, to which he returned in 1997, where he had that tap on the shoulder to help the club out.

Musing on his lengthy involvement with the sport, Mr Mitchell said one of the great things was working with young people and seeing them progress from first touching an oar to elite levels in the sport.

Two of those would be the Kearney twins, Johanna and Caitlin, who had gone on to row in representative squads.

But it is also others who have succeeded to the best of their abilities that Mr Mitchell has fond memories of, all of whom have contributed to the rebirth of rowing in Oamaru.

When he arrived back, the club was in the doldrums after the glory days of the 1960s and 1970s, when an Oamaru eight won gold at the 1962 Empire Games in Perth and former Oamaru coach Rusty Robertson 10 years later took the men's eight, which included his nephew and Oamaru club member Gary Robertson, to gold at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

In 1998, the club decided to get involved in youth rowing through the schools to boost membership and ensure its future.

A spin-off was the parents becoming involved in the sport, some even taking up recreational rowing.

Active members in the club went from 15 in 1997 to 73 in 2002.

That has been the key to the continued success of the club, with schools benefiting from the expertise of Mr Mitchell and other members who have worked with teenagers as coaches.

The club has managed to maintain active members at around the 50 mark, with all ages from teenagers to masters rowers represented. Having worked around New Zealand, Mr Mitchell's arrival in a town or city soon reached the ears of rowing organisations and he would get ''a tap on the shoulder'' to rejoin the sport in some capacity.

Usually, it started with administration - helping out with the books or organising regattas. But it quickly developed into coaching.

When he retired from working at Placemakers in Christchurch and returned to Oamaru in 1997, buying a house in Kakanui on a hill overlooking the estuary where he once rowed, he had also been planning to retire from rowing.

But that tap on the shoulder came again and he was asked to be treasurer of the Oamaru club.

''That was going to be my only involvement. I wanted to catch whitebait at Kakanui and fish.''

Then he was called on to help Trevor and Cath Wilson run the club and coach.

Initially, he offered to coach the novice eight, enjoying the involvement with young people and seeing them progress.

From there, he was fully back into coaching in secondary schools, particularly at St Kevin's College.

Success followed with the schools, which went from little success at regattas and the Maadi Cup to becoming recognised as a force.

Mr Mitchell expects to leave Oamaru at the end of January or in February.

Initially, he said he planned to retire from rowing.

But then he had a rethink.

''I might do a bit up there, perhaps helping organise regattas and commentating.''

No doubt, Mr Mitchell will again get that tap on the shoulder.david.bruce@odt.co.nz

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