Feature Story

Row, Row, Row Your Boat
More than a great workout, participating in crew teaches valuable life-lessons to future entrepreneurs.
By Jay Winchester

The peaceful, placid waters of the Hillsborough River are a beautiful natural resource, one of which many young people in Tampa Bay take advantage by participating in the sport of rowing, sometimes referred to as crew. Rowing boats, known as shells, young men and women sitting at the oars, training for competition, are frequently seen gliding gracefully on the water, almost as if the river were glass. They are becoming a crew, learning valuable lessons about their sport, their mates and themselves. They are also learning valuable lessons to be used later in life, although few of them realize or remember that as they strain to match each other’s stroke and propel the shell swiftly across the water.

Crew, sometimes called rowing or sculling, is becoming quite popular here in Tampa. The 20 miles of uninterrupted waterway provided by the Hillsborough River and the region’s yearlong pleasant weather make it an ideal training location. Crews come from all over the country, including schools like Princeton, Yale, Colgate and more. Even local high schools are fielding crews and taking to the water. In fact, professionals all over Tampa Bay have crew as part of their experience, having been drawn to the sport early in life.

Take Tom Feaster, for example. Feaster, Manager of Association Services for the Merchants Association of Florida and a man who has rowed since 1962, remembers when that wasn’t the case. “When I came to coach the University of Tampa in 1975, the university had the area’s only program,” he recalls. “The Tampa Rowing Club and Tampa Prep programs were just getting started. Now there are two rowing associations and organized high school programs at Plant, Jefferson, Robinson Durant, Tampa Catholic, Berkeley Prep, Hillsborough, Academy of the Holy Names, Tampa Prep, and Blake.” It’s worth noting that Feaster coached two University of Tampa crews to national championships in their divisions.

The inherent beauty in the sport is a draw to observers, many of whom see it as simple rowing. Anyone who has participated in the sport will tell you differently. “To those who have been a part of a crew, it is so much more than rowing,” says Will Reed, who works in public finance as a financial advisor to issuers of tax-exempt debt (cities, counties, school districts, etc.). “To us, rowing is not just that time spent on the water. It’s the hours of training through the off season, the sweat shed in practice, the bonds you build with teammates, and so much more.”

Jim Preston, an Assistant United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, currently a deputy Division Chief in the Narcotics Section, and another life-long rower, agrees. “Our rowing differs from the rowboat on the lake in a number of respects,” he says. “The boats we row in, called shells, are designed for racing, and are long, light, narrow, and sit low in the water. They are manned by one, two, four, or eight-member crews. The craft use either one oar per rower, called sweep rowing, or two oars per rower, which is called sculling. Sweep boats include pairs, fours, and eights. The extra person one sees sitting in some of these boats (but always in an eight) is the coxswain, who steers and commands the boat. Each member of a crew must perform the rowing motion in unison with teammates in order to move the boat forward. When someone is watching an eight-oared shell moving down the river, they are witnessing the ultimate team sport.”

Such passionate talk is a mark of rowing participants and devotees. In this country, rowing was once primarily the province of Ivy League and east coast schools, and was at that time a collegiate sport of note. Today, those same schools continue the competitive traditions of rowing, as do others, but big money programs such as football and basketball overshadow it. Still, there is something to be said for participating in rowing, and much of that conversation revolves around the intangibles it provides, like teamwork and character.

Preston, still active in rowing, says, “First, because the physical demands are tremendous, the sport reinforced the ideal that there is no quitting. I learned I could push my body beyond limits of pain and exhaustion that might have been stopping points for me before this sport. I also developed a keener sense of teamwork, which ties into the motivation to push the physical limits. When I’ve got seven other teammates, each pulling his hardest on every stroke, I’m not about to be the weakest link and let them down.”

For his part, Feaster agrees, pointing out that the lessons learned from crew are applicable in almost every area of life. “Rowing instills many important and crucial qualities in its participants,” he says. “It teaches them teamwork, responsibility, a strong self-concept and the ability to transfer lessons learned in the sport to all the other areas necessary to become a successful and happy person.”

That is one of the aims of the Stewards Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)3 organization with a mission to “…use the sport of Crew (Rowing) as a vehicle to raise self-esteem and teach teamwork and responsibility to youngsters within the community of Tampa.” Feaster, who also sits on the Board of The United States Rowing Association, is its president and is pleased by the progress being made here in Tampa. “Just this summer,” he says, “with the support of the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay and The Tampa Recreational Department, the sport was opened up to a highly diversified group of youngsters.”

Involving youth in rowing is a cause close to the heart of Feaster, who was named the 1965 National Schoolboy Singles Rowing Champion during his days at Father Judge High School in Philadelphia. Under Feaster’s leadership, and working with other people of influence, The Stewards Foundation is looking to improve crew facilities along the downtown portion of the river. The Stewards Foundation currently leases three acres at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park on the west side of the Hillsborough River. The Foundation’s master plan calls for the development of a new state-of-the-art Boat House complete with visiting team housing to help defray the costs associated with our youth and diversity programs. Such a facility would also benefit local high school and college programs. The Foundation is also involved in plans for a regatta next spring, currently scheduled for March 15, 2008. Called the Mayor’s Cup Regatta, it features Yale and Colgate, traditional rowing powerhouses, competing in the college division, along with separate races for youth and masters competition.

It is all part of a program aimed at raising the profile of a sport that Feaster believes can have a significant impact on the local economy. “The economic impact of crew is very significant for our community,” he says. “Over 1,200 rowers from the northeast trained here last year, staying an average of five days each. Our regattas usually bring in over 1,000 competitors.”

That economic boost is great for the community, but for individuals the sport also teaches skills and lessons that come in handy for anyone thinking about an entrepreneurial career. “Since I started rowing, I’ve gained a level of discipline I didn’t have before,” says Reed. “It has also helped me set goals, and work toward achieving them. Beyond the skills crew has helped me develop, the networking opportunity it provides has been fantastic,” he says. “The rowing community is like a family, and seems to always look out for their own. In addition, rowers are typically held in high regard throughout the business world. The time management skills, teamwork ability, drive to succeed, and self-motivation learned in the boat help in the office. For young people participating in the sport, it forces you to trust others. In business, many people have trouble delegating work; they’d rather do it themselves, even if it hurts the overall product. That ability to trust others isn’t there, but crew helps instill it early on.”

Preston, still active in rowing, sees the teamwork as the critical component he takes into his profession as a federal prosecutor. “With rowing come lessons in dedication, discipline, perseverance, leadership, friendship, and courage,” he says. “All of these things have carried over into my adult life. While I generally try my own cases, teamwork is essential to my job since it requires that I work closely with other prosecutors in the office, as well as the law enforcement officers investigating the cases. I may try the case, but we win as a team. Any young person who participates in the sport can develop the same traits. It is hands-on and requires hard work, but that hard work will reward the young athlete with a great sense of accomplishment.”

Feaster, too, points to teamwork, but brings out an important aspect of it that every entrepreneur should remember. “From my experiences in rowing, I learned how to overcome adversity, not to let a co-worker down and to keep trying until you get it right,” he says. “Most importantly, I was taught and teach that the best crew is not always composed of the best athletes, but the athletes that row the best together.”

That qualifies as sage advice sure to float any entrepreneurial boat.

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