The WBS Boat Club changed my life

By Roman Thompson

Everybody likes to win. It couldn’t be truer for The Windsor Boys’ School Boat Club. The Boat Club is renowned for its fostering of boys of all skills, cultures and creeds into a system that has churned out national titles and international athletes throughout its illustrious history. However, it is not the impressive performances that I would like to write about today. Before I start, I’d like to take this opportunity to apologise for the unashamedly cheesy nature of this blog — but what did you expect with a title like that?

I only recently left Windsor, but the thing that has stayed with me most from my days as an oarsman isn’t the silverware, and it certainly isn’t the memory of cycling to an icy river at half six in the morning! The thing that I, among many others I’m sure, have taken away from the Boat Club is the life lessons it taught me — the ones that had applications outside of rowing; the ones that will continue to aid me in the years to come.

Undoubtedly the largest value I have drawn from the Boat Club is a hunger for success. Before I joined the Boat Club I was lazy and unmotivated, but when I departed, five years later, I was motivated to chase after my goals, and not just those in sport — the attitude I developed drives me towards objectives in all aspects of my life. This mind-set didn’t just magically appear. It is a direct reflection on things such as the hundreds of gung-ho speeches everyone in the Boat Club receives, be it before your first ergometer test in Year 9, or your national final in the School’s top boat. The coaches that deliver these — the legend that is Chris Morrell MBE, Mark Wilkinson and countless other inspirational characters that have also embedded a craving for excellence in the minds of young men, must be recognised as the life-force behind the Boat Club who, along with the support structure of many parents, old boys and the like, propel the boys of the Boat Club towards great things both on the rowing lake, in the academic life at the School, and in the lives they lead after departing it.

This inspiration that you can find within the Boat Club is desperately needed when you wake up at 6am on a Tuesday in January. As you roll helplessly out of bed with your legs in utter pieces from yesterday’s session, you walk to the window and observe the torrential downpour placed before you. Your parents aren’t going to take you to yet another ridiculous o’clock ergo session — they’re far too lazy (or smart?) — you must cycle. It is at times like these, despite your body telling you to give up, another life lesson is learned — discipline. At the moment, I’m a student at university. As I’m sure you all know, sleeping is in the top three student activities, along with drinking and procrastinating. I’ve managed to keep a routine of waking early, and I know my friends who rowed with me, for the most part, do the same. The discipline to keep a routine like this helps one to be more productive with their time, a trait I’m sure many of you have desired on one hung-over Sunday morning or another.

The Boat Club was the biggest thing I did at the Boys’ School, and what it taught me will stay with me for a long time. I owe everything I learnt to the people who continue to give up so much of their time and energy to running it — thank you!

Aside from rowing, I’d also like to express my admiration for those running the Alumni — in only a year since leaving school, it has grown into a vibrant community of Old Boys helping each other out and of course reminiscing about the good times everyone had at the School. I hope it continues to grow and I can continue to be a part of it.