From doting dad to champ in five years
BEING the parent of a rower was too boring for Geoff Boucher.
Now the Barwon Rowing Club member is a world champion, after his team of five prevailed in the 50-55 years of age division at the World Rowing Masters Championships in Bled, Slovenia.
Michael DuVallon was in the same boat as Boucher, the father of a rower who grew tired of playing taxi driver.
“My daughter was rowing at Kardinia International College and taking her to regattas and just sitting there got boring, so Michael and I — Michael’s also a parent — we teamed up in a double and started rowing,” Boucher said.
“It got really serious when we got together with Stewart Cowey and Simon Naylor.”
Together with cox Belinda DuVallon, the team won three straight Australian titles in their category.
And with milestone halfcenturies beckoning, the team decided to take their game to the world stage.
“A lot of us turned 50 this year, so we made it a real aim of our 50th year to go there and do this,” Boucher said of the September trip.
“A couple of us have only just learnt to row ourselves — I’ve only been rowing for five years — so we needed to get good enough to be able to compete on the world stage against former Olympians and former world champions to be quick enough to win our events.”
The team proved fastest in coxed and coxless events, taking out its category.
“We’re still struggling to believe it. It’s the product of 18 months of training and preparation and we think it’s an achievement,” he said.
With the taste of success, the team is planning its next trip, to Boston for next year’s Head of the Charles.
In all, 12 Barwon Rowing Club members returned from Slovenia, with Richard Tomczak, Ross George, David McPherson, and Nick Robinson competing alongside Cowley, Naylor, Boucher and DuVallon in the eights; Sophie Naylor and Frauke Hoffmann together in mixed events; and Christine Tomczak as a reserve cox/rower.