PORT ANGELES — With Mount Angeles and the Olympic range providing a stunning backdrop, it’s hard not to dream of future rowing glory for youth members of the Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association.
For the time being, however, the mind of the association’s head coach, Debby Swinford, is focused at sea level and on building a growing base of youth rowers in recreational and competitive division.
Rowing practices are held on the waters of Port Angeles Harbor, what Swinford, in charge of the club’s recreational and competitive swimming programs, called “the best office I’ve ever had.”
Swinford has an extensive background in the sport, first as a competitive rower in college at Trinity and then at Syracuse University and then later as a national champion in multiple events and a U.S. Olympic team hopeful.
She transitioned to coaching the sport and has held positions as novice coach at Stanford, Syracuse and Bucknell universities, as well as with the Saint Andrew’s Rowing Club in Atlanta.
“I’m loving this,” Swinford said “Coaching on the Harbor is very different than rivers and lakes, but I’m always in awe.”
She finds that her team members share the sentiment.
“The kids are very quick to stop and appreciate nature,” Swinford said.
“We see seals and their pups sunning themselves on the log booms, eagles flying overhead. We were doing some land training on the [Ediz] Hook and saw a whale coming into the harbor.
“We take a lot of breaks to observe nature, and that’s one of the best parts of this is that the kids are in such close contact with nature.”
Swinford started coaching the Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association team members last November.
She was looking for a change in focus and has found it with the Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association.
“Once I came and met the kids and found out what the program is, it just fits in perfectly with what I want to do,” Swinford said.
“I’ve been coaching for so long, I’ve been a competitive athlete, and a lot of that has been at the college level where the main emphasis is on winning and losing, competition and reaching the top levels.
“With this program, that’s also important, but they want to grow the program, find a lifelong sport for the kids, foster confidence and get them moving and active.
“It checks so many boxes for me. It’s been so rewarding to see the kids improve their scores and their times so far.”
Association board member Donna Wiese said Swinford has a been a great fit thus far.
“She’s so inclusive that the kids feel comfortable no matter their skill level,” Wiese said.
“The kids are loving it, and if they are willing to come and practice at 8 in the morning in the summertime that tells you everything.”
The association offers youth the choice of participating in recreational or competitive divisions.
“We have a recreational division where kids can come and get the exercise, the team work and camaraderie and never compete in a regatta or a race if they choose,” Donna Wiese said.
“Or they can choose to compete in the competitive division and train to travel and race in regattas and other races.”
Wiese said that the association practices a no-cut policy, different than many high school varsity sports.
And Swinford said rowing is a sport that can be taken up at any age.
“There’s no cut, its available to all sizes, ages and abilities,” Swinford said.
“The nice thing is that we have heavyweights and lightweights like wrestling.
“So if you have a boy that’s 5-foot-11, 130 pounds they don’t have to compete against a 6-foot-5, 230 pound guy. They have like sizes that are matched together.
“It’s a sport of physics, and a sport of technique.
“Technique matters a lot, like wrestling, but size and length definitely helps, so it’s nice to have those different categories.”
Rowing also is a sport that offers chances at athletic scholarships, especially for girls.
“It’s a sport where female athletes especially can receive a lot of scholarship attention,” Swinford said.
“We one athlete, Elise Beuke, who received a scholarship to row for the University of Washington, and we have several others who are hoping to use the sport as a step into college.”
Beuke, a Sequim High School graduate, made the Huskies second varsity eight as a freshman after representing the U.S. at the World Rowing Junior Championships last summer in Rio de Janeiro, on the same course as the upcoming summer Olympics.
She’s back helping Swinford coach this summer while on break from school.
Other encouragement has come from another board member, Dr. Thomas Herschmiller, an orthopedic surgeon in Port Angeles who won a rowing gold medal at the 2003 World Championships and a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
“My emphasis isn’t on the Olympics, its ‘let’s do our best that we can and maybe that will be an option one day,’” Swinford said.
“But with athletes like Dr. Herschmiller and Elise, they are now very impressed with people who have gotten to those levels. They know the commitment it takes and the amount of work that goes into it if they want to be competitive rowers.”
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or at mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.