“We train hard and we train religiously”: Occoquan International

So what is behind this international rowing club? Occoquan International is a club that brings rowers together from around the world to compete at events such as US Rowing Masters Nationals or here in Poznan, their twenty-first World Rowing Masters Regatta. Often the members do not have access to a boat club at home, so train alone looking forward to coming together to race. World Rowing spoke to Wood Fischer, aged 70, just after their seventh victory in the ‘H’ men’s eight about the Occoquan ‘organisation’.

“In our organisation, we grew, rather than ‘set ourselves up’. At first there were four of us, four became eight, and then four from a younger age group came up and multiplied again. Coming into a regatta our list of potential participants is a little larger than normal. It takes ten people in Occoquan to make an eight, due to people being ill or having to work. Everyone is good enough to be in the boat, it’s more a question of who is available. We’re a bit different.”

Wood ‘Woody’ Fischer, who lives just south of Washington DC, started rowing at an American High School. Rowing was certainly a sport that ran in the family. His mother, a British woman, rowed at Reading University. “She always wanted to see me row and wanted me to row at Henley Royal Regatta. When I started I realised it was a sport I could do, and a sport I could do with some success.”

Woody enjoyed some time on the American national team in his twenties, before his career as a Wall Street investment banker took hold. “I saw the environment on Wall Street as the same sort of crazy competition I experienced on the national team. It wasn’t very different, but it took me out of the sport for twenty five years. I jogged, stayed fit, but didn’t start rowing again until I was fifty. I didn’t miss it too badly – I had a family and a career to think about.”

Woody’s and Occoquan’s competitive nature is demonstrative here. Whilst some prioritise fun and friendship in masters rowing, Woody only comes here to win. “We understand and respect the format of this masters regatta, which is to encourage participation, but the format of racing means it doesn’t boil down to one eventual winner. We are comfortable with this, but use other competitions as an opportunity to win. When we sit on the start line, we want to win, and we ensure we have the best preparation, the best training and the best equipment to help us do that.”

“Occoquan members are uniquely talented and successful. They train hard and they train religiously. I train six days a week myself and most of the others do the same. I am either on the water in a single or a double, or on my ergometer. Off season I do power rows and other orthodox winter training sessions. Closer to regattas and peaking for this one, the pieces become shorter. Most of us do weights – I do them every other day.”

But what inspires these athletes to keep on rowing? For Woody, with the full support of his wife behind him, it is ‘the best life insurance policy and very good for my health’, but ultimately it is the same competition they loved at 25, that they now love at 75. “However, rowing is a different sport now. The emphasis is on very big, well-conditioned, strong athletes. There are Olympic medallists in Occoquan but we are not huge like the men and women are today. It’s great the way it has evolved, and it will evolve again.”

Woody, who didn’t learn to scull until he was 45 years old, loves sweep and rowing in the eight. “In my vintage, sweep is the priority. We didn’t learn to scull as young people and now I just don’t coordinate in the boat.”

As the numbers in veteran rowing communities around the world continues to rise, the legacy of Occoquan International will live on for many more World Rowing Masters Regattas to come.