A new rowing club in the Pacific Ocean

With the support of Rowing Australia, the newly established Oceania Rowing Confederation (ORCON), and the International Rowing Association (FISA), Vanuatu has had a visit from Australian national team coach, Reinhold Batschi with development officer for ORCON Paul Coates staying on. Shortly Howard Croker of Croker Oars will arrive to help with boat repair.

Coates has been instrumental in making the most of the new boats. A school rowing programme has added rowing into the physical education classes and now involves about 300 students from five schools. Coaching education has begun and so far 12 people have reached level one; nine of these are local Ni-Vanuatu.

Recently the rowers attended the VASANOC (Vanuatu Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee) Sports Festival displaying equipment with staff on hand to answer questions about rowing.

The new rowing club, Port Vila Rowing Club, has been established on a lagoon, No. 1 Lagoon, which is 3.5km long. The rowing club boat shed was finished in March. There are now 50 regular club rowers who come from all backgrounds including local Ni-Vanuatu, locals from French and British heritage and Australian and New Zealand expatriates as well as aid workers from around the world. The age range is from 12 years old through to rowers in their 60s.

Coates says the biggest challenge in the establishment of rowing has often been the misconceptions about the sport found outside of Vanuatu. “Government agencies believe rowing is too expensive and too hard,” says Coates. This has meant getting the support to develop it in Vanuatu has sometimes been hard.

“It’s been locally accepted,” says Coates. “Everyone is proud to have a club and a rowing shed especially as it’s the only Pacific Island country to have a rowing club shed. They want to be the hub of rowing in the Pacific.”

“The youth are very keen to try rowing,” says Coates. “There are very few opportunities for them to be on the water. There’s a small sailing club and a little bit of surfing, but no other organised water sports.”

FISA’s development manager Sheila Stephens Desbans is looking to increased activity in the region in the next few years. “FISA has been cooperating closely with Vanuatu and ORCON who have taken the main lead in the activities,” says Stephens Desbans. “FISA has supported the visits of Reinhold and some of the coaching material but we have been really impressed with this truly ‘Oceania’ driven activity.”

Vanuatu became a member federation of FISA in 2008 and in 2009, the Vanuatu Rowing Association (VRA) became a full member of the Vanuatu Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee (VASANOC).