The end of the row for Bob Beeman

From the rural Vermont mountains in the USA to Olympic venues in China, Río de Janeiro, and London, if it is related to a vast knowledge in oar repairs and handling you have to mention Bob Beeman from Concept2.

For 42 years, Bob took pride of every oar he made or repaired at the factory shop or at any place in the world where he was appointed as head of the oars Regatta Service Team where countless athletes of all levels of experience found in Bob’s work a trustable hand that could guarantee that any oar he repaired was just as good as the oar just made at the shop.

Novices, seasoned coaches and famous Olympians always looked for the Concept2 trailer where most likely you would find Bob and several other technicians that would skillfully do whatever it was needed to give peace of mind before competitions. As Bari Dreissigacker, one of Concept2 founders says, “Bob has been our best ambassador all over the world for many years”.

Bob started working at Concept2 at the age of 17 particularly with the flywheel of the initial Model A but as the company grew he was asked to look into oars which became his specialty for the past 4 decades and he also was the longest serving employee for the company until last Monday.

Peter Dreissigacker, one of the founders of Concept2, said of Bob’s retirement: “Bob started working for us at 17.  His job description was  ‘young guy to move heavy boxes’.  I still wonder how he turned out to be such an ambassador of customer service and the international face of Concept2. I guess it was the mixture of building oars in Vermont, doing repairs at regattas, enjoying traveling to new places, meeting new people, and solving their problems.  His retirement leaves some big shoes to fill. He has set a high bar for Concept2 regatta service of the future.”

Bob knew how to teach many technicians from other rowing companies not only the way to fix oars but also to be respected by all who worked at regattas making him and Concept2 be regarded as a big brother of the community and he was also responsible for recommending many of the Global Concept2 dealers stationed in many countries.

After 42 years of hard work and an interesting life ahead with his wife Andrea, children, family, and friends, it has come the time for Bob’s retirement close to the beautiful beaches and mountains in South Carolina.

The rowing community does not loose Bob and his thumbs up attitude, he has already made sure that talented and passionate technicians will follow his path, and that’s his legacy to the sport.

Way to go Bob, you earned a white flag after the race.

Copy thanks to Santiago Fuentes