Keep It Simple

"If you can't do it easily, you can't do it at all."

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International Rowing Federation (FISA)/Olympic Solidarity (OS) Technical Course for Rowing Coaches

November 19-22, 2008

Manila, Philippines

The first day felt like a reunion of sorts with some of the Rowing and Dragon Boat vets. I was at Makati Sports Club early to meet James because we needed to prepare everything for the seminar so I had the chance to do some catching up.

I was really happy to see that quite a number of athletes I've known from both teams are still actively training and competing until now. But it's also nice to see newbies especially in Rowing and learn that they've done quite well in their competition in Hong Kong just recently.

The rowers who competed in the HK Championships won two (2) golds, two (2) silvers, and two (2) bronzes. This is indeed happy news for me, and I'm sure for the rest of the Philippine Rowing community as well because it means the sport is still thriving despite the challenges that we face in terms of promoting the sport. It's a daunting task to promote a sport that has the murky waters of Pasig river, plus the barge/ferry traffic, to offer since La Mesa Dam allows only the national team to train on its pristine waters. This recent win is just proof that Rowing truly has also its share of potentials here.

Johan Flodin, an international rower with merits from World Championships and Olympic Games, arrived to conduct the seminar. Johan has a Masters Degree in Exercise Physiology and in Sport Management and he's one of the most successful coaches in Scandinavia. He's currently the Head Master of the Swedish Rowing Gymnasium.

It's a good experience to learn from an expert. The past two days have been filled with great coaching insights. All of us attending the seminar agree that we're lucky to have Johan conduct it because he makes everyone understand even the most complex ideas.

It was more than a decade ago when we had the Level I FISA Coaching Course. Only a handful of us are now taking Level II. Most of the participants now are new and haven't had the chance to take Level I yet. We're lucky that Johan made Level II easy to grasp because even those of us who took Level I needed our memories refreshed.

We're now halfway done with the seminar and I must say it's a very gratifying experience. I'm glad I took the time to help Mr. Ramos, Steve, and James organize this. I realized that I do miss the sport and the people. It also made me determined to get back into shape. And more importantly, it made me determined to help develop the sport further here in the country.