You Can’t Stop the Waves, But You Can Learn to Surf
Lessons from a coach and teacher
You Can’t Stop the Waves, But You Can Learn to Surf — John Kabot Zinn
This summer, I had the opportunity to attend the World Rowing Junior Championship in Prague and support a student-athlete I formerly coached. More than the competition, medals, or even the amazing historic sites, I am going to remember this experience for the perspective I gained. I came back to coaching and teaching this year with a new rejuvenated appreciation and understanding of the benefits of athletics in education and life.
I was abroad with some of the world’s top athletes in the sport of rowing, including James Wright, who I had the privilege to coach over 4 years. James and his competitors sacrificed their summer, and so much of their time as youth in high school, to row. Well, not only to row, but to challenge themselves, become physically fit, work with their peers and gain lifelong friendships.
I always knew our rowers sacrificed a lot, waking up early, spending weekends on the water. But this experience in Prague, watching hundreds of top athletes travel across the globe to be together and compete, made me realize just how much they gave up or moved to the side, and also how much this dedication and commitment impacts their lives and who they are.
In Prague, I saw even the best of the best make mistakes. Sometimes these mistakes happened so quickly and the loss came faster than the buzzer that started the race. In any sport, but even more so with a sport on water, it is dependent on nature and anything can happen. In Prague, one boat stopped and ended up in the wrong lane. Another flipped. Some rowers had to use different boats and experienced different angles and motion needs. Poof, the race and competition were over in the blink of an eye. The students traveled across the world, practiced for their entire summer vacation, and now they had no chance of a prize.
It’s hard to manage mistakes and errors because there is often no way to prepare. We can’t predict the weather or wind, or if one foot is moving at a different pace than a boatmate for a split second. We can only prepare our rowers by studying the precedent and determining the gold standard. This standard offers a general understanding of how fast our team needs to go, or how much faster we need to work towards, but that’s about it. We can’t predict everything and that is ok. It’s the same for the rest of life.
And while I saw some tears and some frowns, I was taken back by the smiles, hugs, cheers, and pats on the back. I saw such resiliency and comradery, even among rivals. Teams struggled and regrouped, tried again, and accepted defeat.
This competition and immense sacrifice I witnessed from talented young people from all over the world, I became so proud and inspired once again by a sport that helped shape me, my values, and my confidence. I was able to remember how strong athletes are, beyond the physical. I smile thinking about how much young people can learn about life, work, relationships, family, struggles, and challenges — and how to overcome them, from rowing. I now go to practices with the goal of helping young people push themselves physically and mentally, but to also have fun and enjoy the ride, mistakes and all.
by Aaron Preetam
Aaron is the Head of Rowing at Germantown Friends School (GFS) in Philadelphia, PA, where he is also a history teacher. Aaron competed in the World Rowing Masters competition on October 1, 2018 and won the Mens Double C category with partner Ransom Weaver. Aaron was inspired by James Wright to enter this challenging competition.
