A LAZY ROWER

i wanted to learn to single scull because i had been a coxswain & wanted to get out on the water again. i kept seeing the boats while i strolled along the vltava and missed the calm rhythm and sound of the oars splashing. so, i joined a club. but, before i could even start learning (if you are a coxswain word travels fast—rowers in abundance, coxes are rare) they asked me if i would cox for an early morning outing. i hadn’t been in an eight since college so i was hesitant. surely they had their own coxswains, but they said they wanted a native english speaker. the head of google emea (europe, middle east & africa) was coming to prague and the googlers were going on an early morning run with him. what he did not know but i did was that the googlers would run him to the boathouse and—surprise!—have an eight rigged and ready to launch with a Czech Olympian, the head of the Czech Olympic committee, a couple of national elite rowers AND ME who had not coxed in a decade! nobody told me journalists would be there or i probably would have said no. matt brittin, also a former Olympian, did not—thankfully—end up getting crashed into a pier or a dock. as you can see, i docked that 60 foot shell as smoothly as if i had last done it yesterday.