From smooth to rough

Volume 9 Number 1 January 14 - February 11 2013

On the hunt for a change after eight years of professional rowing, Olympian and JD student James Marburg spoke with David Scott about his new sporting pursuit – surf boat rowing.

They say a change is as good as a holiday. For two-time Olympian James Marburg (pictured above) the transition from flat water rowing to surf boats is the change he needs after almost a decade of continuous training and competition around the globe.

“Sport has been such an important part of my life, it’s helped me in my studies and in my life generally, and it’s not something I can just walk away from completely,” he says.

“However I need to keep things fresh and have a break. I think it’s really important and I’d recommend it to any professional athlete. I haven’t completely shunned rowing by any stretch, but surf boat rowing gives me the chance still to be active on the water without having to have a strict ‘results’ focus when I get out there.

“In the end, that was part of the reason I stepped away from rowing, it became too intense and it can really take over your whole life.” 

Not that Marburg has taken his eyes off the top prize since swapping still rivers for surf beaches. The Beijing Olympic silver and two-time World Rowing Championship medalist helped his team to victories in three of the four races at the Australian Surf Rowers League Open Event in Torquay, his first official competition in his new sport.

The team will be looking for an equally impressive second time on the water, as part of the Pier to Pub carnival in Lorne in early January. “It was a good run for my first go, but the results are all pretty close in surf boat rowing,” cautions Marburg, “as just being smacked by a wave or being in the wrong lane can be the end of your race.”

The switch to surf boats came after a chat with a few mates who had previously made the jump from rowing, a group who were already in a crew based in Marburg’s home town of Ballarat. 

“We were discussing what I’d do after the Games and I wanted to stay active and do something, not just lounge around. It’s an exciting and interesting change, and I’m able to jump straight into a surfboat and do it, but there are still lots of things I can learn.”

Surf boat rowing, best described as a cross between flat water rowing and surfing, involves racing out through the waves, past a marker and back into the beach, a circuit often totalling close to 800 metres. “It’s a lot shorter than a normal rowing race which I like, and for spectators a bit more violent and exciting I guess,” says Marburg. 

The transition has still required some adjustment however, particularly in a different water environment. “I’ve spent a bit of time learning about the beach, learning to surf, how to put our blades in the water, ride over the top of waves and landing correctly on the other side. So mainly surf skills, but it’s been really enjoyable to learn something new.”

“The other thing I’ve had to skill up on is being a surf lifesaver, you need to have at least a bronze medallion to compete. So learning how to do CPR and the other associated life saving skills has been good, and it’s giving me an opportunity to do some volunteer work and give back to the local community.”

As befitting a sport that grew out of search and rescue operations in the sea, surf rowers are most prevalent in the beach communities of the east coast – from Queensland and the beaches of Northern New South Wales down to Victoria – Perth and New Zealand. 

And for Marburg the transition has been a smooth one so far, both on the water and in the classroom. “The study aspect has been really important – quite literally I got off the plane from the London Olympics and went to class, and a week or so later I turned up late to a lecture from the Olympic parade still in uniform with confetti. That grounded me pretty quickly!

“But having a collection of people around you that can provide some perspective, people who perhaps aren’t as interested in sport, has been very helpful. And for the first time in 2013 I’ll be able to go to first week classes which I’m really looking forward to.

“I think athletes do face post-Olympic blues, so to move so quickly into something so intense has been great. I certainly think I’ve handled the transition better this time around than after Beijing.”

www.sport.unimelb.edu.au