Last Thursday, the Headmaster, Mr Tyrone Howe had the pleasure of hosting the Thursday Thought in a conversation with rowing Olympic Gold Medalist and Old Viking Will Satch (07O).
It has been a year since he had a chat with Will, who featured as part of the College's Wellbeing Week, so it was great to catch-up and see what he has been up to. And a lot has happened, he has retired from competitive rowing and has moved to the other side of the world!
Now living in New Zealand, in Christchurch, South Island, with a ski resort just over an hour away, Will is coaching rowing at Christchurch College in the South Island.
Talking about his retirement, Will said: “It was one of the hardest decisions any athlete has to make, but after lots of injuries with three big operations (most recently on my shoulder), Covid, my coach leaving and the opportunity for my fiancée Zara to work in a hospital here in New Zealand, all four things combined helped me to make the decision to take up the opportunity to go out to New Zealand and straight into coaching.
“I wanted to dip my toe in the water and see if I would enjoy it. Christchurch College is very similar to Shiplake. It feels like home from home. The size of the school is very similar and they have similar competitive events. Their big event is the Maadi Cup. I was training a really talented group of boys who ended up winning the cup, by a lot. I loved the process, developing them over the last six months.”
Will also talked about life in New Zealand, living through Covid, having to quarantine on his arrival and how the new experience has helped him to make a ‘clean cut’ from competitive rowing. Mr Howe then wanted to check a very important thing with Will, whether he had a bath in his home! He replied by saying ‘yes’ and that having a bath was at the top of his list for securing an apartment in New Zealand, as baths are a very rare feature in New Zealand properties.
He said: “When training full time I said a bath a day kept the doctor away - and now I am marrying one!”
The conversation ended with Mr Howe wishing him well and told him that his Olympic oar, which Will has loaned to the College, is in pride of place in the Davies Centre.
