Svoboda always keen to put his arm in

by Timaru Herald on 2 Apr 2006 Former Czech national Armin Svoboda is a rowing coach by choice and a boat builder by necessity.

A dentist by trade, Svoboda escaped Czechoslovakia as an 11-year-old in 1968 when the Russians marched in. His parents brought him to New Zealand where he started rowing. ‘I was in two Auckland Grammar crews that finished fourth in the Maadi Cup eight,’ he said. ‘I rowed a lot for the West End club and later Otago University.’

More recently he joined the Cure Rowing Club in North Canterbury where he started coaching in 1986. ‘I find coaching is rewarding. I go to the coaching schools and fall back on my own career as well as reading a lot, but my philosophy is not too different from most.’

The boat building came about when the price of boats went beyond the reach of the club. ‘It was out of necessity,’ he said. ‘My father taught me about resins and gave me a lot of technical information.’

By trial and error the Cure club started to produce quality boats. ‘We have sold boats to Twizel and Christs College and we are building one for Oamaru at the moment,’ he said. ‘We build about two a year, all through voluntary labour.’

The club has a weekly working bee of three hours to knock out the two boats per season. ‘We have standard moulds,’ he said. ‘We got a lot of help from Vic Haar in Wellington, he is prepared to share knowledge but not all are.’
He said building boats in New Zealand was uneconomic but they got by on volunteer labour.

‘We get grants for materials and it helps our club survive, it is a form of fund raising,’ he said. Tey also strike difficulties from time to time with design changes. ‘It keeps us on our toes and we have to change our moulds and jigs from time to time,’ he added.

Source: www.stuff.co.nz goto Timaru Herald and Sport