Scotch College

Scotch's remarkable boatmen play their part in rowing success

Renewed activity at the Scotch boatshed signals the start of another rowing season – and with increased numbers of boys participating in rowing, it looks like being one of our busiest seasons on record.

The boatshed now contains over 80 boats of various configurations, 12 speedboats, and all the associated equipment required to maintain and run the fleet.

Our two boatmen, Bob Lachal and Joshua Frichot, are well prepared for the job. Bob has been at Scotch for 14 years, and Joshua has just completed his first year. Bob and Joshua have both rowed for Australia, and maintain a keen interest in the sport.

Their job is to maintain the boats, including making sure that all the equipment is serviceable and the damage board is kept clean. They also transport the boats to camps and regattas on most weekends during the rowing season. Bob and Joshua are not usually coaches (though Joshua ran the winter sculling program this year), but they play an important part in maintaining the morale of the schoolboy rowers and encouraging them to succeed.

Delving into Bob’s and Joshua’s past, it’s easy to see why people enjoy visiting the boatshed – and benefit from the experience and skills of international competitors – people who know boats. There is a rich mixture of youth and experience, boat knowledge and practical rowing expertise.

Joshua has represented Victoria in rowing in 2000, 2001 and 2005; he was Australian under 23 national champion in 2000; he represented Australia at the under 23 world championships in 1999 (winning a bronze medal) and in 2000; and he gained first and second places at the 2001 East Asian Games. Joshua was previously boatman at Caulfield Grammar, and says he ‘hasn’t looked back’ since being appointed boatman at Scotch last year.

Bob is a fully qualified Master Mariner with extensive experience at sea and in ship repair and maintenance, as well as being a former rowing champion. Just for good measure, Bob has a Diploma in Marine Diesel Engineering, is qualified in advanced first aid, fire-fighting and survival training – and he holds a private aircraft pilot licence and a radiotelephone operator’s certificate!

In rowing, he represented Australia at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games and at the World Rowing Championships in former Yugoslavia.

Part of Bob’s working life involved two years in Antarctica, one at Australia’s Mawson Base and another at Macquarie Island, where he completed important geological work as a field assistant, and participated in one of the longest trips by dog-sled ever undertaken from Mawson Base. There is even a land mass in Antarctica named after Bob, in recognition of his geological endeavours there.

Later, Bob went to Papua New Guinea as a patrol officer, and was there at the time PNG gained its independence. He remained in PNG, managing the marine fleet in Rabaul.

America was Bob’s next stop in a whirlwind globetrotting experience. He worked for three years in a ship repair yard in Philadelphia, before returning at last to Australia and coming to Scotch.

Scotch’s recent successes – including our hat-trick of Head of the River triumphs – are not just luck. As well as coaching, much can be attributed to the excellent care and maintenance of our boats and other equipment. We are most fortunate to have two such competent and experienced boatmen working for us, ensuring that our crews at all levels are sent out superbly prepared.

David Ashton