May 6, 1985 Given at the Distinguished Alumni Banquet 1985 One Coachs Farewell to His Team By Dave Smed

Peterson My remarks today are addressed to the members of my crew, but contain a message that any coach might share with his team in a moment of philosophical reflection. I am coach. I have worked hardand I have worked longand I have sacrificed muchin the pursuit of something which I could not grasp. But you, my crew members, have worked much harder, and sacrificed to a greater extent than I will ever know. And in doing so, you have shown me.here, in the end. And it is clear at last that the I in the sport of rowing is subjugated to we. And the lesson is: in the pursuit of self-greatness, boundaries are firmly anchored limits are a reality. But in the quest for excellence in union with another or four others or eight others, there is no standard against which success must be measured. For you then not only strive for your own excellence, but for the excellence of others You not only challenge yourself, but others as well, and they, you You learn not only from yourself but from others, and they from you. You endure pain with others, and they endure it with you. And when the race is rowed, you are tested, not alone, but together. And if the race is lost, we take heart not as one but as many, and we grow together. And if the race is won, then our joy is shared and magnified with the joy of others When we strive for goals together and struggle, and endure defeat, and celebrate victory, we learn the lessons of humility, honesty, perseverance, self-sacrifice, caring and love. The lessons learned from one thousand miles of training and one hundred minutes of racing this year are not applicable only on the water, but in all of life. For out of the sweat and the tears and the laughter and the intensity of endless miles rowed, come compassion and toleranceand understandingand patience. If we row for ourselves, then we lose something very valuable. I challenge you to challenge yourselves to work and train and compete and live with a higher goal in mind than the self-achievement. The parallels to be drawn from rowing, and indeed from all of sport, with life itself speak to us of the concept of community and its importance in our lives and in our world. If we are to be great, and our sport is to be great, and our country is to be great, and if our world is to survive, then we need to surpass the bounds of individual ambition and learn to stride forward with each other for the good of all. The issue of selfishness vs. selflessness has rarely been an issue for the athletes at Pacific Lutheran University you are the best of the best. I have been fortunate for fifteen years to be a part of an environment which breeds success and unity. My time here has ended; but the notion that there is something very unique about the athletes at

Pacific Lutheran University is prevalent in areas of competition all across the country. Lets never let that be taken for granted If God has given you talent or strength or skill or speed or power, then share your gift with others in some way, so that thy might benefit as well. Individually we can be broken, but collectively we are a force to be reckoned with. And to my crew.To the young men and women of my crew and to the spirits of a thousand other oarsmen and oarswomen from the past who have experienced the unspoken exhilaration that can be found at the end of an oar at a serene sunrise, with the silhouette of Mt. Rainier as your coxswain; or on a lake full of heaving swells with frothing whitecaps and bleeding knuckles; or near the end of a grueling race that tests every fiber of your body, challenges your mind and will, and seems to threaten your very existence.To you who know the difference between pain and agony, and between joy and ecstasy.I thank you. I thank you for changing my life. The humility and love I have gained from witnessing your struggles and triumphs and heartaches.are irreplaceable gifts. I thank you from the bottom of my heart from the depths of my soul. I shall miss you all very, very deeply. Just being coachwas worth it all. Thank you.