The Beyond the Boat Program

Beyond the Boat Personal Development Program

At the 1965 Varsity Boat Club Banquet, George Pocock addressed the crowd with these words: “Harmony, Balance, Rhythm. These things stay with you your whole life.”

This is what we teach at Washington.

One of the ways we are advancing that—and by doing so are leading the collegiate rowing landscape—is by emphasizing the development of young adults outside of the rowing shell.

In that spirit, in the fall of 2017, we formally launched our personal development curriculum: the “Beyond the Boat” life skills program.

The program is centered on the concepts of personal responsibility, accountability to teammates, valuing the University (and the academic and cultural opportunities that abound here), and the Seattle community in which we live. 

It is a holistic program that includes weekly seminars with guest speakers, group activities, and open discussion (along with personal introspection), and is guided by our head coaches and our staff.

The “Beyond the Boat” program is one that we aspire for each and every participant with Washington Rowing—past, present and future. It is an innovative program that is unique in collegiate rowing.

We believe it will help cement our culture in the boathouse, and help in the recruitment of top athletes to Washington.

The goal is simple: to re-invigorate and re-commit to these words “Harmony, Balance, Rhythm.”

That is our priority at Washington; it always has been, and it always will be.

Beyond the Boat In Action