TWENTY-SEVEN minutes is all is took for Rick Rouille and his team to navigate the 6km course in Trieste and secure gold in the Masters 55+ Quad rowing event at the Bora Championships.
The legendary rower has become a household name locally in the sport, and Italy provided an idyllic stage to complete the international racing season on a high.
Competing for the first time alongside Englishman Tim Fenemore and a trio of Italians in the shape of Andrea Pareschi, Alberto Millo and Sergio Predonzani, the quartet and cox clearly quickly developed a formidable rapport.
The renowned championships featured racers from Italy, Austria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Malta, Slovenia and the UK – but none had the firepower to prevent Rouille and co from taking the win.
The Caesarean said: “It was wonderful to get to compete in this event for the third time.
“Trieste is such a beautiful part of the world and the water is so calm, which makes for brilliant race conditions.”
Although Rouille and his teammates secured victory, they had to dig deep and, after a monumental “battle”, they crossed the line first.
“The race was so tight. We didn’t start off in the lead, but even after we took it, it was taken back off us again,” he added.
Clearly not content with one medal, the Islander also took part in the masters mixed event, in which he sealed a bronze medal.
Jersey Rowing has historically had a strong lineage of success and Rouille is right at the forefront of their progression currently through the Project Gold initiative.
Serving as one of the lead coaches, Rouille explained how the club is aiding current and future generations of Jersey rowers to achieve success on the international stage.
He continued: “I started Project Gold in rowing alongside John Scriven from the Sport Foundation around six years ago.
“Having previously had success in weightlifting and ju-jitsu, we wanted to use the project in rowing too and the results so far has been great.
“We designed the project to help our rowers prepare to compete and ultimately win on the international stage.
“Every rower who won medals at the latest British Championships from Jersey came through Project Gold, so we’re pleased to see our hard work and the athletes’ hard work most importantly is paying off.
“It’s a real team effort. We have so many people behind the scenes at the club who help, we couldn’t do it without them.
“Next year we are looking to include the masters in the project. It’s great that the club are right behind me and we have an exciting year coming up.”
While Rouille reflected on a fruitful 2023 campaign, his sights are now firmly set on 2024, with a packed schedule in store for him and the Jersey Rowing team.
He said: “It’s going to be a busy year. We have plenty of qualifying tournaments, particularly the British National Championships ahead of the European and World Championships a the back end of the summer.
“I am hoping to qualify personally, but as a club we want to see as many Jersey representatives making it to the biggest stage as possible.
“Our local rowers being able to compete on such a stage hopefully can inspire some more people to want to get involved and get our name out there more.”
Obviously, the competition side of rowing sits at the forefront of Rouille’s mind, but there is a real camaraderie among the sport’s community, which was not lost on the Caesarean.
“We all love these tournaments because of the social side of the sport,” he continued.
“Travelling the world and meeting new friends is massive in rowing and I think it’s what makes the sport so special.”
