USRowing is pleased to recognize this year’s recipient of the Jack Franklin Award, John Walker.
Selected by USRowing’s referee committee, the Jack Franklin Award recognizes a member of the referee community for his or her lifetime of contributions to the sport. Walker will be honored at the third annual Golden Oars Awards Dinner on Wednesday, November 20, at the New York Athletic Club in New York City.
"John is one of the best,” said John Wik, USRowing Director of Referee Programs. “He embodies the qualities of a senior referee – safety, fairness, and the ability to quickly recognize issues during a race and take the appropriate actions. As an instructor at the Julian Wolf Referee College, he provides developing referees with both instruction and real-time examples from his experiences at national, international and Olympic events.”
Walker began his rowing career at the University of California – Irvine, where he competed for four years. He continued rowing after college, racing in a single and double, when he met referee icon Julian Wolf.
“I wanted to stay involved with rowing after I stopped competing,” said Walker. “Julian Wolf got me interested in being an official.”
Walker was licensed in 1980 and became an international FISA umpire in 1987. He went on to serve on USRowing’s referee committee and officiate at all levels of international competition, from junior, under 23, senior and masters world championships, to Pan American Games and the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
Domestically, Walker has refereed multiple national team and Olympic trials, served as chief of the San Diego Crew Classic multiple times and refereed at dozens of collegiate and national championships.
In addition to refereeing, Walker was course manager at the rowing venue for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and a volunteer at 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
“The referee’s job at a regatta is to help all the athletes have their best race without them even realizing we are there,” said Walker.
For more information about the Golden Oars Awards Dinner, visit www.usrowing.org. Co-hosted by USRowing and the National Rowing Foundation (NRF), the dinner will honor excellence in the sport during 2013 and serve as a fundraiser for USRowing’s national teams and its diversity, inclusion and adaptive programs.
Click here to see past award winners.
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10/24/2013 9:37:34 AM
John Davis, UCI '74