"I was rowing more than a thousand miles a year, even rowing through the winter."
Edgar Cove came all the way from Norway to compete in three races: Thursday in a four, Friday in a single, and Saturday in an eight. He’s feeling good, and he’s feeling ready to take home some medals. At 81, he’s the oldest man in his boat where the average age is 75. Of his three races, he is most looking forward to the eight. "The eight that is going well is an unbeatable feeling," he says. "There’s nothing like it."
Cove is a veteran Masters racer and this is his sixth Masters competition. He has to stop a moment to think as he recounts where he’s been to compete. First, there was Germany in 1993, followed by Spain, Holland, Austria, and Hungary. This is the first time he’s been to New Jersey to row and he’s impressed by Lake Mercer. "It’s beautiful, great water," he observes.
He began rowing on the River Thames while at Imperial College in London. Upon graduation, he joined the British Navy, got married, became an engineer, had two children, and then didn’t row again for 40 years.
It was in 1990 that an acquaintance sold him a single scull and he realized how much he had missed being out on the water. "I got in and rowed away as if I had never stopped," he says. "I practiced and practiced and until I moved to Norway three years ago, I was rowing more than a thousand miles a year, even rowing through the winter." Now he can no longer do that since the sea freezes in Norway during that season.
Cove is rowing under the Norwegian colors in his single, representing the Tonsberg Row Club near his home. His other two races are in composite boats made up of different clubs around Germany. He went to Germany a couple of weeks ago to practice with his teammates and now he’s ready to hit the water. "You go to a masters regatta, and you line up alongside people you’ve never seen before and until they say go, you have no idea what you’re up against. They might be Olympic champions, World champions, you don’t know, so it’s very exciting. It’s why I love to compete."
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