Dave Harvey: Tacoma Rowing
Dave and his daughter Emma (6) after each completing the 8:46 #rowersagainstracism challenge in 2020
There are nearly 8,000 middle and high school students in Tacoma, Washington. Coach Dave Harvey wants to get them on the water. So in 2021 – after years in finance and project management in higher education and aerospace – he founded Tacoma Rowing. With a skeleton budget and fleet, the new club started offering middle school rowing, individual learn to row sessions, and 1-day corporate/team-building events.
Dave handles about 70% of the work right now, with a few other folks involved in various capacities. A local fitness studio has agreed to host community events and winter training. Two local physical therapists have offered to do functional movement screenings of club rowers and evaluate training and injury reduction protocols. Long-term planning, fundraising, and grant writing for the 501(c)(3) are being handled by two masters rowers who serve as secretary and vice president of Tacoma Rowing. And a member of the Pacific Lutheran University Women's Rowing team will be coordinating the work with Tacoma Public Schools and the George Pocock Rowing Foundation’s ErgEd program.
Thanks to partnerships with Physiology First and STEM to Stern, Tacoma Rowing middle school programming is growing, and Dave’s hopeful that talks with Tacoma Public Schools and Metro Parks Tacoma will help get even more of the area’s students in boats on the Foss Waterway. He’s also looking forward to offering summer camps, high school rowing, and programs for masters, adaptive athletes, and veterans.
Q: What is unique about TacomA Rowing?
When we started Tacoma Rowing in 2021, we describe the club as “Born in a pandemic and designed to be different.” We intentionally started by reaching out to groups not traditionally included in our sport. This fall, with limited operations, we got over 20 people out on the water who had never been in a boat before. We have a goal to get 100 new youth and adults on the water in 2022.
We row on the Foss Waterway, which flows into Puget Sound. On the Foss, there are two bridges – one old and one new. We use those bridges as a metaphor for what we are trying to achieve. We want to bring forward the best our sport has to offer, but also recognize the need for change in rowing. We try to keep that in mind with every decision that we make.
Q: When/where did you get involved with rowing?
I started rowing at Saint John’s High School in Massachusetts. We rowed on Lake Quinsigamond. I had intended to try out for the soccer team, but never made it. When we stopped at the boathouse and I saw the team’s work ethic and camaraderie, I was hooked.
Q: What is your most memorable race as a rower?
I first made a boat for the Head of the Charles in 1996, when it was still a one day event. We practiced on Saturday in poor conditions. Racing on Sunday was cancelled. As a lightweight on an openweight team, I really had to fight for a spot in that boat. I had finally made it, but did not get to race. That experience really cemented the concept that the journey is more important than the destination.
As for a race I did actually get to row, that has to be the New York State Scholastic Championships. Race day was frigid and there were several delays and false starts. I was in stroke seat and we were freezing by the time we pulled onto the start line. Our coxswain told us very calmly that we were going to row on the square for the first 200 meters. After our hands warmed up, we would add the feather. It was a great call. We all trusted him and won the race. Two years later, in college, I met a new teammate whose team was actually from New York state. He remembered me, came up to shake my hand on the first day of practice and said, “I think you have my medal.” He was kidding, but it was very memorable and we are great friends to this day.
Dave takes advantage of some nice conditions on the Foss Waterway.
Q: When did you start coaching?
My wife Krista and I rowed at Minneapolis Rowing Club for a year or so after graduate school. One day, on our drive home from training, she said, “you should try coaching.” I volunteered for a youth learn-to-row event and I really enjoyed it. My first head coaching job was at Farmington High School in Connecticut. I was privileged to coach an amazing group of young women and have the support of their families for three years. I then coached at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma for five years.
SIDE NOTE: Dave met his wife Krista 15 years ago while she was living near the Montlake Cut in Seattle. After successfully rowing a double together, Dave proposed. Now, they have two kids – Emma and Conor, and a deaf Boxer named Bear.
Q: What’s the best piece of rowing/training advice you ever received?
The concept of selecting your primary objective for the year or the next five years and letting all of your other decisions flow from that: nutrition, sleep, types of rowing, volume of cross training, etc. Developing the discipline to identify a clear, singular goal and then building out a robust framework to support it has been invaluable in every aspect of my life – rower, coach, manager, partner, and parent. The process does not guarantee a particular outcome, but it is a great way to maximize your chance of success.
Q: Tell us about your best coaching day:
In general, any day when something clicks for a hard working athlete is a great day.
The best day I had was when we made the birth announcement of our first daughter into a Wheel of Fortune style workout. We split the team into three groups which took turns guessing letters. If a group guessed a letter that was in the solution, the other two groups did an exercise. It got pretty intense. As a new coach, I learned a lot that day: seeing how hard the athletes worked while having fun, how the teams really tried to figure out strategy and communication, and most importantly seeing what it meant to them to be included as part of our family. The next fall, they actually threw a surprise baby shower for Krista and me.
Q: Who/what inspires you?
That is a hard question. There are so many inspiring people – in our sport, in my family, and in our community. For me, watching people begin their rowing journey is incredible. With Tacoma Rowing, we have been inviting adults who have never been in a boat and don’t know anyone who has ever been in a boat. Watching someone try something that they never thought they would have the chance to do is incredible.
The sport sells itself to most people – whether it is the therapeutic nature of being out on the water, the challenge of finding the rhythm with a teammate, or the physical demands. There is something for everyone. Each time we do one of those learn-to-row sessions, I am reminded of the fact that as amazing as this sport is, we have only scratched the surface of its potential.
Q: When not coaching, what’s your favorite thing to do?
Learning. Usually in the form of talking to people, reading, traveling, listening to podcasts, doing research. I love to learn.
Q: Tell us something about you that we don’t already know.
I love to run stairs. I will run any stairs anywhere, any time. I used to run stairs with the team at Farmington High School throughout winter training. When I worked at the University of Minnesota, I would run the stairs behind the boathouse on my lunch break. Tacoma has a ton of great options, including the bowl at Stadium High School and some gnarly hills. Most often, I run the stairs on the lift bridge on Foss Waterway, which are about a mile from our dock.