2023 Warren Foersch Award

The Warren Foersch Award was introduced in 2019 to honor our now departed friend Warren Foersch in recognition of his spirit of prevailing against all odds with never ending optimism and commitment.

The selection process takes into consideration what the member has done for the benefit of our organization, the improvement of the personal technique or performance and the added value to the sport of rowing.

The process for the Warren Foersch Award for 2023 was a somewhat lengthy one since there are now more members in the selection committee and we had many wonderful candidates. 

The member selected for the 2023 Warren Foersch award is Doug Coats. Doug has been involved in human powered water sports (Sea-kayaking, Dragon boats) for many years and rowed on an erg for many years (more than 30) before finally getting on a single four years ago (bloody hands and all from practicing non-stop in the rain).  Since then, Doug has joined PORPA, has participated in many of our sessions and entered both Sprints with multiple crafts.  He has worked very hard to improve on his technique both sculling and sweeping.  He also has helped a lot, volunteering his time to  retrieve and store our shells for winter, setting up and removing buoys for the Sprints and general equipment maintenance.  This year he even convinced Darla (another new PORPA member) to join and compete with him and by herself at the Sprints.

Congratulations Doug and thank you very much for your efforts and dedication.