Bill Caldwell's hard work as coach inspires oarsome achievements

BILL Caldwell has coached the finest rowers in Australasia but his greatest respect is reserved for a group of unsung athletes battling the odds.

EARLY START: Para-rowing coach Bill Caldwell with Sandi-Leigh Norris, 31, from Pimpama, and Tristan Higham, 27, from New Farm.

IN a 20-year career, Bill Caldwell has coached some of the finest rowers in Australasia. But he reserves his greatest accolade for a group of rowers for whom getting in a boat is an achievement in itself.

Mr Caldwell, 65, coaches para-rowers - rowers with disabilities, ranging from paraplegia to acquired brain injury. And before sunrise on most mornings over the past three years, he's been down at Breakfast Creek in Brisbane's inner north, in all weather, putting them through their strokes.

And his reward? The satisfaction of seeing his charges defying the odds on their paths to self-improvement.

"I've coached at elite level and at world champs, but since I started doing this, I've found it so incredibly rewarding," he said. "In my mind they are as elite as able-bodied athletes but have to go through so much more and a lot more pain to achieve the same results. Seeing them and their achievements, it's just marvellous."

His voluntary contribution has earned him a nomination for a Community Spirit Medal in the 2013 Pride of Australia Medal.

One of Mr Caldwell's first charges was paraplegic athlete Erik Horrie who won silver at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. But satisfaction is as much about overcoming obstacles as it is about medals and trophies.

"We had one chap who couldn't even sit up properly when he started, and today he's able to activate all his core and back muscles. That is hugely satisfying. For someone to be able to get out of their chair, row away from it and see it diminish in the distance, that's quite special."

On top of the regular dawn training sessions, Mr Caldwell also invests much time into creating strength and conditioning programs for his athletes and taking them to competitions.

Sue Wallace, the president of the Dragons Rowing Club who found Mr Caldwell after advertising for a coach in 2010, said he'd not only inspired his rowers but motivated other clubs across Queensland to develop their own programs for para-rowers.

Ms Wallace said the rowers had not only gained confidence, strength and often more movement in their muscles but could also aim for goals of state, national and international competition.

"None of that would have been possible without the time and commitment Bill gives to them."

To nominate your unsung hero, visit prideofaustralia.com.au Nominations close on July 16.

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