Last Friday night, Australian rowing lost one of the great servants of the sport, Eric Waller. Despite being ill for some time, he kept up his involvement in the sport until the end.

Eric served the sport at all levels - rower, coach, club and state administrator, boat race official, Field of Play and finally as Victorian regatta manager. All tasks were completed with skill and enthusiasm.

But the hallmark of his work was lifting the standard of regattas – primarily for the purpose of benefitting rowers, but also for all participants. He understood it was also an event, not just a regatta.

At a national level, he took on the Field of Play role for at least eight national regattas and at international events held in Victoria. Many years ago, he saw that boat driving at the nationals was not of a sufficient standard. He created an association of Australian boat drivers which produced consistently high standard work for many years including the 1990 World Championships and the Sydney Olympic Games. Due to the professionalism and camaraderie of this team, there was a queue of people wanting to join it.

The significant improvements to regatta management and organisation in Victoria over the past 30 years are primarily due to him. Regattas at his hometown of Ballarat are now run to the highest standards.

He would not worry about driving from one end of Victoria to the other to ensure regatta organisers understood their responsibilities and that the proposed course was up to standard. Thank goodness he did not live in a larger state as his milage was enormous. He would also go to a regatta venue the day before the event to ensure that promises were kept as to course and facilities and that the umpiring equipment was onto charge and all in order. He was always the first to arrive at regattas and last to leave ensuring that the equipment was during returned and still in working order. Regatta organisers and the Rowing Victoria office were rightfully wary of not meeting agreed standards!

However, the people most wary of Eric were the City of Ballarat finance department. He badgered them into spending millions on the Ballarat course and the result is a magnificent lake and a course with all facilities.

Put simply, Eric got things done whilst others were still talking out how or what to do.

He was humble but spirited, respectful but determined, collaborative but persistent – a gentleman. He foresaw issues and took action before others had realised what was going to happen. Credit for his work did not ever cross his mind. It was the lifting of standards which brought him joy.

For more details on Eric, please go to Waller, Eric - Australian Rowing History (rowinghistory-aus.info)

Andrew Guerin OAM, has kindly prepared the this tribute

Eric (centre) at Lake Wivenhoe QLD in a typical pose helping at a regatta, this time leading the boat drivers