In the summer of his sixth grade year, freshman Lincoln Pechette was introduced to rowing by his friend. Since then, he hasn’t looked back.
Pechette rows for Oregon Rowing Unlimited, a club that runs out of Oaks Park. The club is relatively small, with around 70 members, and only six in his own age group. Pechette hopes to see the club grow, as he said “being able to row super competitively with such a small group of people has been really really hard.”
One way he hopes to raise awareness about the sport is through a La Salle Rowing Club, which he hopes to start next year.
Pechette described his introduction to rowing as a “just do it moment.” He explained that after stepping away from basketball due to an injury, a friend mentioned the idea of rowing to him, and Pechette decided to try it at his mom’s request.
From the start, he found it very enjoyable and stuck with it, finding great success. Pechette has made nationals three times throughout his rowing career, placing fifth, fifth, and sixth, respectively.
He said that a memorable moment in his sport was an unexpected triumph which came when his team placed fifth at last year’s nationals in Sarasota, Florida. He said that they came into the tournament with low expectations and ended up surprising everyone with their impressive performance.
One reason that he continues to pursue rowing was because of his team, which he said is like a family.
“We strive to be as close-knit as possible,” he said.
Pechette competes in both sculling, a form of rowing where a rower has an oar on either side and can be individual, and sweep rowing, a form of team rowing where each rower only has one oar to row with. Out of the two, he prefers sculling.
He practices with his club five days a week in rain or shine and often has tournaments on the weekends. He said his main motivation in the sport is that, since he is doing it with friends, “even though it is hard, it is also fun.”
One thing that Pechette views as an important skill for a rower is dedication.
“Even when it’s not fun, especially practices, where it’s going to be raining really hard… you still gotta push through to make sure that you do well,” he said.
Pechette, who went to middle school at Holy Family Catholic School, said that the transition to La Salle was pretty smooth. “It’s been really nice to come to a school where everyone is welcome,” he said.
His favorite teacher is science teacher Mr. Kyle Voge, and his favorite classes are his physics and English classes.
A goal that Pechette has for himself this year is to manage both school and rowing equally. This has been a challenge for him because he travels a lot due to rowing, with tournaments all around the Pacific Northwest and nationals in Florida. “A lot of the time during fall and spring, I don’t really have my weekends,” he said.
Pechette explained that the sport has instilled in him the value of hard work.
“My parents and the sport and school have all taught me to keep working hard.”
Pechette said that young rowers should “stick with it” and “stay consistent.”
