After a successful 1st year at Swans (won medal for most races won in rowing year and most improved oarsman), he saw the light and moved to Westies in 1950. During his early years at the club he was club captain (1954, 55, 60 and 2 more years in late 1980’s) and a Champion oarsman. After a few more years at Swan River in the 1990’s the draw of Westies was too strong and he’s been in the red and gold colours ever since – truly a life member !

During the 50’s and 60’s he won many state championships in senior eights in (1955, 1956, 1960 & 1961) and coxless fours - 1964 (in course record 6:05) and 1965. He also stroked a Westies senior pair each year from 1952 to 1957.

Outside of WA, while living and working in Canada, rowing continued in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada, stroking a coxless 4 to win Pacific Northwest Championship in 1957. And for something completely different he had a couple of seasons of ice hockey to toughen up the body.

Returning to Perth in 1959, with Canadian wife-to-be Mary Atkin, family life soon began with 3 children (Chris - 1961, Sharon – 1962 and Darryl - 1963)

Alan learned his trade (boilermaker) as an apprentice with the Government railways and amongst other things, worked on the Ord River Dam and in Canada before moving to the central wheatbelt town of Dalwallinu in 1967 to start his own engineering business – With not much rowing to be had in Dalwallinu, Alan took up horse riding to fill the void from rowing. He travelled to gymkhanas and trail rides from Meekatharra to the Snowy Mountains and many wayward places in between.

Finally returning to Perth in 1987, he resumed his passion for rowing and coaching. At the club level he coached crews at Murdoch and Westies and also designed and introduced special equipment for disabled rowers. On the school scene he has coached 1st & 2nd eights at Wesley and Christ Church and more recently schoolgirl crews from St Bridget's, Aranmore and Mercedes.

Alan became a fixture in the Perth to Fremantle sculling race every year from 1986 to 2003 in the single scull. Not content with just slipping along in the single in Perth waters, Alan has jetted around the world on the Masters rowing scene, adding to his silverware in Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Portland, USA and Montreal, Canada). Teaming up in a father-son combination with Darryl he competed in the double sculls and coxless pairs in both Portland and Melbourne.

You can only be certain of three things in life…..the sun will rise over the Swan each morning, there will be a yellow one-tonne ute parked along riverside drive and there will be a crafty old sculler called Alan showing how it should be done !

Coaching teenage schoolgirls to do anything sends most people into a cold sweat or running to the furtherest corners of the globe (yeah I know globes don’t have corners!)… so what does Alan have that keeps him coaching countless schoolgirl rowers in the dark, cold, often windy, stretches of Perth waters, at sunrise nearly every day…..insomnia, poor hearing, fading eyesight and a thick skin maybe ? More than that, Alan has a passion and love for rowing that only increases when he helps others get even a fraction of the same enjoyment from rowing that he has.

Alan’s dedication to Westies was best summed up by past captain Andrew Taylor when he presented the Best clubman award to Alan in 2004, 50 years after he first received this honour – dedication of more than a lifetime of rowing for most . Many other achievements and honours have come over the years including Club captain, Champion oarsman, Coach, Mentor and Life Member to list a few.

In his early days of rowing Alan coached and stroked many senior crews to state/regional championships in Western Australia and Canada. He now enjoys the challenge of coaching young rowers to compete locally and nationally – passing on a lifetime of experience – Perhaps one of his favourite talents is keeping younger crews honest by sculling alongside and offering a bit of coaching from the side, as they wonder how a 70+ year veteran can move a single so quickly.

Rowing is not life and death to Alan – it’s much more important than that !