US couple will be the opposite of snowbirds come championships time
By Stuart Miller-Davis
John and Eileen Corelli are from Melbourne, Florida and have been volunteering with indoor rowing races in the US for 25 years, and in Canada for 20, including most recently at the Invictus Games in 2017.
They will be making the more than four-hour journey by plane in February to be a part of history at the first ever World Rowing Indoor Championships (WRICH) hosted in the Great White North. John and Eileen are excited to be coming up to Mississauga at a time when many Canadians are going south to Florida.
They aren’t the only ones making a long trek to ensure the championships run smoothly. Volunteers will be coming from far and wide as the Organizing Committee has had interest from people looking to volunteer from all Continents.
John will be working in race control at the championships in February and is looking forward to being at an in-person event again and being able to connect with the people he’s run into at previous events.
“Working with some of the people involved in Toronto, it was a no brainer to want to be a part of it when they asked us,” John said on a video call from Florida. “We’ve had this great longstanding relationship with the Canadians. I’m really looking forward to working with some of those folks again this time around.”
Eileen will be working in registration and to help with the entries and race cards. She said the atmosphere at an event like the WRICH is unique.
“I don’t know that it’s like many other sports, it’s a small world with rowing,” she said. “Everybody is very friendly and competitive at the same time. Everyone seems to know each other, help out each other and as volunteers we like to be a part of that.”
The couple are also excited to see some of the same competitors they’ve gotten to know over the years.
“We’ll probably see many of the athletes that we’ve seen at other races over the years compete from the other countries,” she said. “That’s always very exciting as well.”
“It’s kind of like a reunion of sorts where you’re able to see coaches or athletes you’ve followed over the years,” John said of volunteering at annual international events like CRASH B Sprints, which will be in-person this year in Boston in March.
They will be travelling up from Florida in February and are looking forward to helping in any way they can.
“They just ask us to come along for the ride and it’s going to be a great event I have no doubt,” Eileen said.
We need lots more people to come along for the ride and volunteer coordination lead Teresa Read is looking for more folks to raise their hands early.
“We’ve done the Canadian Indoor Rowing Championships for close to forty years, but this is on a bigger scale with the whole world watching.” Read said “We need more John and Eileens to put their names down now so, we are set to host the world in February.”
If you’re looking to give back to your community and help support a passionate group of athletes competing, we would love to have you. We need people for set up before the event, and multiple roles during the weekend. If you’re interested in joining our team of volunteers from across the world, you can sign up at https://wrich.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/