Hoosier coach doubles as team's master craftsman

Anyone looking for IU rowing coach Steve Peterson shortly after dawn between June and August will find him in the boathouse at Lake Lemon in northern Monroe County. There, amid the aroma of epoxy and the haze of dust, Peterson launches into one of his favorite pastimes -- repairing damaged shells.\nScraping, gluing, filling, sanding and painting a rowing shell seems a messy way to spend a muggy morning in Bloomington. But Peterson likes to "tinker around the boathouse" and sees fixing nicks, dings and cracks as the outgrowth of an old hobby.\n"I used to build model airplanes as a kid, so this is the grown-up version of that," said Peterson, who recently began his third year at the helm of the Hoosiers. \nPeterson's talent for refurbishing shells sets him apart from all Big Ten rowing rivals who, like some Division I programs, employ a full-time boatwright or rigger who handles equipment. \n"That really doesn't bother me," Peterson said. "I enjoy working on the equipment. In my ideal world if I could work on the equipment and coach, I'd be a happy coach. The fact that I have to sit in the office occasionally is kind of a bummer."\nPeterson picked up his craft out of necessity while rowing at the University of Rhode Island, a club program where coaches did not fiddle with equipment. As the club's president for two years, Peterson had to figure out how to restore damaged boats or else the team could not compete. \nAs Rhode Island's coach after graduation, Peterson's interest in boat craftsmanship grew. A position at the Durham Boat Company in New Hampshire, where he built a sleek single, gave Peterson the additional experience needed to deal with just about any degree of damage to a shell.\n"The biggest advantage to being my own boatwright is that it makes me more aware of our equipment," Peterson said. \nThe slender rowing shells, made of carbon fiber, can become damaged by debris in the water, such as logs, or by contact with docks, rocks, bridges and other boats. But Peterson said even the slightest blemish in the hull can slow a shell .001 seconds in a race. \nThus, is not embarrassed about his scrupulous handiwork. \n"Being a perfectionist when it comes to boat repair is not necessarily a bad quality," Peterson said. \nPeterson said the most important attribute for first-rate repairs is patience. \n"The trick is not rushing through it," he said. "If you rush it, next thing you know you're going to have to repair the repair you just screwed up." \nThe process is "pretty basic, pretty easy" and consists of three phases, Peterson said. He first attends to structural soundness of the hull, then to its subtle shape, and finally to its cosmetic appeal. \nPeterson taught Hoosier assistant coaches Carmen Mirochna and Fran O'Rourke how to repair boats and maintain equipment this summer. They gained some valuable schooling and found out the work is rewarding.\n"Knowing how your boats work and knowing that your boats are in good shape when you send your athletes out to row them just makes things run smoother," O'Rourke said.\n"It's been nice," said Mirochna. "Steve takes time to make sure his coaches know how to do repairs, so it's been a huge advantage. He really likes it and helps us make it fun." \nThe payoff for Peterson, when the paint dries and a shell flings over the water, is personal fulfillment.\n"The neat thing about working on equipment is being able to say to myself, 'I did that,'" Peterson said. "There's something to the hands-on accomplishment. That's what I like"