Community
10 June, 2026
Andrew brings home life membership
THE Port Campbell Surf Life Saving Club has awarded Andrew Vogels with life membership of the Victorian Surfboat Rowers League, celebrating his over 30 years of dedication to the club.
Mr Vogels said he was honoured to be recognised with life membership, having participated in rowing since 1991 for the love of the sport.
He has since volunteered his time as a coach and sweep for junior rowers, ensuring the next generation of rowers in the club have excellent mentorship.
“I got into rowing in the club because some of my friends were doing it and we thought we’d get a crew together, have a go and see how we went,” Mr Vogels said.
“Early days was probably a lot of learning, trial and error and see how we went and we luckily had some really good coaches at the time to help us out.
“I took up sweeping and coaching myself and progressed through that as I got older rather than actually rowing myself.
“We have four rowers and a sweep stands at the back with a longer oar and steers the boat.
“They were trying to get a young girls’ crew together at the time and they needed a sweep and I’d done a little bit of sweeping and thought it was a good opportunity to start doing that.”
Mr Vogels said it was rewarding to see the crews he coached and swept for go on to achieve incredible things.
“It’s been really enjoyable and I enjoy doing it,” he said.
“It’s good to see them grow, improve, develop and grow as people.
“They test themselves, push themselves and see what they can do.
“It’s good to see them grow up and become good people.”
Mr Vogels said receiving life membership of the Victorian Surf Rowers League was something he wasn’t expecting.
“You do it because you love it and you enjoy it and because it’s fun,” he said.
“You have a lot of laughs while you’re doing it – you take it seriously but you don’t do it for the accolades or the awards or anything.
“If you’re competing to win medals you’re going to be disappointed a lot.
“You do it because you really enjoy doing it.”
Over the years, Mr Vogels has earned medals across state, national and international levels through rowing himself and the crews he’s coached.
“A highlight that sticks out to me is when we won an A Grade silver medal in the Victorian Championship in 1995, that was for me personally a very big one,” he said.
“Going back to when we won our first medal at the Australian titles, which was the Master medal, that was big for the club.
“The first time we won an Australian title was a big moment.”
Mr Vogels said it wasn’t about winning medals which kept him coming back to rowing – it was about the club and community.
“I’ve got an open A grade men’s crew and we’re aiming next year to do at least three or four interstate trips to Queensland and New South Wales to compete,” he said.
“We’ve got a junior girls crew – my daughter rows in that, so I’ll coach and sweep them as well.
“We’ve got some good young sweeps coming up who will take over other crews.
“We’ve got some good senior sweeps and we’ve got some good sweeps coming through and the main thing is keeping those juniors rowing.
“It’s a good way to keep kids active in the club.”
Mr Vogels said rowing was a good way of staying connected.
“It’s like any sporting club – retaining the juniors once they turn 17 or 18 is always an issue,” he said.
“Rowing keeps them involved and keeps them doing things and you make friends all over the place.
“I’ve got friends and people I know in every state in Australia and I can ring them up or pop in and say g’day.”
Beyond personal achievement, Mr Vogels said being part of the league meant seeing success with the club as a whole.
“I like to see everyone do well rather than just personal things,” he said.
“When we finish the season and can say we ticked off our goals, achieved what we wanted to achieve and can see improvement in everything that’s happening in the club then to me that’s a good thing.
“The people keep me coming back – what keeps me coming back to rowing is also the challenge, pushing yourself and seeing what you can do, but the people in the surf lifesaving club, they’re just good people and you like being around them.
“If you’re prepared to have a crack, whether you succeed or whether you fail, if you’ve had a crack and tried your best, the club will support you 100 per cent and those are the types of people I like to be around.”
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