Walter Neville Howell’s accolades in rowing read like a lengthy novel.
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At the tip of the iceberg, Mr Howell, known to many as just Neville, is a Commonwealth Games gold medalist — he captained the men’s eight rowing team — as well as an Olympic Games bronze medalist.
The Nagambie local also has more than 100 world championship titles and has won six King’s Cup titles rowing for Victoria.
Now he adds another honour to the list — the Medal of the Order of Australia — which he receives for a lifetime of service to the sport of rowing.
“It’s a marvelous thing to receive this acknowledgement; to receive something for all the work you’ve done in the community and sport-wise,” Mr Howell said.
Mr Howell’s success in rowing, which he first took up in 1946, has spilled over into his everyday life.
With the mindset of a champion, the 90-year-old continues to run a successful import business and restore pre-war-era vehicles in his garage to this day.
Mr Howell said being successful was about training hard and keeping the right mindset — something he encapsulates in his book, What The Mind Can Receive, The Body Can Achieve.
“Rowing is important to me, it’s set a good life pattern,” he said.
“If you want to have success, train hard. I’ve been training since I started rowing; I’ve probably clocked over two million miles in training.
“And I’ve learnt to meditate. This gets yourself in a position to not only have peace, but to not look at life with aggression.
“If you can get something in your mind and have peace, you can achieve a lot with it.”
After retiring from elite rowing at the age of 32, Mr Howell continues to amass success through Masters rowing.
And while he has shied away from training on the water throughout COVID-19 restrictions, Mr Howell maintains a strong work ethic in the confines of his Nagambie residence.
“I’m training to keep fit. I do 5 km on the ERGO rower, and 10 km on the indoor bike every alternate day,” he said.
Mr Howell had been invited to attend the Olympic Games in Tokyo this year, which would have been serendipitous timing with his OAM honour.
But with the Games postponed until 2021, Mr Howell is unsure whether he will still be able to travel next year due to his age if there is still no coronavirus vaccine available.
But if he doesn’t make the journey abroad, his advice to aspiring Olympians remains akin to his ethos.
“The important thing is to keep to your training,” he said.
“It’s not just keeping the body fit though, it’s getting your balance and timing right.”
Mr Howell thanked his training and rowing partner Mike Walter, who also competed at the Olympics for Czechoslovakia, for his continued support over the years.
“He’s my best friend in Nagambie, and a main reason I moved from Bendigo to Nagambie was to row with Mike,” Mr Howell said.
“We fit really well together in the boat, he’s a likeable type of person and we have common goals when we are out on the water training.”
While Mr Howell will have to wait until later this year for an official presentation of his OAM, in the meantime he is looking forward to the day he can get back out on the water.
“Hopefully things change in a month’s time,” he said.
“You get a bit bored sitting on the ERGO.
“You need to get out in the open. Sitting on a boat on the water — there is nothing like it. It’s a different world.”
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