This week Bill Carne met up for a coffee with Phil Edwards, who was a useful rugby player in his younger days but now that he is approaching 60 has done really well in the tough sport of longboat rowing . . .

If you wanted to join a rowing club and needed information, supported by lots of enthusiasm, there is no doubt that one such person to contact would be Phil Edwards, who loves being involved at Neyland Rowing Club.

Phil was heavily involved in the club when he was chairman a short while ago but above all else at 59 he still loves the competitive element of this demanding sport as he rows in a Celtic Longboat alongside his wife Sue, Janine Williams, Jane Richards, Steve Rich and Marcus Zipperton.

His wife Sue started out on the old adage 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em’, but found Phil’s coaching maxim to her was - “Get in the boat and get on with it!”

But after that gentle introduction from Phil settled in well and is now a respected member of the mixed crew that has done really well in recent years, whilst their daughter Alice was coached by Janine Williams and is also developing into a useful rower but has had to put the sport on the back burner whilst she studies nursing in Bristol.

Phil himself set out after he had finished a lengthy career in rugby and he was looking for a means of keeping fit as well as maintaining the competitive element in his DNA make-up - and in 2005 he decided to join the Llangwm Rowing Club which went out in the long boat from the quiet waters of Black Tar.

"I was a little worried because I was prone to sea-sickness but I was made welcome from the start as I got involved with a men's team that included Bob Charles, Peter Owen and Matt Brown and wasn't troubled by the motion of the water.

"After a couple of years I moved to Neyland to  gain more experience and take part in lots of races and learn more about rowing in the more open water of the haven where we had to be very safety conscious with ferries, tankers and tugs that needed to be steered clear of.

"In the last five years I have moved into mixed team racing with Sue, Janine, Jane, Steve (whose wife Beth is a good cox), and Marcus - and we have been hugely successful in not only winning our categories of lots of races but rowing faster than a number of men's teams and other boats whose average age was far lower than ours."

Including in these wins have been the well-known Montford Challenge, a 12-mile 'brute' of a contest rowed against the flow of water from Shrewsbury to Montford Bridge in Shropshire

"We did really well to win our category but perhaps even more pleasing was the fact that we were only 30 seconds behind the overall winners and ten seconds behind the second-placed team.

"We have also completed all 22 miles of The Thames Race and twice competed in the Eddystone Race, another huge challenge which starts  from Plymouth; goes 15 miles out to the Eddystone Lighthouse, round it and then back to base - now that takes some rowing," admits Phil with a chuckle!

"Another great race to be involved in is the Gellyswick Wreck Race, where we row from the Milford Yacht Club headquarters towards Dale, rounded the nearby buoy, around Thorne Island and back to Gellyswick; a distance of nine miles.

"We actually won it twice and would love to complete the hat-trick, perhaps this year, with a little luck."

Phil has also played lots more sport as a youngster growing up in Hakin and played rugby for a useful Milford Central School team coached by Mr Ronnie James that included Brendan Murphy and Chris Walters as outstanding members.

"After that I joined Milford Haven Youth team coached by Cal and John Jones, playing in the centre and training alongside the first team with other youngsters like Nigel Gough, Alan Saunders and Jacky Lloyd.

Milford’s senior rugby side was starting to do well with the likes of Steve Holmes, Barry Kingston, Dai Griffiths, Kenny Wonnacott and Keith Fletcher leading the way - and I played a few games before switching to Llangwm, where I was made very welcome by some terrific characters; sadly too numerous to mention here.

"It was a team packed with characters and I enjoyed almost two decades in a team that wasn't the best in the world but we won a few and lost a few more but always gave 100% and enjoyed a few pints with the opposition afterwards."

Table tennis was another sport that Phil enjoyed as he came under the influence of 'local legends' Margaret Carter and the late Clifford Smith – and since then cycling has also become a major part of Phil's leisure time:"To be honest I'm not a club cyclist but I have taken part in sportifs like the Tour of Pembrokeshire in its opening year and since then I have completed the full distance of 116 miles.

"But an even tougher test was a sportif through the Pyrenees which I undertook with Bob Charles and Alan Wheatley where we had to complete 470 miles in 100 hours and included 18 cols (the tops of the mountains) - now that was what I call a real cycling expedition!”

Back on the haven with his rowing, Phil  loves it as the team also takes part in local league races which are only three miles or so and slightly longer sometimes over up to five miles, which he says are great to take part in because there is terrific camaraderie between the teams.

Phil has also been involved as part of a fund-raising group to keep equipment up-dated and was honoured to be voted in for a two-year stint as chairman, which he recently completed.

"We have our headquarters at Neyland Yacht Club and the facilities are superb because our boats are stored safely and are easy to launch. The clubhouse is fantastic and I can safely say that there is nothing like being out on the water to get fit, but also to make you feel better in yourself.

"I am so pleased that I took up rowing because I have never felt better and would recommend it for relaxation as well as being a competitive sport.

There is no doubt that Phil Edwards derives a huge amount of enjoyment from his chosen sport and we wish him many more years at Neyland Rowing Club because he typifies all that is best there!