GB Rowing Team 'Start'
What is the aim of the GB 'Start' and Potential scheme?
The aim of the GB Rowing Team 'Start' is to select and train a group of up to twenty athletes, male or female, aged 14 upwards from the North West area who have the necessary talent to become Olympic Gold medallists in rowing.
British rowing has been lucky to find Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Mathew Pinsent who have between them won Olympic gold medals at six consecutive Olympics. We are now aiming to remove the luck and actively hunt out the next Redgraves and Pinsents.
Do I have what it takes?
There is no hiding from the fact that it is an extremely tough challenge to fight your way into the Great Britain Olympic rowing team. Not everyone has what it takes to succeed.
What we do within the scheme is to first test you to see if you have the necessary physical attributes required for success based on some common characteristics of previous successful rowing Olympians. We then interview you if we feel you are highly likely to be successful based on your test results.
Then it's up to you to persuade us that you have what it takes to complete the training and work your way up into the team.
What are the tests?
Where are the tests carried out?
Some tests are carried out during special visits to schools and universities normally when large groups are being tested. Other tests are carried out at Agecroft Rowing Club. All you need to bring is yourself and some sports kit.
Do I need to have rowed before?
There is no requirement to have rowed before. We are very keen to recruit talented non-rowers from other sports who wish to become an Olympian in the sport of rowing. We have even recruited people who have no previous sports background but who through our tests have demonstrated exceptional natural strength and endurance.
Who is the coach?
Hamish Burrell, the lead coach for the project, started work at Agecroft Rowing Club in November 2004.
He has a long record of success, perhaps most notably talent identifying Katherine Grainger while she was a student in Edinburgh. Hamish coached Katherine to GB team level, winning Great Britain's first gold medal at Women's open level in any age group in the U23 women's pair at the 1997 U23 World Championships in Milan. Katherine won the GB team trials in the single scull the following year and has gone on to win Olympic silver medals at the Sydney, Athens and Beijing Olympics. Katherine is the only British woman to have won medals at three consecutive Olympics in any sport.
Hamish also coached Irish sculler Sinead Jennings, who under his tutelage won world bronze in 2000 and gold the following year. Her gold medal was Ireland's first women's gold medal at a World Championships.
Athletes developed through the scheme at Agecroft include Olivia Whitlam who, under Hamish’s coaching, won Under 23 World Championships Gold in 2007 and then went on to reach the final of the Beijing Olympics as the youngest rower in the GB Rowing team.
Brendan Crean has reached the semi-finals of the Diamonds at Henley and is currently the spare for the GB men’s sculling team.
In 2014, Graeme Thomas and Zak Lee Green won the BUCS Championships 2km ergometer championships for Open and Lightweight Men respectively and Charlotte Thompson was 2nd in the Open Women. Lightweight Zak Lee Green won U23 Bronze in 2010.
The Agecroft 'Start' athletes have won at Women’s Henley, Henley Royal Regatta, the National Championships, Essen Regatta in Germany (inside the World Best time), GB team trials, U23 World Championships and competed in an Olympic final.
An indication of the standard of the athletes talent identified and developed by Hamish can be seen from the table of ergometer scores below:
2km erg / 5km erg
Men – Stuart Honor - WCS Agecroft 5:46 / 15:27
Men – Brendan Crean - WCS Agecroft 5:51 / 15:39
Men – Graeme Thomas - WCS Agecroft 5:57 / 15:57
Women – Katherine Grainger – EUBC / St Andrew's BC 6:34 / 17:45
Women – Olivia Whitlam – WCS Agecroft 6:55 / n/a
Women – Charlotte Thomson – WCS Agecroft 6:58 / 18:18
Women – Rebecca Chin - WCS Agecroft 6:58 / 18:35
Lightweight Men – Zak Lee Green - WCS Agecroft 6:21 / 16:48
Lightweight Women – Sinead Jennings – St Andrew BC 7:05 / 18:27
Athletes
There will be a squad of between 8-20 athletes in the main GB 'Start' programme running at Agecroft Rowing Club. The females have an average height of around 6 foot and the males 6 foot 6 inches.
The athletes are trained to become Olympic champions around their work or studies. There is no pretence that the training involved is anything but hard core. No athlete expects Olympic success to come easily.
Training facilities
Agecroft Rowing Club provides a first-class training environment with gym facilities on site and access to top-quality boats.
The Salford docks and Manchester Ship Canal are an ideal combination - with the docks offering the perfect environment for beginners and the Ship Canal offering a longer stretch of water for training to elite level.
Additional support
The English Institute of Sport in Manchester will offer additional support initially with athlete’s strength and conditioning training. Monthly camps for GB 'Start' athletes incorporate lectures from recognised experts in the fields of psychology, physiology and nutrition.
The aim of the GB Rowing Team 'Start' is to select and train a group of up to twenty athletes, male or female, aged 14 upwards from the North West area who have the necessary talent to become Olympic Gold medallists in rowing.
British rowing has been lucky to find Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Mathew Pinsent who have between them won Olympic gold medals at six consecutive Olympics. We are now aiming to remove the luck and actively hunt out the next Redgraves and Pinsents.
Do I have what it takes?
There is no hiding from the fact that it is an extremely tough challenge to fight your way into the Great Britain Olympic rowing team. Not everyone has what it takes to succeed.
What we do within the scheme is to first test you to see if you have the necessary physical attributes required for success based on some common characteristics of previous successful rowing Olympians. We then interview you if we feel you are highly likely to be successful based on your test results.
Then it's up to you to persuade us that you have what it takes to complete the training and work your way up into the team.
What are the tests?
- We measure your height and arm span, as successful rowing Olympians are tall and have long arms.
- We record your weight.
- We test your arm and leg strength on a special machine.
- Finally, we test your endurance with a test similar to a bleep test.
Where are the tests carried out?
Some tests are carried out during special visits to schools and universities normally when large groups are being tested. Other tests are carried out at Agecroft Rowing Club. All you need to bring is yourself and some sports kit.
Do I need to have rowed before?
There is no requirement to have rowed before. We are very keen to recruit talented non-rowers from other sports who wish to become an Olympian in the sport of rowing. We have even recruited people who have no previous sports background but who through our tests have demonstrated exceptional natural strength and endurance.
Who is the coach?
Hamish Burrell, the lead coach for the project, started work at Agecroft Rowing Club in November 2004.
He has a long record of success, perhaps most notably talent identifying Katherine Grainger while she was a student in Edinburgh. Hamish coached Katherine to GB team level, winning Great Britain's first gold medal at Women's open level in any age group in the U23 women's pair at the 1997 U23 World Championships in Milan. Katherine won the GB team trials in the single scull the following year and has gone on to win Olympic silver medals at the Sydney, Athens and Beijing Olympics. Katherine is the only British woman to have won medals at three consecutive Olympics in any sport.
Hamish also coached Irish sculler Sinead Jennings, who under his tutelage won world bronze in 2000 and gold the following year. Her gold medal was Ireland's first women's gold medal at a World Championships.
Athletes developed through the scheme at Agecroft include Olivia Whitlam who, under Hamish’s coaching, won Under 23 World Championships Gold in 2007 and then went on to reach the final of the Beijing Olympics as the youngest rower in the GB Rowing team.
Brendan Crean has reached the semi-finals of the Diamonds at Henley and is currently the spare for the GB men’s sculling team.
In 2014, Graeme Thomas and Zak Lee Green won the BUCS Championships 2km ergometer championships for Open and Lightweight Men respectively and Charlotte Thompson was 2nd in the Open Women. Lightweight Zak Lee Green won U23 Bronze in 2010.
The Agecroft 'Start' athletes have won at Women’s Henley, Henley Royal Regatta, the National Championships, Essen Regatta in Germany (inside the World Best time), GB team trials, U23 World Championships and competed in an Olympic final.
An indication of the standard of the athletes talent identified and developed by Hamish can be seen from the table of ergometer scores below:
2km erg / 5km erg
Men – Stuart Honor - WCS Agecroft 5:46 / 15:27
Men – Brendan Crean - WCS Agecroft 5:51 / 15:39
Men – Graeme Thomas - WCS Agecroft 5:57 / 15:57
Women – Katherine Grainger – EUBC / St Andrew's BC 6:34 / 17:45
Women – Olivia Whitlam – WCS Agecroft 6:55 / n/a
Women – Charlotte Thomson – WCS Agecroft 6:58 / 18:18
Women – Rebecca Chin - WCS Agecroft 6:58 / 18:35
Lightweight Men – Zak Lee Green - WCS Agecroft 6:21 / 16:48
Lightweight Women – Sinead Jennings – St Andrew BC 7:05 / 18:27
Athletes
There will be a squad of between 8-20 athletes in the main GB 'Start' programme running at Agecroft Rowing Club. The females have an average height of around 6 foot and the males 6 foot 6 inches.
The athletes are trained to become Olympic champions around their work or studies. There is no pretence that the training involved is anything but hard core. No athlete expects Olympic success to come easily.
Training facilities
Agecroft Rowing Club provides a first-class training environment with gym facilities on site and access to top-quality boats.
The Salford docks and Manchester Ship Canal are an ideal combination - with the docks offering the perfect environment for beginners and the Ship Canal offering a longer stretch of water for training to elite level.
Additional support
The English Institute of Sport in Manchester will offer additional support initially with athlete’s strength and conditioning training. Monthly camps for GB 'Start' athletes incorporate lectures from recognised experts in the fields of psychology, physiology and nutrition.
