OUBC - Coaching Information

Coaching information

The programme is run by Head Coach Sean Bowden and Technical Consultant Derek Clark. Both have extensive experience at the World Championship and Olympic level.

Sean Bowden was head coach of the multi-gold medal winning British lightweight squad from 1992 to 1994. He then coached the GB Heavyweight 8+ in 1995 and to the Olympic Games at Atlanta in 1996. As joint Head Coach of CUBC in the early 1990's, Sean was instrumental in setting up Cambridge University's successful run of that decade. After another medal winning season as Head Coach of the GB lightweight team in 1997, he was appointed Head Coach at Oxford in 1998. Following a run of seven straight Cambridge wins, Sean orchestrated the Oxford victory of 2000. Since then OUBC has won four of the last six Boat Races.
Andy Nelder has been coaching in Oxford since 1997, and was Head Coach of the Mens' Lightweight programme from 2001 to 2006. During this time the club enjoyed its most successful ever run of results, winning all five Lightweight Boat Races, four out of five Reserves races and breaking the course record twice in the process. He joined the OUBC coaching team at the start of September, where his primary role is to help Sean prepare the Blue Boat Boat for the Boat Race, and also to be the lead coach for Isis, the reserve crew.
Derek Clark joined OUBC in 1999 after a successful five year stint with the Swiss national sculling squad. A former Isis oarsman himself, he coached at the University of London before becoming part of the GB coaching team in the early nineties. Derek's updating of OUBC's physiological testing process was an integral part of the Oxford victory in 2000. In recent years Derek has introduced the cross country ski camp to the training programme, which has proved both great fun and a great success. Alongside Sean, Derek primarily coaches the Blue Boat in the run up to the Boat Race.
Steve Royle has coached OUBC since the 1970's. As the University's Director of Rowing he co-ordinates all of Oxford's rowing activities and provides a wealth of experience behind the scenes. He is a useful point of contact for prospective rowers/applicants. Steve is also overseeing the building of the club's new Boathouse complex at OUBC's recently acquired Wallingford site.
Nick Howe is a two-time world champion lightweight oarsman (in the 4- in 1979 and the 8+ in 1980). He coached the British lightweight 4- at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, and has been part of the OUBC coaching team since 1997.
Dan Topolski was an Oxford Blue in 1967 and 1968, and has four wins at Henley as an oarsman to his name; his international career spanned ten years and culminated in a silver and then a gold at the 1977 and 1978 World Championships respectively. As Head Oxford Coach, Dan oversaw twelve Oxford victories in fifteen years between 1973 and 1987, and he also has extensive experience coaching at the World Championship and Olympic levels. Dan is still actively involved with OUBC, primarily when the club is down on the Tideway in London. He acts as steering coach to the coxes, and he adds a wealth of Boat Race experience to the coaching team. Dan is also well versed in the graduate application process, and is a useful contact for those at other universities thinking of applying to Oxford for some form of graduate study and wanting to compete in the Boat Race.

In recent years OUBC has also been fortunate to have additional input from a number of international standard coaches including Mike McKay (Australian Awesome Foursome; Bronze Medallist in Athens, Silver Medalist in Sydney and Gold Medallist in Barcelona and Atlanta), Rene Mijnders (coach of the 1996 Olympic Gold Medal winning 8+), Mike Spracklen (coach of the two-times World Champion Canadian 8+ of 2002 and 2003 and 1992 Olympic Gold Medal winning 8+) and Mike Teti (coach of the three-times World Champion US 8+ and 2004 Olympic Gold Medal winning 8+).

Equipment

The boat fleet is extensive, and includes pairs, singles, fours and eights. The equipment management programme ensures that all boats are regularly refurbished or replaced; this season, OUBC has taken delivery of three new Empacher coxed fours to compliment the existing Empacher coxless four, with a second Empacher 4- on its way. Eight Fillipi single sculls and eight Aylings Olympian pairs complete the small boats rosta. The squad's Dreissigacker oars are replaced every year.

In eights, OUBC maintains a fleet of four Empachers: two dedicated training boats for use throughout the season, along with two race boats for the Boat Race and the Isis-Goldie Race. The Blue Boat's boat is new every year, whilst Isis races in the previous year's Boat Race boat.

Facilities

The Iffley Road training centre comprises a weights gym, video room, physiotherapy room and indoor rowing tank and is equipped with more than twenty Concept2 ergs and four Row-Perfect ergometers. Water training occurs at Wallingford, a short drive away, where OUBC has access to the longest lock-to-lock stretch of water on the upper Thames. The Club has recently acquired a 1 1/2 acre plot of prime riverside land in the centre of Wallingford, and is in the process of building a new state-of-the-art boat house there. In addition, the Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake on the River Thames in London (over which the Boat Race is rowed) is on the Oxford side of London; as such, it is only 90 minutes away. Eton Lake at Dorney - the site of the 2006 World Championships - is closer still, less than an hour's drive from Oxford, and is a world class stretch of water that OUBC makes use of at various points throughout the season.

The Redgrave-Pinsent Rowing Lake at Caversham is yet closer still, only a 35 minute minibus ride away. It has been constructed by Sport England on land either donated or previously owned by David Sherriff, a keen OUBC supporter and benefactor, who has made the project possible through a great act of philanthropy. The course is for the exclusive use of the British National rowing squad and Oxford University Boat Club and - David's personal wish - the 1st VIII's of University College, Oxford, and this state of affairs has been contractually covenented for all time.

Physiology

OUBC aspires to offer the ideal training framework to those determined to achieve success. In addition to world class coaching, a state-of-the-art, in-house, physiological testing and monitoring programme was introduced in 2000. The underlying philosophy is that of individual tailorment: by establishing ideal training intensities on an individual basis and then monitoring them both on land and on water to measure improvement, the coaching team individualizes the training physiologically so as to ensure consistent progress. This renders over- and under-training a thing of the past, and means that each rower is most effectively pushed so as to be able to produce a peak performance come Boat Race race-day in the spring. Regular lactate and OmegaWave testing form the backbone of this monitoring process, and provide the coaching team with a wealth of information for each indivdual athlete.

Psychology

The goal of OUBC's training and coaching programme is to produce the complete Boat Race winner, and psychology is recognised as a crucial part of this. Psychological preparation must be done properly if an athlete is to produce his best performance on the day. The one-off, high-pressure nature of the event that is the Boat Race brings with it a number of significant challenges; the crew most prepared to deal with those challenges will place themselves in a position of control from which they can win or lose the race. Once this has been achieved, whether or not that race is won will be down to group commitment, strength of resolve, and a stark realisation of what it will take coupled with a fierce determination to see it through.

Such attributes cannot be magically produced on the day but must be trained for over the season beforehand. OUBC seeks to do this, starting with the pre-season cycling trip in the summer and continuing through to the Boat Race in the spring. In recent years OUBC has drawn upon the services of (amongst others) Kirsten Barnes, a professional sport-psychologist and double Olympic rowing Gold Medallist, and Mick McKay, stroke of the Aussie Oarsome Foursome that included Drew Ginn and James Tompkins and won gold at both Barcelona and Atlanta.

Medical

Medical back up is an essential part of the package. Dr John Sichel is the OUBC's medical officer and is in regular contact with the squad. Consistent progress, through avoidance of illness and injury, is central to our philosophy.

Preventive treatment is much better than cure and is the focus of the OUBC physiotherapy team. OUBC's three professional physiotherapists (Katherine Taylor, Samantha Hynes and Collette Tracey) are on hand twice weekly at the Iffley Road gym during the morning training sessions and are available for additional treatment of squad athletes when required. They also accompany the squad on training camp, and move down to the Tideway with the rest of the coaching team in the final build up to the Boat Race. In case of injury, the club can call on its relationships with recognised experts in the fields of sports medicine, osteopathy, orthopaedics and neurology to promote rapid and accurate diagnosis and rehabilitation.

Training Camps

The OUBC programme includes a number of training camps throughout the year in a variety of countries. These include:

OUBC's "Tour de France"

Pre-season, the annual OUBC cycling trip sees rowers swap boats for bikes and take on the forbidding mountains of the Tour de France. Lasting ten days, the rowers-turned-riders group into teams and race one or two stages a day. The first half of the trip takes place in and around the area where the peleton stays in Les Deux Alpes, next to the world-famous Alpe d'Huez; after a rest and transfer day, the Tour moves to Val d'Isere for the second half of the trip.

The riders typically spend three to four hours in the saddle each day as they race to the top of that stage's peak, taken from the world famous Tour de France itself. The Col du Galibier, Col de la Madeliene, La Plagne and the Col du Petit Saint Bernard join Alpe d'Huez and Les Deux Alpes on the itinerary. Both the team standings and the overall (individual) classifications are collated with the coveted OUBC "King of the Mountains" jersey awaiting the winner at the end.

The spectacular Alpine scenery combines with the names of Tour riders painted on the roads to form an inspirational back drop to each stage and help inspire the level of exertion needed to complete 8-12% gradient climbs at race pace. The bikes prove a great leveller, and individual performance comes down as much to brute pain-tolerance as it does tactics in a competition that discovers, at heart, who wants it most. As such, the cycling trip provides the perfect start to the new season each year as Oxford seeks to continue to instil and develop those qualities in its athletes that have seen us win three of the last four Boat Races.

Cross Country Skiing - Davos, Switzerland

After Trial Eights and the latest round of GB trials at Boston, the first term's worth of training is brought to an end each year with a cross country ski trip to Davos in Switzerland. Like the cycling trip both altitude training and cross-training, the Davos camp is also great fun. The festive, seasonal feel the Swiss Alps have at such a time of year lend a bonhomie spirit to proceedings, always furthered by watching those members of the squad who have never been on skis before attempt to take to snow, and those rowers who have never skated being humbled by the local U10 Ice Hockey team. Taking place just before Christmas and marking the halfway point on the surprisingly short road to the Boat Race, the long aerobic workouts that the runs around Davos offer provide for great altitude training.

January Training Camp - Mequinenza, Spain

The New Year dawns to see the OUBC squad reconvene at Heathrow and start the year with a ten day training camp in Mequinenza, Spain. The dammed river Ebro nestled in the foothills of the Pyrenees provides 45km of wind-shelted, mirror-flat water with only OUBC to row on it. The sleepy town of Mequinenza provides little to distract the squad from the task at hand, and the immaculate water is taken full advantage of. The conditions lend themselves perfectly to long, technical rows as the crews look for the inches per stroke that will prove decisive come the Boat Race in April. A fully marked out 2km course allows for speedwork to be done and progress to be monitored, and the mood of focused determination so often engendered by the quiet tranquility of this area of Northern Spain leaves the squad well poised for the final run in to the Boat Race.