Coxing is a notoriously tricky – and thankless – task. Summoning up the mental resilience and emotional dexterity to successfully guide a boat full of athletes to the finish, not to mention find creative methods to eek every last drop of effort out of your crew, is a mountain most would fear climbing.
For those who do, their journey is unique and filled with moments that have defined their voice and their view on how to master the driving seat. NK work every day to support these individuals in their progression – be that racing in their local regatta or climbing the steps to Olympic gold.
Morgan Baynham-Williams is one of the United Kingdom’s most decorated coxswains. She has won silverware at international and domestic level and is currently building her campaign for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. She spoke to us about her coxing journey, the highs, the lows and how to simply enjoy the ride.
How did you first get into coxing?
I was playing football for my local town and we kept getting unfit in the off season, so they sent our team to the local rowing club (Ross Rowing Club) and started their first ever Junior Academy. We all mucked in and did everything, so coxing was just part of going out to do a session. I didn’t actually intend to be a cox but sent a few recordings to junior trials as I didn’t think I was big enough to row for GB and got invited to Spring Assessments off the back of that. Then the competitive instinct kicked in and I figured I’d see how far I could run with it!
What really kept you involved in the very beginning and how has that evolved over the years?
The love of rowing and how the boat feels when it’s running well! This was the same for me whether I was one of the rowers or coxing. Over the years I have learned more about how to feel the hull and generate boat speed, feeding that initial love of the sport further.
What was your first club like and how important were they to your growth?
The junior academy at Ross RC was amazing. Completely bursting with energy and anyone could come down and give it a try. We didn’t really do the big regattas like the schools do, but we were certainly very good at the staggered start 500m sprint scene on the local racing circuit. When I turned up for GB trials as a junior I hadn’t rowed or coxed a race longer than 1000m. I figured it couldn’t be that different and I’d just keep talking for the next 1000m…
Ross RC taught me the fundamentals of rowing, but also how to steer tight turns and read the water on streamy rivers. The Wye is either bursting its banks or extremely shallow, so reading the water and understanding where the shallows are at different times of the year, how the stream moves around the turns and what the best entry or exit angles are for the bridges are of paramount importance for safe and fast rowing there. I think learning to row and cox on the Wye really helped me when it came to coxing on the tideway.
How would you define your coxing style?
Extremely passionate and perhaps a little unorthodox. There is always a race plan that you intend to follow, but a race is a race and I am very much willing to do what is required to ensure I get the most out of the rowers and hull in order to cross the line first. Whether that be steering a different line to usual, or moving power pushes to different positions on the race track, remaining present in the moment will help you to make those decisions.
In your opinion, what is the most important attribute a successful coxswain must imbue?
The ability to feel, read and translate the hull.
What has been your favourite coxing memory?
Winning the Remenham in 2021 and 2022 hold special places in my heart, but I think racing and winning Women’s Championship Eights at The Head of The Charles this year was pretty epic – we certainly gave that one a bit of whip!
What was the biggest learning curve during your coxing journey and how did you tackle it?
Learning to manage your tone can be really challenging and is something that you never really stop developing. This will sound really weird but practicing in the shower actually lets you hear your voice back and that’s something I accidently stumbled across joking about with my housemates at university.
What is the one bit of advice you’d give to a new cox trying to find his or her voice?
Take strokes of your own. Being able to row will help you to understand how it all feels, the movement patterns and requirements behind drills or exercises you’re trying to get the rowers to do, and even doing your own 2k so you understand the pain of the 3rd 500m will help you to understand what you need to do to get your rowers though.
How crucial is high quality equipment (like NK) to set you up for success?
You don’t see rowers doing their 2000m ergo test without a screen attached, so why would you race without your coxbox or speedcoach? The cox uses their voice to bring about turns of speed. Having reliable, effective equipment that you know will work is fundamental to being able to do this. There are no shortcuts to being fast at rowing. It’s about building the long term adaptations over time as a result of the cumulative training load and repeatedly training the correct movement patterns. Having clear audio, rate and speed seem like very simple things, but it is these simple parameters that allow crews to train in the correct zones and intensities in order to facilitate the physiological adaptations that ultimately result in crews generating their optimum hull speed on race day.
How have NK supported you on your journey to an internationally-renowned cox?
NK has provided me with the latest equipment for training and racing, meeting gold standards in their maintenance, servicing and advice. I have traditionally used the CoxBox with a separate SpeedCoach GPS, however I was fortunate enough for NK to support me with a new CoxBox GPS for the 2022 racing season and it has been awesome! The reliability and clarity of the audio, combined with the simplicity of having all the training and racing information in one location, are what make NK my preferred equipment supplier.
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