Leander Club: A New Chapter

With its trademark cerise flush, Leander Club is by far the most recognisable and revered rowing club on the circuit – and with good reason: the club now boasts more Olympic medals than any other single-sport club in the world. At first pass, this may seem to be all the clout an institution like Leander needs to carry itself well into the next decade and beyond, but as the world of rowing undergoes its most significant transformation in years, do the Hippos risk becoming a victim of their own success?

To find out, JRN sat down with the recently appointed Men’s and Women’s Chief Coaches – Matt Beechey and Ross Hunter – who sit at the club’s helm at a time of profound institutional transformation, to discover their vision for Leander and the broader rowing community.

A New Look:

Under the previous Director of Rowing Mark Banks, a Chief Coach would oversee the whole club, with so-called ‘Lead Coaches’ for specific groups reporting to them. When Mark announced his retirement in March of this year, the Committee saw an opportunity to build on the work Mark had begun in broadening the appeal and capability of Leander, as Ross reveals: 

“When Mark stepped aside from his role, there became an opportunity to move forward in a more balanced direction in having equal support and funding and focus on women’s and men’s rowing.” 

“I was obviously super excited about that coming from the women’s side, but I saw a really positive reaction too from the men’s side – they love that. They want us to be a big, successful club across the board.”

Matt goes on to suggest that “by operating as a club with a 50/50 split across athletes and resources, we’ve become much more ‘one club’ rather than two separate squads. Because there’s now nothing to fight about, we can focus on the athletes and their success.”

It’s the same framework adopted by Cambridge University who merged CUBC, CUWBC, CULRC and CUWLRC into one club: CUBC, now under the direction of Chair Annamarie Phelps MBE, and Chief Coaches Patrick Ryan and Rob Baker.

Under this model, both Leander and Cambridge have seen broad success across events including Henley Women’s, Henley Royal, and for Cambridge, The Boat Races. Both clubs also boast some of the highest graduation rates to senior squads in nations across the globe and have garnered reputations as some of the best centres in the country for athlete welfare and autonomy. 

The installation of Matt and Ross into these positions was – despite their long history with the club – far from guaranteed, however. 

“We weren’t the only ones going for those jobs,” Ross says, “working at Leander is a big pull – we went through about six rounds of interviews before we got to the final stage.

“You would have thought that being at the club already would have put us at an advantage, but actually we were laid bare – everyone knew what we were doing and how we did it, so we couldn’t come in and tell them how we would change the club because we’d then just be asked why it hadn’t been done already. So we had to prove ourselves based on what we’d done already, as opposed to making vague promises about changes we’d impliment.”

Both Matt and Ross grew up at the heart of the sport and represented GB at International regattas at junior, Under23 and Senior levels. 

Matt began his career coxing at Worcester RC – where his father was a coach – at the age of 9, after which he slowly began to take his training more seriously before representing Great Britain as a junior in the double and subsequently for the senior team in every lightweight boat class, from the single to the eight. 

“I’d always coached, starting at Worcester, then at Bisham Abbey as an S&C Coach and PT, and later as a part-time coach at Leander. Eventually, Mark asked me to start coaching at the club full time, so I’ve been at Leander for over a decade.”

Ross also began his rowing journey at a young age, “my dad was a coach at Poplar Blackwell, so if I wanted to spend time with him or my brother, I had to go rowing.”

He worked his way up the ranks of the junior circuit, winning the Fawley Challenge Cup twice (alongside Shiplake Director of Rowing Dave Currie in his final year). 

After spending some time in the national squads, Ross moved to coach the women’s programme at the University of West England: “the athletes made me enjoy the sport from a whole new angle,” he adds.

Like Matt, Ross worked his way up the ranks at Leander before jumping at the opportunity to lead the creation of a dedicated women’s squad and eventually become Chief Coach.

The Secret to Success:

Regardless of their Modus Operandi, Leander has always produced athletes of the highest calibre at every niche, which begs the question: how do they do it?

“It’s the athletes,” Matt says, “the whole club is about the athletes, both as a group, but also as individuals. It’s about how we can help them to become the best versions of themselves. It may sound a bit cheesy, but that’s what we’re all about.

“Now it’s also about the structure – we have a hierarchical structure, so there’s always someone holding the coaches accountable.

“What we try to do is give each group something to focus on.” Ross adds, “there’s no point talking to an 18-year-old athlete who just left school about the Olympics because they’re nowhere near what the national team are looking for in terms of their physiology and experience.

“We ask: what can we do for you as an individual, how can we help you get somewhere that you’ve not been before, and how much fun can we make that for you?

“For me this year with the Wargrave crew, that was what is was about. There was a lot of athletes in there that hadn’t really won much before, but that was the stepping stone. It was, ‘let’s do this job really well, have a fun season, see if we can win Henley’, and then – if you do that – you then move up the ladder to become an athete that’s won Henley.”

It’s not an uncommon perception that Leander caters for, as Ross explains,” ‘The pinnacle of sport’, whereas actually, the majority of our athletes aren’t at that peak; if they’re at that stage, they get taken to Caversham and row for the national team.

“What we’re dealing with is a lot of development athletes, either in a gap year before university, or those that come back after uni looking to achieve as much as they can. They’ve been successful so far, but they want to see how much further they can go.

“Identifying what an athlete can focus on is key; most rowers will never go to the Olympic Games – and that’s ok, that’s fine! There are other things in the sport, there are other things they can win, and there’s plenty of fun to be had.”

“I think we’re very good at identifying opportunities and very good at helping athletes buy into thinking about the process more than the end result,” Matt concludes.

For an outside sceptic, it’s easy to brush these intentions aside with an excuse similar to ‘easy to say when your athletes are fully funded, but that’s another myth Matt is keen to dispel:

“Rowing at the club at the minute, none of the athletes are funded. None of them get lottery money, and none get ‘paid’ by the club to row.

“They do get value in kind; for example, we have a physio that works every day, which they aren’t charged for. Similarly, we pick up the tab for private medical care, along with heavily subsidised meals at the club. 

“Again, it’s all about helping the athletes become the best versions of theemselves.”

In The Wild:

Of course, even if Leander is on a path to creating a holistic, athlete-centric programme, the same can’t be said for every club on the circuit – high-performance or otherwise.

Anyone who spends enough time immersed in rowing will soon come across horror stories of athletes pushed out of the sport by coaches who focus solely on medals, failure to prioritise athlete welfare or the formulation of toxic training environments.

So, what can a club such as Leander do to move things in the right direction?

“It’s something we talk about a lot,” Ross begins, “one of our priorities, when we took over our roles at the club was around how much more we could do in the wider rowing community, not just with those that row at Leander.

“Rowing is very, very serious, and of course it has to be at a certain time,” he continues, “but actually, a lot of the time, it can be really fun, really light-hearted, and just about doing a recreational sport.

“We don’t tell young athletes that when they start – and we should.

“Everyone’s looking for the next Steve Redgrave or Helen Glover; we don’t need to do that, they will be found. We need to make it really accessible, make it fun, and not put people under pressure straight away.

“Schools do an excellent job of building it up. They start just in PE lessons, then the next year you can opt to do a little more and so on.

“And just because an athlete starts at 20, it doesn’t mean you have to fast-track them – there’s plenty of time. The ones that will eventually win medals are always the ones that find it fun.

“LYR is a great example, as it starting out on the ergos and doing relays – both are good gateways to develop your skills in a fun way.”

Therefore, coaches and programme managers should take a step back and let the athletes enjoy the sport. It’s something of an abstract concept, though. There are ways, however, to put it into practice. 

“One of the things I’m keen on is the actual skill of rowing,” Matt begins, “people forget about the skill, they start doing three sessions a day rather than two, believing they’ll get stronger and fitter, whereas spending time learning how to move a boat efficiently has the most significant impact.

“When we see athletes coming into the club, it’s not the physiology that’s the determining factor anymore; it comes down to their ability to row and their skillset: can they rowing in different seats, can they scull, can they sweep and so on.”

Ross chimes in: “if I could go to athletes at the start of their time, I’d tell them to get the basics right; not to worry about getting fitter and stronger so young.

“We often talk about what holds athletes back in the summer, and it’s never their strength or fitness or mental toughness; it’s that they just can’t quite row well enough.”

“In golf, tennis, cricket, the first thing you learn is how to hold the handle,” Matt highlights, “yet in rowing you get straight in and row off at full slide.”

“Just holding the handle is one of the biggest things that can affect the rowing stroke.”

“Half my coaching this year has been on holding the handle; it takes so long to undo a bad habit,” Ross adds.

Again, all well and good: focus on the basics, build it up slowly and soon enough, the athlete will develop a deep understanding of the stroke.

However, for many coaches, once a crew reaches a point of looking ‘reasonably good’, it can be a challenge to unlock the next level of finesse. In Ross’ view, that’s where coach collaboration comes in.

“We’re lucky at Leander because we work with other coaches, but I do think most don’t spend enough time talking to other coaches and being honest with each other.

“You see coaches trying to psych one another out on the bank – it’s just unnecessary. The sport is for the athletes; coaches are just support staff. 

“I’ve had some excellent advice from some random people. You can pass on so much experience in very few words.

“If you haven’t got another coach to talk to – and this applies to athletes as well – watch some rowing on TV. Try to work out why a particular crew is winning; it might not be the things you think are important, it’s not about right or wrong, but there’s always something to learn.

“No one’s the perfect coach.”

“You can pretty much learn off anyone,” Matt continues, “a novice coach, my dad – he’s always telling me what to do. You have to be humble enough to learn off anyone, no matter their age or where they are in the sport; I’ve even had good advice from someone walking their dog down the towpath.”

“When you see crews at Henley or the Olympics, your classic ‘pub coach’ can spot loads of faults, but I always try to ask what are they doing well; why are they winning?”

What Next?

For those that take a moment to dig into the files, the comparatively broad demographic of Leander is striking. Of the 36 men rowing for Leander, 12 are on gap years.

“Anyone can apply to Leander,” says Matt, “and most people can start rowing at Leander. It doesn’t mean you’ll last the whole season, but you can start and we can have a conversation about how far you can take your rowing and manage your expectations. We’re quite realistic with people about their potential.”

Ross goes on: “for the athletes that apply, we’ll chat to them and have that conversation. One of the things I’m really hot on is that if I don’t feel we can help an athlete achieve what they want to achieve, I’ll be honest with them and tell them not to come.”

“We want the athlete to choose us because the way we work is a good fit for them.”

Leander has no recruitment window; their application form is open all year. 

When asked what the wider sporting collective could do to improve rowing, both had the same vision. 

“The sport has gotten quite competitive off the water, and I’m not sure it needs to be.” But, says Ross, “off the water, we should be as kind and friendly to everyone as we can.

“It’s important not to lose sight of the fact that this is only rowing; we’re not curing cancer or performing brain surgery. It’s a sport, it’s a lovely sport and we all love it, but it is still just sport.”

The bottom line here is that as a rowing community, we need to create an environment that is safe and feels welcoming. As both Chief Coaches rightly point out, “Leander is a big club, and as a big club, we need to be the friendliest, most personable club around.

“In the wider sport, there’s a lot of things we need to fix. One thing I always find odd,” says Ross, “is how critical coaches and athletes are of each other. 

“I see it on social media quite a lot, where people are being disrespectful to athletes and coaches that are working really hard and trying their best; sometimes things just don’t work out, there’s no need to shout at someone for that.”

“In essence, we want to make the club and the sport more accessible. There’s talent all over the place.”

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