How British Rowing are using a ‘third way’ to deliver Olympic glory

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics were an unmitigated disaster as British rowing descended into civil war but a new outlook is fuelling a potential return to dominance in Paris next summer

GB’s rowers have enjoyed consistent success since the last Olympics (Getty Images)

British Rowing boss Louise Kingsley believes she has found a third way for the sport as it prepares to welcome in a new golden age at Paris 2024.

Kingsley took over two years ago and has proven twinkle-toed in the delicate dance between pushing the boundaries of high performance and cultivating athlete welfare.

Under her stewardship, GB have finished first and second in the World Championship medal table since the last Olympics, primed to peak at the Games in Paris.

Kingsley speaks in simple terms about the priorities and skills required to change the culture at Caversham.

“A lot of it is about being respectful of others’ opinions and listening,” she says. “We want an environment where people can speak up and be heard.

“Culture and people is always a work in progress but are we in a good place and going in the right direction? Absolutely.”

British boats have enjoyed consistent success during this Olympic cycle (Getty Images)

Kingsley is the first woman to lead British Rowing’s elite programme and one of a handful to occupy an all-powerful director of performance role at an Olympic sport.

Having enjoyed a successful international coaching career in the pathways and Paralympic programme, she is breaking the mould as a leading female voice in the sport alongside Kiwi rowing chief Judith Hamilton.

Pain isn’t just part of the small print when it comes to signing up to train with the GB Rowing Team – it’s on the billboard. Kingsley and her team’s responsibility is to find ‘the line’ between compassion and challenge.

“The athletes that we have here, more often than not, we’re having to pull them back a little as opposed to needing to push them on,” says Kingsley, whose rowers form a group of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme.

“They are all so highly motivated that they would go to the ends of the earth for this sport and we need to find a balance.”

Kingsley inherited an organisation that struggled with the transition out of Sir David Tanner’s golden era, that delivered 27 Olympic champion crews in two decades.

Brendan Purcell’s brief tenure failed to produce one, at a disastrous Tokyo Olympics. This is where Kingsley’s third way comes in.

“It’s not as if I was new into the sport,” she says. “I’ve been around for quite a long time through both David and Brendan’s eras and they both had very different, quite opposing styles.

“I’m probably more middle of the road than either of them. In my way, I like to feel that I’m bringing the best of both together to harness the people to deliver when it matters.”

Team GB won just one silver and one bronze medal in rowing at Tokyo 2020 (Getty Images)

Kingsley and her team are profiting from the work done by coach Pete Sheppard in building a fearsome ‘Project Paris’ squad that were ready to step in straight after Tokyo.

Those crews have ripped the rest of the world asunder with the men’s four and the women’s lightweight double both unbeaten in two seasons, the men’s eight favourites to regain their Olympic crown and the women’s quad becoming world champions for the first time in 13 years.

“There is definitely a feeling from everyone that the end results and the medal table didn’t reflect the potential of the team that went to Tokyo,” says Kingsley.

“Generally, there’s just a desire to row well as a team. If we’re good enough, we’ll be on the podium but if not, we’ll have done our best to get there in the best possible shape we can.”

British Rowing is the governing body for the sport and is responsible for the development of rowing in England and the training and selection of rowers to represent Great Britain. The GB Rowing Team is supported by the National Lottery Sports Fund. To find out more, and to follow the team, head tohttps://britishrowing.org/