The next cycle

A further look into the RYA's Olympic Development Squad and the role of the English Insititute of Sport

A couple of weeks ago we wrote about how the RYA has already embarked on the next Olympic cycle. The new Weymouth and Portland sailing Academy building recently opened its doors to the next generation of Olympic medallists, with 70 sailors attending the second of this winter’s Olympic Development Squad training camps, which is headed up by the RYA’s Barry Edgington.

In Edgington’s view the new, part lottery funded, facility was the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle for the RYA. A purpose built venue that finally provides the perfect environment to hone future world class sailors. Bricks and mortar that now fully complement the professional approach taken by the top sailors, and that will inspire the up and coming to raise their game too.

Also playing a part in the new WPSA building is the English Institute of Sport – in terms of hardware they have supplied the onsite gym and its equipment. The EIS undertake a number of roles within various sports, providing athletes with expert advice and training on a number of areas including fitness, nutrition, sports medicine and psychology for example.



On the ground the EIS is organised on a regional level, with the national responsibility for sailing falling to the South West division based at the University of Bath. It is not however a case of breezing in and telling the RYA how to do it, as EIS Regional Manager Kirsty Moore (above) explains: “What I am responsible for is working with sailing and actually sitting down and working out a strategic approach of how we would work in partnership together.”

Just two and half years old the EIS is also Lottery funded, via Sport England and focuses on supporting the top performance athletes in their training and competition environments. And this is done via the National Authority – in the case of sailing it’s the RYA. So for example at the Olympic Development Squad camp, the strength and conditioning training programme has been put together by EIS in conjunction with the RYA coaches and physios - people all round see that this has been a big area of improvement.

Moore, who comes into contact with a large number of other sports – including sports such as the modern pentathlon, has been impressed with the way the RYA have approach the ‘athletic’ side of sailing. “When we first started working together it wasn’t a case of the RYA saying ‘OK we’ll have everything you have got.’ It was more ‘This would make a difference or that would support our sailors, and these are the areas we would like it to be.’ To work with people who have that much attention to detail, and the ability to plan in that way is a phenomenal way of working really.

“Pete Cunningham has worked with the RYA for eight or nine years and Pete is probably one of the best sailing physiologists in the world, so they have a reputation of taking a scientific approach to what they are doing. So I think it would be unfair saying we have brought science to them, but I think what we have done is bring other people to the table who have another knowledge base and just put that into the melting pot."

Training programmes have been developed with individual disciplines within sailing – so now Laser sailors get a strength and conditioning programme specifically for them to address their particular needs from the point of view of Laser sailing – this may be somewhat different to that of a Finn sailor or a Europe sailor. “This is something new for our organisation” says Moore, “our staff are specialists in their own area but what they have done is to work with the sailing staff to apply their knowledge in the right environment for sailors.”

This has also helped to improve the delivery of various areas of a sailors training programme says Moore: “There has been a high level of knowledge input. Where previously technical [sailing] coaches have been delivering strength and conditioning and fitness testing, we now have specialist staff delivering those components. So the coaches are coaching, the strength and conditioning staff are delivering strength and conditioning, the physiologists are delivering physiology. So it has become much more specialised, which is where I think we have made the huge leap forward.”



The coach remains a key element to how the RYA tackles Olympic sailing. Barry Edgington, while also the ODS Manager, was also Mistral Bronze medalist Nick Dempsey’s coach in Athens, and Stephen Park who is the RYA’s Olympic Manager was the 49er coach. “You have an understanding of the key requirements and what makes people win, and what helps them to win.” Says Edgington.

Moore agrees with the role of the coach, and at the Olympic Development Squad level is keen to bring EIS expertise in for the building blocks for the future. “For the sailors to do as best as they can technically, that’s a relationship with their coach” says Moore. “But then what underpins the technical elements: Are they fit enough, strong enough, flexible enough? Have they got the right diet and fluid intake to cope with the climatic conditions they are sailing in? And that is really where we have been working with the RYA, to look at the components that allow, or put them in the best possible situation to sail.”

With this structured curriculum being taught at the ODS camps through the winter the focus is not just on the classroom and Edgington is keen to maintain a focus on the water. The coaches play an important part of applying the techniques and principles from meteorology to tactics to crew dynamics. “Ultimately it is the coach that delivers all that on the water” says Edgington. “At this time we are delivering a lot of core principles, but as time goes on the sailing becomes more and more important and that is lead by the coach. The coach also has a mentoring role for the sailors, they are their key contact and hopefully will take them all the way through their development.”

So with sailing being the most successful Olympic sport for Britain, has the EIS been able to learn anything from the RYA? Moore suggests that sailing is already ahead of other sports in their preparation for Beijing: “What is very obvious about the way they work is that they plan and their attention to detail. So sailing, just a couple of months after the Games, have already got serious plans in place for the 2008 Games. You won’t find many sports, if any, that have that.”

Moore also thinks that sailing establishment is very open minded compared to some other sports she comes into contact with, saying that the Olympic staff are keen to share their ideas with others and are welcoming to suggestions. “There are other sports that are very insular and happy with what they are doing and are very successful, but they don’t look outside an I think that is a dangerous place to be” says Moore.

When it comes to measuring success, for Edgington it will be how many of his 70 odd sailors can make the move up to the next level – Stephen Park’s squad. Edgington is also realistic about what is achievable for these sailors. It’s all about providing the opportunity: “I don’t see this as a path to Beijing for the vast majority of these sailors, perhaps 2012. To get there, they need to be able to achieve that dream - and we are the start of that.”