Greg Atkin

Greg studied MSc Sports Coaching at Hartpury and is now an Academy Coach at Welsh Rowing. He looks after new rowers that have been identified and tested through the GB Rowing Start programme.

"While looking after the new rowers, I get to work on and developing them to move from the academy group to the development group. The aim is for them to then progress into the senior squad that will attend GB trials. He works in a high performance Sport Wales team with a physio, nutritionist, weightlifting coach and sports science staff all working together to produce top level GB Rowing athletes.

I was taken on as a rowing intern at Hartpury, which is a GB Rowing Start centre, while I was doing my full-time Masters in Coaching Science. I was working with Tom Pattichis (Hartpury rowing programme manager) as a mentor, and the internship gave me the opportunity to coach rowers of all abilities, learning how to meet and solve different challenges in their development with the pressure of ensuring the continued success of the Hartpury rowing programme.

I don’t think I would have got my role with Welsh Rowing had I not been able to show the theoretical skills I gained from my Masters as well as the practical experience I had from my coaching internship at Hartpury."