A Sporting Celebration

A Sporting Celebration

Pat Morgan

Welcome Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor

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to competing in a Varsity Match, taking part in an inter-College competition, or simply trying your hand at a new sport for the first time.

There is much to be experienced in the thriving Cambridge community.

Cambridge values the contribution that sport has made to the student life of the University, and takes great pride in the achievements of its outstanding performers. The sports scene at Cambridge provides opportunities at all levels – from joining one of the many sports clubs

For some, a successful sporting career on the international stage beckons, and they go on to become our distinguished alumni athletes – many of whom you will see here celebrating with us tonight. But for those whose sporting careers ended with their student days, we hope you will join with us to honour the achievements of Cambridge sportspeople to date, and to share the excitement of our future promise.

am delighted to welcome you to the Cambridge Sporting Celebration Dinner, held here in the magnificent surroundings of the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College. This evening is a wonderful opportunity for alumni and friends of the University to celebrate the importance of sport to the Cambridge experience.

Cambridge values the contribution that sport has made to the student life of the University and takes great pride in the achievements of its outstanding performers

A celebration

Cambridge’s history of sport is one of triumph, legends and

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hether it’s Harold Abrahams’ thrilling Trinity Great Court Run, as immortalised in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, the 172 Olympic medals won by Cantabrigians, the fact that a Trinity man created the first rules of boxing, or that the first Town and Gown “footeball” match was played in 1579, sport has always formed a core part of Cambridge life.

And that is why, in 2012, the University decided to showcase Cambridge sport at the Painted Hall in Greenwich – a neighbourhood that will host almost a third of London’s Olympic events – with the world premiere of the film The Cambridge Pulse, and a glittering event attended by Cambridge Olympians and sporting greats, both past and present.

“For many Cambridge students and alumni, myself included, sport is a hugely important part of undergraduate life,” says the Head of Alumni Relations, Nathalie Walker (St John’s, 1998). “It will continue to be so for the students of tomorrow. The University’s commitment to sport is real, demonstrated not least by the fact that we are building a worldclass Sports Centre on the emerging

West Cambridge site that will enable us to provide all our student athletes with international-standard facilities.”Making a commitment to sport makes sense when so many undergraduates go on to compete at a national or international standard. This year, Cambridge can count more than 20 Olympic hopefuls in sports as diverse as rowing, diving, athletics, cycling and fencing. Their excellence has been achieved as a result of talent, but also of long, hard hours of training, often undertaken while studying hard to excel in one of the most competitive academic environments in the world.

Rower Fred Gill (Hughes Hall, 2008) remembers the challenges fondly.

“I strived to go to every lecture and supervision, but if I didn’t sign up for supervisions quickly enough, I’d be forced to take a 5pm or 6pm slot,” he says.

“Invariably I would arrive 15 minutes late, sometimes worse, and then get picked on throughout. I always hated evening supervisions!”

And Phyllis Agbo (Trinity, 2004) says that Cambridge was a great test of time management. “I’d maybe have two lectures in the morning, then take an early lunch before a training session,” she says. “Then there would be labs in the afternoon, another training session,

Since the first modern Olympics in 1896, Cambridge students and alumni have excelled in a vast range of sports, from bobsleigh and table tennis to athletics and hockey

n of sport

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revision, and work for supervisions... It was hard work, but things like that bring out your true character.”However, while excellence is the ultimate goal, one of the reasons sport continues to sit at the heart of Cambridge life – and why so many of its sportsmen and women have gone on to be so successful – is that anyone can have a go, as Katie Derham (Magdalene, 1989), host of the Sporting Celebration, recalls from her own student days.

“I was in the first year of girls at Magdalene so we were all encouraged to – actually we had to – form teams,” she says. “So despite being one of the least sporting people I know, I played in quite a few Cuppers teams, and was captain of the cricket team. The thing about Cambridge is that there are all these things you can do; and I didn’t shine at anything, but I had a go at virtually everything.”

Since the first modern Olympics in 1896, Cambridge students and alumni have excelled in a vast range of sports, from bobsleigh and table tennis to athletics and hockey. But it is rowing, perhaps more than any other sport, that has the deepest Cambridge connections.

Many of those hosting tables at the Sporting Celebration remembered skirmishes on the river wearing light

blue, among them, Richard Phelps (St Edmund’s, 1992), who was part of a winning Boat Race crew three years in a row. “My second Boat Race crew was technically the best crew I ever rowed with,” he says. “On race day we hit this awesome rhythm that meant every stroke was a gem – I was almost sad the race ended!”

“Varsity success has often translated into Olympic triumph. Cambridge rowers have won more than 60 medals over the years, and so it seems appropriate to celebrate that achievement right by the River Thames, just a few yards away from where so many Blues rowers have tested their mettle.”

Join the celebration and follow the action on Twitter at #campulse and #camolympics

This sporting Edward Smith reveals what sport has taught him about life

Every sportsman wants to believe he’s in control. It’s all about eliminating chance. But luck plays a part on every level, from the non-random luck of your education to the luck of circumstance.

The idea of making your own luck is an oxymoron. If you think you’re making your own luck, it’s probably something that’s very useful, but it’s not luck.

I was very focused on playing for England when I first went into playing cricket – probably too much so. I realise now that the pleasure you get from an applied craft or skill is actually very deep, and that’s something that can sustain you just as well as external prizes.

Sport has taught me to cope with failure and to know how to endure that. It never stops hurting when you fail personally, or if you’re part of a critical team failure, but that is something you get better at recovering from, and something you learn to keep in context.

I feel I was very lucky to be exposed to that intensity of emotion. Failure is such a total experience, and being exposed to that rawness makes you grow up.

I had a bet with a friend that I’d get a century on my first outing at Fenner’s.

There were a few bottles of wine riding on it. I always had a great sense of self-

confidence, but going into that game, I hadn’t played professional cricket and I wasn’t someone who had been written about much, so things did change very quickly.

You learn to recognise that there’s a lot more to a person than just their last performance. Knowing that doesn’t actually make you perform less well. In fact, it makes you perform better. The amazing thing about retiring is that you really stop caring about things you could have done better, because it’s just not relevant any more.

I’ve been left with very little fear of doing things I’m not good at. Since I stopped playing professional cricket, I’ve learned to ski and have done things from scratch that have basically involved humiliating myself in front of people.

When you’ve done that in front of thousands of people, it’s not so daunting any more.

Nick Hornby reviewed one of my books and said that every sports career is about defeated misery – if you follow the story long enough. You won’t get what you want a lot of the time, but what matters is your psychological resilience and how much you enjoyed it.

life The numbers and statistics don’t really mean very much. Sport ultimately made me realise that there’s a lot more to life – what does matter is what you’ve experienced personally and emotionally, and that’s a big part of the person I am now.

In a life where I didn’t play cricket, I would never have bothered to find out that my chances of being successful in cricket were 20 times greater than if I’d been to the school down the road. Circumstances forced me to confront the non-random luck that got me there in the first place, which has made me more humble about the things that have gone right.

You need to enjoy the journey, because there comes a point when you realise the destination wasn’t the most important thing. Every day that you enjoy competing and trying to achieve the best you can, you’re winning in a way. Even though it may be difficult and frustrating and you won’t get what you want a lot of the time, it’ll be a victory of sorts and in a funny way that’s all that matters.

Ed Smith (Peterhouse, 1995) is a former professional cricketer and author of What Sport Tells Us About Life. His latest book, Luck (Bloomsbury) is out now.

I realise now that the pleasure you get from an applied craft or skill is actually very deep, and that’s something that can sustain you just as well as external prizes

A brief history...

1579

Football: One match played at Chesterton between townspeople and Cambridge University students ended in a violent brawl that led the Vice-Chancellor to issue a decree forbidding them to play “footeball” outside of college grounds.

1827

Cricket: First ever sporting match between Oxford and Cambridge.

1829

Rowing: A meeting of CUBC requested Mr Snow of St John’s to write immediately to Mr Staniforth of Christ Church stating ‘that the University of Cambridge hereby challenge the University of Oxford to row a match at or near London, each in an eight-oared boat during the ensuing Easter vacation.’

1848

Football: 14 students representing various public schools fight it out in Trinity College to decide the definitive “Cambridge rules” for football. These were adopted by the Football Association in 1863.

1867

Boxing: The Queensbury Rules of Boxing are published, written by Trinity alumnus John Graham Chambers and sponsored by Magdalene alumnus The 9th Marquess of Queensbury.

1872

Sport: The Hawks’ Club is founded.

1879

Ice skating: To regulate fen skating, the National Ice Skating Association is founded at the Guildhall by a Trinity fellow, a Peterhouse fellow, the president of the University Skating Club, a local vicar, a magistrate, two MPs and the Cambridge mayor.

1882

Football: The first ‘Cuppers’ competition is played.

Engraving of the 1841 Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.

Fen skaters go around the barrel during fen skating competition. From The Handbook of Fen Skating, London, N & A Goodman 1882.

...of University sport From the 1500s to 1890

Lacrosse: Girton alumna Louisa Lumsden brings lacrosse to Britain after observing the sport in Quebec.

1895

Football and rugby: The Grange Road sports ground is purchased for ÂŁ4,300.

1900

Olympics: Members of the University win four golds and a bronze for tennis, and a gold for football.

1906

Tennis: Brothers Laurie and Hugh Doherty (both Trinity Hall) claim their eighth Wimbledon doubles championship. Between them, they also chalked up nine Wimbledon singles championships and seven Olympic medals.

1908

Olympics: A record medal haul, with members of the University winning 10 gold, 6 silver and 13 bronze medals.

1912

Olympics: Members of the University win four gold, two silver and two bronze medals in lawn tennis, tennis, football, athletics and rowing.

1920

Olympics: Cambridge take 11 gold and six silver medals in hockey, athletics, polo, tennis, boxing and rowing.

1921

Swimming: The first ladies swimming Varsity is held, taking place separately from the men’s event. There were noticable differences, with distances half the those of the men’s events and the inclusion of style swimming and diving.

Cambridge University Varsity Rugby Union team of 1893.

Hugh Lawrence Doherty (right) won the gold medal in the singles and doubles competition and brother Reginald Frank (left) won bronze at the 1900 Olympic Games. Paris, France.

Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

o the present day 1924

Mountaineering: George Mallory (Magdalene) perishes whilst attempting to climb Mount Everest.

Controversy has since raged in the mountaineering community as to whether he reached the summit, which would make him the first person to do so.

Olympics: Members of the University win seven gold medals, four silver medals and four bronze medals – Trinity men taking five of the Golds.

1925

Rugby Fives: The Light Blues are victorious in the first Rugby Fives match against Oxford, winning 392-103.

1927

Athletics: Lord Burghley (Magdalene) allegedly completes the Trinity Great Court Run, inspiring the scene in the film Chariots of Fire.

Rowing: The first Women’s Boat Race takes place as an exhibition event judged purely on style as the two crews are not permitted to be on the river at the same time.

1928

Olympics: University members win twelve medals including seven golds.

1932

Olympics: Billy Fiske (Trinity Hall) wins gold in the four-man bobsleigh; Robert Tisdall (Caius) wins gold in the 400m hurdles and David Burghley (Magdalene) wins a silver medal in the 100m relay.

1936

Olympics: Members of the University win four gold, two silver and two bronze medals.

1948

Olympics: Three gold, eleven silver and one bronze.

Cambr

Miss Baxendall (Newnham), winner of the 100 yards race at the Oxford and Cambridge match, Piccadilly, London. June 1923.

Expedition to Everest in 1921. Standing, left to right: Guy Bullock, Henry Morshead, Oliver Wheeler and George Mallory. Seated, left to right: A.M. Heron, Sandy Wollaston, Charles Howard-Bury and Harold Raeburn.

Image by Alexander Frederick Richmond Wollaston (1875-1930).

Popperfoto/Getty Images

bridge has been at the 1952

Olympics: Sir Harry Llewellyn (Trinity) wins the University a gold medal and Derek Day (St Catharine’s), John Crockett (Trinity Hall) and John Taylor (Trinity Hall) all win hockey bronze medals.

1953

Football: Varsity Football takes place at Wembley Stadium for the first time in the match’s history.

1956

Olympics: Christopher Brasher (St John’s) wins a gold medal in the 3000m steeplechase.

1958

Athletics: Herbert Elliott (Jesus) breaks the world record for the mile. During the next three years, he does not lose a single mile or 1500m race and, throughout his career, breaks 4 minutes for the mile on 17 occasions.

1960

Olympics: Herbert Elliott (Jesus) takes gold in the 1500m; John Lecky (Jesus) and Michael Alexander (King’s) win silver medals.

1964

Olympics: Wendell Mottley (St Catharine’s) wins a silver and a bronze medal in athletics; Boyce Budd (Trinity) wins a gold medal in rowing.

1968

Olympics: University members win three gold medals including Richard Meade (Magdalene), equestrian gold.

1972

Olympics: Richard Meade (Magdalene) wins two equestrian gold medals.

1976

Karate: The Cambridge University Karate Club is founded.

Olympics: Four silvers for rowing, including Christopher Baillieu (Jesus).

Great Britain’s Chris Brasher breaks the tape to win gold in the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne.

forefront of sport Olympics: Two silvers for rowing, including John Pritchard (Robinson).

1981

Shooting: Cambridge begin a 24-year winning streak in the rifle shooting Varsity match.

1984

Olympics: Dr Richard Dodds (St Catharine’s) wins bronze for hockey and Richard Budgett (Selwyn) takes gold in a coxed four.

1985

Rowing: Henrietta Shaw (St John’s) is the first Light Blue female cox in 1985.

Sport: The Ospreys is founded.

1988

Olympics: Christopher Holmes (King’s) in his first of four Paralympics wins bronze and two silvers; Dr Richard Dodds (St Catharine’s) takes gold for hockey.

1992

Olympics: Christopher Holmes (King’s) wins six golds and one silver in Paralympic swimming, Deng Yaping (Jesus) takes two table tennis gold medals, Thorsten Streppelhoff (St Edmund’s) wins a bronze and Peter Hoeltzenbein (Magdalene) wins a silver medal for rowing.

1996

Olympics: Christopher Holmes (King’s) wins three gold and one silver Paralympic swimming medals; Deng Yaping (Jesus) takes two table tennis gold medals; Mark Weber (St Edmund’s) and Thorsten Streppelhoff (St Edmund’s) both win silver medals for rowing.

Photo by Henri Szwarc/Bongarts/Getty Images

1980

Deng Yaping on her way to a gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics.

Swimming: The Inaugural Varsity Cross-Channel Relay Race takes place - the only university swimming race across the Channel. Both teams reach France within two minutes of each other and, according to the competition rules, the race is declared a draw.

2000

Olympics: Kieran West (Christ’s) gold (rowing); Stephanie Cook (Peterhouse) gold (modern pentathlon); Christopher Holmes (King’s) silver (Paralympic swimming); Stuart Welch (St Edmund’s) silver (rowing).

2004

Olympics: Cath Bishop (Pembroke) silver (rowing); Dr Alison Mowbray (Caius) silver (rowing); Sarah Winckless (Fitzwilliam) bronze (rowing); Stuart Welch (St Edmund’s) bronze (rowing).

2008

Volleyball: The Cambridge men’s volleyball team represent GB at the European Universities Volleyball Championships in Italy.

Olympics: Anna Watkins (Newnham) bronze (rowing); Tom James (Trinity Hall) gold (rowing); Annabel Vernon (Downing) silver (rowing); Emma Pooley (Trinity Hall) silver (cycling); Joshua West (Caius) silver (rowing); Tom Stallard (Jesus) silver (rowing).

2010

American Football: PhD student Thomas Piachaud reforms the Cambridge Pythons American Football Team.

2011

Triathlon: Lucy Gossage (Newnham) wins the Ironman 70.3 Ireland and the TriGrandPrix in Spain.

2012

Rowing: It is announced that from 2015 the Women’s Boat Race will also take place on the Tideway.

Sport: Planning permission is granted for the West Cambridge University Sports Centre.

Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images

1998

Cambridge's Kieran West, celebrates after beating Oxford in the 153rd Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. 7th April 2007.

Image © Arup Associates

A new centre for sports

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ork is well under way on the most significant sports facility development in the University’s 800-year history. On May 1, construction began on the Cambridge Sports Centre – a world-class facility for recreation, training and competition. When it opens next year, it will bring hundreds of athletes and spectators, across dozens of sports and activities, together under one roof.

Why does it matter? Kyle Coveny (Hughes Hall, 2003), the University’s associate director for sports development, is clear. “The Sports Centre will transform sport at Cambridge,” he says.

“Crucially, it will be the only indoor sports facility accessible by the entire University community: undergraduates, graduates, post-docs, academics, staff and their families.”

Kyle admits that during his own time at the University, he would have been glad to have such a resource available. As a former vice-president of Cambridge University Boat Club, he made much use of the Fitness Centre at Fenner’s. “When it was opened in 1951, it served well the mostly field-based sports practised at the University and Colleges,” he says. “But over the years, needs have changed and Cambridge has grown significantly.

To keep pace with this, we now need to invest in facility provision in a big way.”

Housed in an architecturally outstanding building – “The Sydney Opera House of sports,” as Kyle describes it – the £20million Centre’s design has at its heart a vast hall suitable for basketball, volleyball, badminton and many other disciplines, along with seating for 500 spectators.

Multi-purpose rooms will cater for such activities

as yoga, dance and aerobics, martial arts, table tennis and fencing.

There will also be a spacious fitness suite with state-of-the-art cardio equipment, a strength and conditioning wing, sports medicine and rehabilitation facilities, five squash courts, six fives courts and a lounge, a cafe, offices and locker space.

The Centre is certain to build on the success of Cambridge sportspeople on the international stage (Cantabrigians have taken part in every Olympic Games since 1896). Kyle says: “It will have a tremendous impact on those looking to pursue sport at the highest levels. But importantly, the facilities give an opportunity for everyone to participate, from beginners to the international elite.”

What’s more, the Sports Centre represents only the first part of a three-phase programme. In the coming years, it will be joined by indoor and outdoor tennis courts and a swimming pool on the same site.

The University has allocated £10million from central funds towards the development of the Sports Centre. Philanthropic partnerships will cover the remaining costs – and far-sighted benefactors are being sought to play their part in securing Cambridge’s sporting future.

“We’re looking to work in partnership with our alumni and friends,” Kyle says. “They’ll have the opportunity to make a direct, profound and lasting impact on sporting life – promoting excellence at Cambridge and enhancing its offering for generations to come.”

When Fenners opened in 1951, it served well the mostly field-based sports played here. But over the years, our needs have changed and grown significantly

SPORTING EXCELLENCE AT CAMBRIDGE Biographies

PHYLLIS AGBO

(Trinity, 2004)

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hyllis Agbo has always been interested in sport. “I did tennis and basketball, and my school was big on cricket – I represented Middlesex for three years running, and trained with the county team,” she says. But once she got the athletics bug, she was hooked.

“I realised that I could take athletics to the highest level when I got my first GB vest, at the age of 15,” she says. “That was at the European Youth Olympic Festival. It was the first time I’d been away from home for a few weeks to compete, and I loved the experience. I chose the heptathlon because the training is varied and I never get bored.”

Pre-competition ritual: “I always pack my kit the night before, and make sure I’ve got all the right equipment – never on the day, because I’m quite forgetful!”

Continuing with athletics at Cambridge was a great test of time management. “I’d have maybe two lectures in the morning, then would have to take an early lunch before a training session,” she says. “Then there would be labs in the afternoon, another training session, revision and doing work for supervisions. I’d have to go to weekend training camps in places like Sheffield – but in Natural Sciences, we had Saturday lectures. My dictaphone became my best friend, and I’d give it to friends to record the lectures I had to miss.”

Finding time was not the only problem. “The track at Cambridge didn’t have floodlights in those days. So in the winter, if you wanted to train late in the afternoon, you had to do it in the dark!”

And although it was hard work, Phyllis believes that the experience galvanised her determination.

“You realise how much you want to achieve your goals, and you do what you have to do,” she says.

“I’m now training at the high-performance centre in Lea Valley, north London, and getting down to the task of making sure I’ll be at the starting line at the Olympics.”

CHRIS BAILLIEU MBE

(Jesus, 1969)

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hen Chris Baillieu was a Cambridge undergraduate in the early 1970s, no British crew had won a medal internationally since 1964. “I come from a long line of boatmen, including a grandfather who won the Boat Race in the Oxford boat in 1913,” says Chris. “My father went to Oxford in 1938 but his rowing ambitions were thwarted by service in World War II – his frustrations in this respect were passed on to me!”

Chris rowed for the University and for his College, and although he never took part in a bumping race, he won all the other collegiate rowing and sculling races. Then, in an exceptional run of wins from 1970 to 1973, he became the only Cambridge oarsman in the 20th Century to win four Boat Races. “I was lucky to be at Cambridge with a very talented and competitive group,” he says.

“Three of us from the Boat Race crew were invited to join the newly formed National Squad. Within three months of leaving Cambridge, Mike Hart and I were fortunate to be able to win both the Double Sculls Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta and Britain’s first international medal for 10 years.”

With the Squad’s sights set firmly on the Olympics, “we trained hard, much harder than was usual at the time, stepping up from twice to three times a day in 1976. We learned to close our minds to the many distractions that can undermine

Olympic performance.” Chris describes the 1976 Montreal Olympic regatta as “a bit like your Finals: after preparing for three or four years, you’d better ignore the carnival atmosphere and not leave anything to chance.”

“A club patron presented each of the Cambridge crew with a piece of snakeskin that was to be hidden in our socks on Boat Race day. Everyone did it… I’ve still got mine.”

This unwavering focus paid off once again when he won a silver medal in the double sculls with Mike Hart. Chris’s enduring drive led to many further successes in the double sculls, including a gold medal in the World Championships in 1977 and a silver in 1978. He later won the Wingfield Sculls – not just once, but for four years running.

How would he describe the feeling of winning?

“Much better than losing! It’s a mix of relief, exhilaration and plain exhaustion,” he says.

ALEX BALFOUR

(St John’s, 1990)

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lex Balfour, Head of New Media for the London 2012 Organising Committee and a keen competitive cyclist, knows a thing or two about switching gear and breaking away from the pack.

Sporting hero: “A tie between Graeme Obree, the extraordinary Scottish cyclist who is both a true inspiration and genuine genius, and Viv Richards, the great West Indian batsman who simply defines machismo.”

At Cambridge, Alex’s sporting career was cut short by a slipped disc brought on by rowing at Henley. So he switched from competitor to coach. “In my first term on the towpath I took an inexperienced Robinson College Ladies VIII to victory in the Fairbairn Cup which, looking back, was probably my finest sporting moment at Cambridge. That and winning the infamous Bradford Game in St John’s bar.”

After graduating in 1993, Alex worked as researcher to Lord Mandelson when he was an MP,

“for just long enough to disabuse me of the notion that I wanted a career in politics”. So he switched again, bringing his interest in current affairs to a job as a financial journalist. A third gear-shift came when, in 1995, his back injury kicked in again, making a desk job impossible.

Lying flat on your back in recovery mode isn’t the ideal platform for an entrepreneurial sportsman who regards winning as “fulfilling and definite in an uncertain world but also, inevitably, ephemeral”.

But Alex found a silver lining. Prone on the floor of his Clapham house-share, he used a laptop to explore the burgeoning world of online commerce and innovation. “I realised that I knew as much as anyone else at the time,” he says, “and moved from writing to doing.”

A series of award-winning projects followed.

Alex helped create the UK’s first General Election website; joined the team that built the Guardian’s websites; then helped found CricInfo, the hugely successful cricket website.

Leading a team at Cambridge was a formative experience for Alex. Today, equipped with his most important piece of kit (his smartphone), he relishes his job as head of new media for the London Olympics. “It’s simply a massive privilege to be part of a team delivering the largest and, I’m certain, best sporting and cultural event this country has ever staged,” he says. “It makes me extremely proud to be British.”

DR CATH BISHOP

(Pembroke, 1989)

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lympic silver medallist Dr Cath Bishop caught rowing fever as a languages student at Pembroke by accident. “I’d always seen it as a dull spectator sport, but when the first term novices were one person short, everyone set about persuading me to make up numbers for end-of-term races. On my first ever outing I broke my blade, but it got a lot better from there on in!” Cath rowed in two Varsity women’s Boat Races, winning one and losing the other. “It was an intense experience that pretty much covered the full range of emotions,” she says.

Cath went on to study for her Masters at the University of Wales, and then for a PhD in German literature at Reading, followed by a career in the Foreign Office – but rowing remained the constant. She went on to win medals at the World Championships: a silver in 1998, in the women’s pair with Dot Blackie, and a gold in the pair with Katherine Grainger in 2003. When asked how she became a member of Great Britain’s Olympic rowing team her answer is deceptively simple: “by training ridiculously hard and winning selection races”, something which she did listening to the Pet Shop Boys on the headphones she describes as “vital” kit, along with “hand cream and a callus file”.

Cath won a silver medal in her third appearance at the Olympic Games, in 2004, in the women’s pair with Katherine Grainger – the same year that her professional life took her to Bosnia to serve in the British Embassy, Sarajevo.

“The Olympics gave me the opportunity to pit myself against the best rowers in the world, in front of a lot of people.”

After the 2004 Olympics, Cath retired from rowing to pursue her Foreign Office career, where she works for the Foreign Office Stabilisation Unit, helping countries to recover from violent conflict.

Now a successful Olympian herself, Cath reflects on the sporting heroes that have influenced her.

“Growing up, it was Daley Thompson and the heroes of the 1984 Olympics. Now it’s Katherine Grainger, Great Britain’s best woman rower.”

ERICA BODMAN

(Homerton, 2006)

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rica Bodman began rowing only in her second year at Cambridge. “I got my highjump Blue in my first year but then got injured, so I switched to rowing,” she says.

“I’m six feet, and all the rowers had been telling me, ‘You’re so tall – come and row!’ It seemed the ideal opportunity – and everyone says that you have to do at least one term of rowing at Cambridge!”

And she has fond memories of rowing at Cambridge. “The Bumps were my favourite bit.

Homerton wasn’t famed for being the best College at rowing, but we still managed to go the whole without getting bumped or bumping, and that was great. When you finish at Cambridge, I don’t think you ever come across anything quite like the Bumps again.”

“Paula Radcliffe. She had to train for years before she achieved success, and I find that really inspirational”

Rowing at an elite level has changed the sport for her. “When you row at a higher level, it becomes your life – not just when you’re on the water, but also on the days you have off: you have to eat properly and go to bed early. You have to take on a whole different mentality,” she says.

“I’ve always wanted to go to the Olympics.

When I was younger, I thought maybe I’d go for athletics, but that didn’t work out. Now I feel that I’ve got a second chance to make it in rowing, and sculling is my preferred discipline. I originally rowed in an eight at College, but sculling feels more symmetrical – it’s not working one side all the time – and I seemed to be excelling at it, which helps!”

And how does she feel about London 2012?

“I feel really privileged to be a part of it. Even if I don’t make the team this time, I’ll still be involved in the trials and the preparations. I’m just hoping that I make it through the next four years without illness or injury – and I’ll be hoping for a medal at Rio in 2016!”

(C) Robert Treharne Jones/Leander Club

ROSAMUND BRADBURY

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osamund Bradbury started rowing when she was 13 because, she says, of her dad, who had also been at Jesus. “He took up rowing at the University and really enjoyed it. We attended Henley Regatta every year – I loved it so much, I wanted to be a part of it.”

Rowing was just for fun until she joined the Thames Rowing Club at 17. But by the time Rosamund got to Cambridge, she was already rowing at an elite level. “I made the Senior World Rowing Championships team at the end of my second year at Cambridge,” she says. “I performed well at the British trials, got accepted into the squad and had some good results. Then I went back to Cambridge, did my last year and decided to go into rowing full-time.

“The team aspect of rowing is great. We train in a big team and work with other people, and I also like the fact that, while you need talent, a lot of it also comes down to working hard and getting on with the training. At Jesus, I trained in the morning and evening most days, which was a big step up

(Jesus, 2007)

from what I did at school. I just kept increasing the amount of training I did. Now I train at least twice a day, and for four days a week it’s three times.”

“I have a very set pattern in terms of what I do, such as what I eat and when. I like to stick to a routine.”

Rosamund is looking forward to London 2012.

“It will be great to perform in front of a home crowd,” she says. “When I was 13, the Olympics just seemed way out of my reach. We sometimes saw the athletes in the team at that time and we looked at them with awe. I never imagined going to the Olympics when I started rowing – I just did it because I enjoyed it.”

DR RICHARD BUDGETT OBE

D

r Richard Budgett spent his time at Cambridge studying medicine and rowing for Selwyn. “I was thrown out of the Blue Boat squad in my final year, when it was cut down to the last 20,” he says. “I wasn’t too upset, as it meant I could go on the Oxbridge ski trip that year!” Nor was this the end of his rowing career. After graduating, he won a bronze medal in the coxed pairs at the world championships in 1981, and three years later won an Olympic gold medal in the men’s coxed four in Los Angeles.

“Sport and exercise medicine was a natural follow-on from that,” he says. “I started with research into underperformance and fatigue in 1986 at the Olympic Medical Centre in Northwick Park Hospital, where I was doing my GP training.”

His research into overtraining has led to the identification of unexplained underperformance syndrome, a common problem affecting 10 to 20 per cent of elite endurance athletes.

“My most important piece of kit isn’t really kit, but people. Our volunteers make the medical service at the Olympics a success, no matter what kit they have or problems they might face.”

(Selwyn, 1977)

After completing his training in sports medicine in 1989, Richard began working as a medical officer for the British Olympic Medical Institute. He was team doctor for the British Bobsleigh Team at the Winter Olympic Games in 1992 and 1994, and has been Chief Medical Officer for Team GB at all Summer and Winter Olympic Games from 1996 to 2006. He was a member of the IOC Medical Commission in 2008 and 2010.

At London 2012, Richard will take on even greater responsibilities as Chief Medical Officer for the entire Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“Being appointed to this role has made me feel like a poacher turned gamekeeper,” he says. “As team doctor at eight previous Games, I am used to harassing the organisers for medical facilities, access, resources and services for my team. I also always insist on an anti-doping service that is efficient, consistent and minimises disruption to athletes. Now I have to make sure that all of this is in place for the visiting teams and team doctors by the time they arrive in London!”

EDWARD “EDDIE” BUTLER

W

hen word reached the University’s Rugby Union Football Club that Eddie Butler had played for Pontypool in the September before matriculation, he was hunted down immediately. “It was nearly as weird as the year before, when a posse of players from the Industrial Engineers of Madrid took me out on the town in order to secure my signature on the player registration form, based on half an hour of passing a ball around in the Casa de Campo,” he said. “It turned into a two-day bender, six of us swaying around the capital on two Vespas, before they put the form in front of me. I said I would have signed within 10 seconds.”

Born in Newport, Wales, Eddie says playing rugby is sewn into his genetic fabric. While studying French and Spanish at Cambridge, he played in three consecutive Varsity matches. He went on to captain Wales on six occasions, as well as captaining the powerful Pontypool RFC – one of the most notable clubs in Welsh rugby – between 1982 and 1985.

Defeating the English team in 1984 at Twickenham is the match Eddie considers to be his greatest sporting achievement. “I was no longer

(Fitzwilliam, 1976)

captain but I played in our away win. International rugby isn’t what you’d call a whole load of fun, but I do look back on that game with a certain fondness.”

“I have a regard for the murky characters of sport. I hate the phrase ‘role model’, and much prefer sport to be a haven for troubled souls, who without it would be behind bars.”

Now retired from the game, Eddie says his work as a journalist and BBC sports commentator is a great deal of fun. “My greatest pleasure is to be on BBC duty, on Saturdays of the Six Nations, walking slowly to the ground, with a pile of morning newspapers under my arm and a coffee shop not far away.”

PHILIP CREBBIN

(Magdalene, 1970)

“W

hen I was 11, my mother found out that by joining the local sailing club, my father and I could use the waters for fishing,” says Philip Crebbin, whose photograph appeared on the front page of Angling Times years before he became a champion sailor. Sailing, however, did become his passion, and after winning a Firefly boat as first prize in the Public Schools Sailing Championships, he founded a sailing club at his school, St Paul’s in London.

“Winning is a drug that’s hard to break away from!”

By the time he arrived as a Mathematics undergraduate at Cambridge in 1970, Philip’s skill as a sailor had been firmly established. “The summer before Cambridge, I had come second in the Albacore National Championships, and fourth in the Enterprise World and National Championships, both on my first attempt.”

Involved with the first sailing team from the day he arrived, “I was completely tied up with the matches against other University teams for the whole time.”

Competing for Olympic selection in the runup to the 1976 Games was a journey that Philip began just a year after leaving Cambridge. “It is so competitive to get into the Olympic sailing team, with only one representative for the country in each class,” he says. Philip added to his personal challenge by being involved with the development of the boat, rig and sails of the 470 – a trapeze and spinnaker dinghy – from scratch.

The culmination of his multi-year campaign came in the famous battle against Lawrie Smith, in which Philip beat Lawrie to secure the place as 470 skipper for Britain. He describes the Olympic experience as “one you remember for the rest of your life. The opening and closing ceremonies are very special, as sailors never normally experience being in the centre of such things.” He has since won 10 world championships, and represented Britain in both the America’s Cup and several Admiral’s Cups.

SIR DEREK DAY KCMG

F

or Olympic bronze medallist Sir Derek Day, sport is about more than just competition.

“Our 1952 Olympic hockey team (those that are left) still meets for lunch annually, 60 years on!” he says. His love of sport began during his school days at Hurstpierpoint College in West Sussex, and over the years, he has played tennis, squash, golf, cricket and hockey. “Generally, putting bat to ball,” he says.

(St Catharine’s, 1948)

These “genuine amateurs” won a bronze medal for Great Britain, but there were only enough medals to give to the 11 players on the field at the end of the final match. “I had stood down to allow the other British goalkeeper the chance to play in an Olympic match, and missed out on a medal.”

In 2011, the British Hockey Board, the British Olympic Committee and the Finnish authorities corrected this oversight, and Sir Derek finally received his medal. “The 59-year wait was well worthwhile!” he says.

“Hockey was then a totally different game, played on grass, often muddy and uneven,” Sir Derek remembers. He played both hockey and cricket for St Catharine’s, and was awarded a Blue in his first year. Along with two schoolmates from Hurstpierpoint, he also began playing hockey for England in the early 1950s – though he did not need to travel far, as “international matches were primarily between the four Home Countries.”

“Any sportsman or woman likes to win, but the friendships you make last far beyond your playing days.”

Sir Derek was selected as goalkeeper for the 1952 Olympics at Helsinki. Preparation for the competition involved “remarkably little training – just two weekends at the National Sports Centre at Lilleshall and a bit of running around the Barclays sports ground in south London. How times change – but we were genuine amateurs!”

Following his Olympic success, Sir Derek joined the Foreign Service in 1953 and had many postings across North America, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. He played his last game of hockey – a mixed six-a-side – in Addis Ababa in 1976, while serving as Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Ethiopia.

FRED GILL

(Hughes Hall, 2008)

F

itting in 36 hours of training a week while studying for a degree in Land Economy should probably qualify you for a secondary degree in time management. And rower Fred Gill admits it was quite a challenge. “I strived to go to every lecture and supervision, but if I didn’t sign up for supervisions quickly enough, I’d be forced to take a 5pm or 6pm slot,” he says. “Invariably, I would arrive 15 minutes late, sometimes worse, and then get picked on throughout. I always hated evening supervisions!”

Favourite piece of kit: “I love my ‘gimp suit’. Whenever I train in it, I always tell whoever will listen that this is the Lycra that won the Boat Race.”

Fred started rowing during his first degree at Newcastle University. He says: “I was given a flyer from the boat club – probably just because I was tall – and got the rowing bug soon after. My novice

coach, Jay Roberts, was extremely inspiring, but it was Angelo Savarino [currently head coach at Newcastle University Boat Club] who truly inspired me to commit to the rigours of high-performance training.”

Applying to Cambridge was the obvious next move, but Fred admits his first year was a huge step up. “Competition for the Blue Boat was fierce,” he says. “I was strong enough and performed well in the testing, but I lost my seat because I was too raw and not skilful enough.” Fred’s determination prevailed, however, and in 2010 he stroked Cambridge to victory in the Boat Race, and also stroked the GB eight that won the World University Rowing Championships.

Now training for the Olympics, Fred says that as a diabetic, preparing for a race is slightly more complicated than it might otherwise be. “I don’t really have any pre-competition rituals,” he says.

“I just concentrate on getting my blood sugar correct and making sure I get enough sleep and good preparation. As an active member of Diabetes UK, I would love to go to the Games as a diabetic and inspire young people to commit to their sport without letting diabetes hold them back.”

HESTER GOODSELL

(Hughes Hall, 2005)

R

owing was the reason why Hester Goodsell chose Latymer School in Hammersmith. “I walked into the boathouse and thought, ‘That looks like fun’,” she says. And fun it was, until she met coach Don McLachlan. “After school, I spent three years studying music at York, with Don coaching me during the holidays,” she says. “At the end of that period, I went to the under-23 world championships and won, and I also got a bronze in the senior quad.”

When McLachlan moved and became the boatman and coach at Jesus, Hester decided to apply to Cambridge for her PGCE. “While living at Hughes Hall and working at Homerton, I trained out of Jesus with a group of other rowers such as Laura Greenhalgh and Doug Perrin who were under-23 lightweights at the same time as me,” she says. “We had a really nice group together that trained up at Isle of Ely Rowing Club and were members of Rob Roy Boat Club. I took a term off from my PGCE to row and my supervisor, John Finney, was incredible. I effectively had the summer off because I did two terms, then rowed at the World Championships again, then went back to my course in the September.”

As a London 2012 hopeful, what was it like preparing for 2012? “The thing with my event is that you never know you’re going,” she says. “Only two lightweight women get selected to race at an Olympic games as opposed to 17 heavyweight women, so even an athlete ranked third will not get to race for their country on the biggest stage – and sadly that’s what happened this year for me.”

“As a lightweight, we have a very set routine where we weigh in. I always sit with my doubles partner and I do killer sudoku to keep my brain occupied during race periods.”

After finishing trialling for the Olympics squad, Hester went travelling, and will return to teaching, as planned, in September – becoming one of just a handful of teachers able to point to a fistful of medals, including two bronzes from the Olympic class doubles in 2009 and 2011.

PETER GUTHRIE OBE

“I

currently play golf and tennis and ski, but all indifferently and non-competitively,” says Peter Guthrie of his involvement in sport. As a civil engineer with 30 years’ experience in the industry, Peter’s real passion is sustainable development in infrastructur . He contributed to the sustainability strategy for London’s 2012 Olympic Park in its early stages, and works on the sustainability of many major schemes.

Having witnessed the ways in which engineering expertise can transform countries and lives, Peter has made a major impact since the earliest years of his career. “Working with Vietnamese Boat People’ refugees in Malaysia in 1979 and 1980 was a pivotal experience,” he says. “Following this, I was a co-founder of the international charity RedR – Engineers for Disaster Relief – to provide engineers and specialists in response to crisis situations around the world.” The organisation continues to thrive, and in 2004 Peter was the overall winner of the Beacon Prize (in a field including Sir Bob Geldof and Jamie Oliver, in recognition of his significant contribution to charity).

“Working with such exceptional students and colleagues is a rare privilege.”

Peter has a wealth of experience in road, airport and marine projects, including a year in Northern Nigeria with the VSO, a year in the Orkneys on the construction of the Flotta Oil Terminal, and more than two years in Lesotho on the management of labour-based road construction and maintenance.

This led to work in South Sudan, Ethiopia, Botswan and the Philippines. He played a key role in the development of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, the first major railway to be designed in the UK for many decades.

In September 2000, Peter became Professor of Engineering for Sustainable Development in Cambridge’s Department of Engineering – the first post of its kind in the world. As director of the Centre for Sustainable Development, he currently leads research focused on integrating sustainable development into decision-making across building, mining and environmental restoration projects.

“Moving to an academic life at Cambridge changed the direction of my career,” he says, “and has given me the opportunity to research new approaches towards a sustainable future.”

MARK HATTON

(St John’s, 1995)

M

ark Hatton first saw the luge on television during the 1988 Calgary Olympics. “I remember thinking, ‘that looks ridiculous… I’ve got to try it!’” he says. “After numerous phone calls, I eventually took my first run on the Igls track in Innsbruck, Austria. It was the fastest, most terrifyingly brilliant thing I had ever done.”

Competing in the Olympics had been a goal since Mark was 10 years old. “By the time I finally secured an Olympic place at Salt Lake City in 2002 at the age of 28, it was testament to years of hard graft,” he says. “I really felt like I had earned it, having missed out on selection for the Nagano Olympics in 1998, and that I was competing not just for me, but for everyone who had helped me along the way, including my parents, family, friends, coaches, and sponsors.”

His Olympic debut earned him the accolade of becoming Britain’s fastest ever Olympian in any sport, with a top speed of 86.7 mph. Mark went on to compete in his second Olympics in Turin in 2006, and has won the British Championships in the luge six times and the Commonwealth Championships twice.

While at Cambridge, Mark achieved a Blue in athletics and a Half Blue in ice hockey. Competing in Varsity Matches in both these sports is, he says, “right up there with the Olympics as one of my

fondest sporting memories. There is something so special about competing in a Varsity Match in any sport. Every other match in that season is just training for the big day when you take on ‘the other place’.”

“Pre-competition for me is all about getting my mindset in the right place to be fired up, aggressive and explosive on the start ramp, then changing immediately to the controlled relaxation needed to drive the sled down the track at 90mph and still be able to handle the massive G-forces.”

And his favourite Olympic moment? Watching Steven Bradbury, Australian speed skater and Olympic gold medallist, in the Olympic final at Salt Lake City in 2002. “Steven was in last place by quite a distance,” he says. “Then on the final bend, one skater fell and took down the entire field, leaving our hero to take the win. It just proves that if you are in it, you can win it, whoever you are.”

KIRSTEN HENSON

(King’s, 1997)

A

keen rower, “as many engineers seem to be”, Kirsten Henson discovered the sport at King’s, where she rowed in the Women’s First Eight nine times and won a blade that still hangs in King’s Bar. “I am also the proud owner of a senior Fairbairn medal, where our boat had the row of our lives and convincingly beat Emmanuel by four seconds to take the glory!”

“Some engineers never get to see their visions realised, so to watch the transformation of the Olympic Park has really been a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

While working for engineering consultants Buro Happold, Kirsten returned to Cambridge to take an MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development. “By the time I completed my MPhil, Buro Happold was heavily involved in developing the Olympic Park master plan. With London 2012’s strong sustainability agenda and my newly acquired qualification, it was an obvious fit,” she says.

Kirsten has advised the Olympic Delivery Authority on matters as divergent as the setting of water targets and ensuring new buildings utilise sustainable materials and sustainable transport.

She has also led on all aspects of sustainability for the Olympic Stadium, the Aquatics Centre, and the surrounding parklands.

As well as being involved in the many material innovations across the Olympic Park, Henson has been part of less tangible but equally enduring change, as she explains. “A large number of engineering professionals have told me of resulting changes in their organisations, or have spoken of their renewed enthusiasm for their work, based on the introduction of a sustainable paradigm.”

For four years, Kirsten experienced the challenge of delivering sustainability on such an immense scale. “Although you are acutely aware of missed opportunities, when other sustainability professionals visit the Olympic Park, they are astounded by what has been achieved,” she says.

“When I think of this, any frustration I remember is overcome by a sense of achievement and an awareness that I have been lucky to contribute to a new era for the built environment.”

ALASTAIR HIGNELL

(Fitzwilliam, 1974)

A

lastair Hignell has always been serious about sport. “As long as I can remember,” he writes in his memoir, Higgy: Matches, Microphones and MS, “I had pestered my dad – and, to be honest, any ambulant adult – to catch, pass, kick, throw, hit or return any ball (or anything that looked like a ball).” By the time he arrived at Fitzwilliam in 1974, Alastair had already represented England at schools-level rugby and cricket. He was capped by England at the end of his first year, played Test rugby throughout his time as an undergraduate, and was the first person to captain both rugby and cricket at Cambridge.

Training and preparation during his undergraduate years were intense. Alastair recalls the run-up to his first rugby International (England v Australia, 1975) with its “sudden increased training and agonising nerves, then the pride as the national anthem plays, which still makes the hairs on the back of my neck rise.”

Winning, he says, was “euphoric. Joy mixes with relief and pain disappears. When the muscles do protest, the glow of victory makes the pain bearable.” As for the well-deserved celebrating, Alastair’s recollections include “sake in Japan, ‘fizz-buzz’ in Italy and ‘Snow White’ in Cornwall”, and an after-dinner “port and nuts” tradition in Cambridge that epitomised Light Blue restraint with its solemn toast, “GDBO” (“God Damn Bloody Oxford”).

After graduating in 1977, Alastair continued to play rugby for Bristol and England, and cricket for Gloucestershire. Ankle injuries forced retirement from sports and he moved into TV and radio presenting – until his diagnosis with multiple sclerosis in 1999.

“Colin Cowdrey was my cricket idol. All-Black Chris Laidlaw and Springbok Dawie de Villiers were my rugby heroes. But growing up, I hero-worshipped my dad.”

Today, the trophies, triumphs and trials continue, albeit in different forms. In 2008, Alastair was awarded the BBC Helen Rollason Award for courage, and was made a CBE in 2009. Sporting heroes have taken on new forms, too. Inspired by Alastair’s heroism on and off the pitch, a group of his old Cambridge rugby team-mates got together in 2008 to run the London Marathon in tribute to him. They were dubbed “Higgy’s Heroes”, and the name stuck – and today, by getting involved with the MS charity of which Alastair is patron, anyone can be a Higgy’s Hero.

CHRIS HOLMES MBE

(King’s, 1991)

C

hris Holmes was taught to swim by his mother when he was two years old, and he soon joined the local swimming club.

At 14, he lost his sight overnight, but still went on to qualify for the county swimming championships. Soon afterwards, Chris joined the City of Birmingham club to focus on training.

“They had an integrated squad, so I did the same training as everybody else in a 25-yard Victorian pool.”

“Winning is the culmination of thousands of hours of training – the sense of the magnitude of what you’ve achieved personally, for your team, your country. But to me it also feels both like it was yesterday, and like it happened to someone else.”

Chris was only 16 when he competed in his first Paralympic Games. “I came back from Seoul with two silver medals and a bronze, and I didn’t think that anything could be better,” he says. Four years of hard training, alongside a degree in Social and

Political Science at King’s, followed. “I remember both some good swim meets and some good drinking sessions with the Tadpoles,” he says. “The greatest thing about Cambridge University is that you can combine really hard work studying with really great sports.”

Despite the challenge of a degree, Chris’s focus remained firmly on the Paralympics. His dedication was to be magnificently rewarded. In the 1992 Barcelona Games, Chris won a record six gold medals – a feat never equalled by any other Briton. “For me, the sixth gold in Barcelona is my most memorable,” he says. “It was the 100-metre freestyle, and not just my last race but also the final session. I still can’t believe I was lucky enough to win that race and do something that no one else has done before. It felt incredible!”

Chris went on to swim in the Atlanta and Sydney Paralympics, winning a further three gold medals. He also won a string of world and European titles and broke 35 world records.

After many years as a lawyer, Chris is now at LOCOG, promoting the Paralympic Games across the UK and internationally as Director of Paralympic Integration. “When you are competing, you are focused on the pool and your event,” he says. “As an organiser, you see the thousands of details. It is a privilege to get the details right so all the athletes need to do is focus on the sport.”

FIONA HUGHES

(Queens’, 2010)

F

iona Hughes’ first Olympic experience was competing in cross-country skiing in the European Youth Olympics in 2007.

“It made me hungry for more,” she says.

“I took two gap years to maximise my chances of qualifying for the 2010 Winter Olympics. I trained roughly 14 to 20 hours a week, which included as much skiing as possible during the winter and a combination of running, biking, strength training and roller-skiing during the summer.

“I have an old, battered teddy bear that I take to all my races, though I keep him hidden in my bag so that no one teases me about him!”

“Being part of the 2010 Winter Olympics was amazing – all my training paid off. I had a really good race and I felt very proud representing my country. It was a fun experience being part of Team GB, and I made a lot of really good new friends.”

Fiona is currently in the second year of her Engineering degree at Cambridge, and has perfected the art of balancing academic work with her training. She says: “Time management and planning are key to ensuring that I can fit everything in. And being able to get up early helps a lot, too!”

Fiona’s interest in skiing started on holiday in Norway when she was young: “My parents crosscountry skied for fun, and taught my sister and me to ski. We used to go skiing once a year, and I started doing fun races, which I really enjoyed.”

Now her skis are her most prized possessions. “I own roughly 15 pairs. Having good skis is essential if you want to go fast.”

Happily, her commitment to her degree has not impacted on her success on the slopes: Fiona is the UK’s highest-ranked female skier and reigning British champion. And her inspiration? “Steve Redgrave,” she says. “He was consistently at the top of his sport for such a long time, and never stopped wanting to win more.”

SUE HUNT

(Girton, 1977)

“A

s soon as the UK won the bid for the 2012 Games, I decided there and then that I wanted to be involved,” says Sue Hunt, Director of Strategic Programmes for the London 2012 Olympics. Sue was a managing director at Goldman Sachs at the time, so the question was “in what capacity, how and when.”

“I started off thinking I would be a volunteer, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to make it a bigger full-time commitment,” she says. “Fundamentally, I would have taken any role with the team just to be involved. But as luck would have it, my perfect job came along.”

“My sporting hero is Sir Bobby Charlton. He came from humble roots, played at the top of his sport, dealt with tragedy, has inspired young people to take up sport and has remained a total gentleman. A great man who deserves huge respect.”

While at Cambridge reading Geography, Sue played hockey, rugby and cricket, and also rowed for Girton. “One of my strongest memories is getting up at 6am and having to crack the ice to put the boat in the water!” she says. Sue still enjoys outdoor pursuits, but has moved onto dry land and is now a keen cyclist. “One of my favourite sports teams is the Great Britain cycling team,” she says. “Listening to someone like Dave Brailsford describe the skill, endurance, precision, science and psychology behind the success of the GB team is both amazing and inspiring.”

She describes being part of the Olympic and Paralympic family as “an incredible experience”.

“I have done things and met people that I would never have imagined, and I have had to turn my hand to many different roles and disciplines,” she says. “I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to do something that is truly a oncein-a-lifetime experience: the Games in my home country and city. I have enjoyed every moment of the challenge and know the best is yet to come!”

TOM JAMES MBE

(Trinity Hall, 2002)

O

lympic gold medallist Tom James always intended to be a runner – until an injury intervened. “My mother, who’s a physio, suggested rowing as a non-impact activity, and that’s how it all began,” he says.

Indeed, Tom says that he didn’t really have Olympic dreams until his first year at Cambridge.

“I was rowing with seasoned athletes, some of whom had been to the Olympics, and my learning curve was very steep,” he says. “It was only when I got selected for the GB senior squad that I realised I could go for it. It was the year before the Athens Olympics, so it was obvious that if I made the boat, I’d be in with a good shot for the Games.”

Tom says that being a rower and studying at the same time is far more difficult than being an elite sportsperson. “You’re combining so many different things,” he says. “Now my life is tailored just to rowing, and in terms of volume, there’s more training; but I have free time in the afternoon to relax, refuel and recover for the next day.”

And although he triumphed in Beijing, Tom is hoping for a different atmosphere in London.

“It was my first time in China, and it was odd to see how the stands suddenly filled up at exactly 9am and emptied at 4.30pm,” he says. “People were clocking off as if it was a job, rather than something they were lucky to get tickets for. It won’t be like that this year!”

“Winning is different every time.

At the Beijing Olympics, there was just a feeling of relief. In the world championships, it was more of an ego boost.”

Does he find the media build-up a distraction?

“Everyone’s now talking about the Olympics, but at the end of the day, you just have to see it as another race,” he says. “For now, I’m just keen to get selection out of the way, and hopefully I’ll be able to get focused on the Games and aim for a gold medal. That’s what we’re here to do.”

CHARLES IAN MCMILLAN JONES

T

o listen to Ian Jones’s memories of the Olympics is to get a glimpse of sporting history. As a teenager, Ian (known by his initials, CIM) attended the Austerity Games: the 1948 London Olympics. He watched “The Flying Housewife” – Dutch sprinter Fanny Blankers-Koen, a 30-year-old mother of three who took four gold medals – and saw “Gentle Giant” Arthur Wint become the first Jamaican to win Olympic gold.

CIM was an Olympian himself at the 1960 Rome Games, where he came tantalisingly close to a bronze in hockey, and also at the 1964 Games in Tokyo. In 1972 he was a spectator at the Munich Games, and recalls both the outstanding sport and the shock of the Munich Massacre. “We were on the fringe of it,” he says. “On the fifth [of September] I played a match against the German Olympic reserves, then the next day attended the memorial service in the main stadium for the victims.”

Sport has always had an important role in CIM’s life – his mother was a hockey player and his father a keen cricketer. “I spent much of my childhood on the Stevenage ground, graduating from pushing the roller, to scorer, to player,” he says. While on National Service, CIM “played a lot of hockey, too, on barrack squares!” At St John’s,

(St John’s, 1955)

where he read Geography, he became a hockey Blue, and played cricket twice for Cambridge.

“In hockey, Frank Reynolds was a marvellous centre half.

He really enjoyed his hockey and there was always a wicked twinkle in his eyes.”

He has been deeply influenced by Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the International Olympic Committee, who believed that sport should be about taking part, not just winning.

CIM’s own Olympic stories evoke a sportsman who participated to the full.

In Tokyo he and his colleagues had supper on their knees in the homes of hospitable local athletes; in Rome they attended the opera; at a pre-Olympic tournament in Munich they drank at the beer halls (and fortunately, didn’t have to play the next day).

Likewise, at Cambridge, says CIM, “we took our sport seriously, no doubt about it. But the fun we had out of it was enormous: so many happy memories, of so many marvellous people.”

JAMES LIVINGSTON

(St Catharine’s, 1999)

J

ames Livingston’s most memorable race – and that of many fans of the sport – is the 2003 Boat Race. He and his brother David competed as members of the opposing Cambridge and Oxford teams in a highly publicised rivalry, and James’s team lost by one foot. It was the closest Boat Race of all time.

“My most important piece of kit is my lucky pair of Hampton School socks, reminding me of where I started.”

“You have to lose all sense of perspective to win the Boat Race, and David just became the enemy that we had learned to hate. It wasn’t very healthy,” says James. The brothers later wrote a highly acclaimed book together about their experiences, Blood over Water, describing how their relationship was tested almost to breaking point. “I’m glad we wrote the book,” he says. “It helped us to understand each other and move on.”

It all began when, inspired by the Olympic rowing golds of two brothers from his school, Hampton, James leapt at the chance to try out the sport for himself. “I was terrible at football, and too wet for rugby. To my surprise, after a year or two at rowing I turned out to be quite good.”

The discovery has seen James compete in events across the world. He notched up wins including two golds in the European Junior Championships in 1997 and 1998, and the Britannia Cup in the 2000 Henley Royal Regatta. He won silver at the World Championships in 2003 and was a member of Team GB in Athens 2004 as the men’s reserve.

In his years at Cambridge prior to the 2003 race, he rowed in the Boat Race in 2002, losing by two seconds after a member of the crew collapsed.

Prior to that, he was in the Boat Race reserve crew, Goldie, losing in 2000 and winning in 2001 against Oxford’s rival Isis crew. Of winning he says: “It’s the best drug in the world. At that moment you have no worries, concerns or thoughts – it’s just pure ecstasy.”

RICHARD MEADE

(Magdalene, 1960)

R

ichard Meade started riding horses at the age of seven and was soon hunting with the Curre Foxhounds. Aged 10, he went to the first ever Badminton three-day event, where he was inspired by watching the cross country, and decided to take up eventing.

He says: “My mentor was Harry Llewellyn, a fellow Monmouthshire rider who had won gold at Helsinki on his famous show jumper, Foxhunter.

He lent me a horse when I was 15, on which I won the Pony Club Boys’ Championships. He gave me encouragement throughout my career.”

“You go to the Games believing you can win, but when you do, you can’t believe it.”

After National Service in the 11th Hussars, Richard went up to Magdalene in 1960, where he hunted with the University Drag and point-topointed alongside his Engineering studies.

“During my second year I acquired a young untrained Irish horse called Barberry, whom I collected at Euston station off the train from Ireland

and took straight to Cambridge,” he remembers.

“The following year we were second at Badminton and then selected at the last minute for the British team to compete in Tokyo, having not even been shortlisted.” And they triumphed: Richard and Barberry, placed eighth, finished best of the British riders.

Following his Olympic debut, Richard went on to win three Olympic gold medals – more than any other British rider. He says: “My first gold was a team medal in Mexico, where a violent tropical storm nearly caused abandonment of the competition. Four-and-a-half inches of rain fell in just over an hour. However, we survived it all, and that made winning all the more exciting.”

Richard was twice a member of Britain’s winning team in the Olympic three-day event (Mexico City, 1968 and Munich, 1972) and also won the individual gold in 1972. He has been an international equestrian judge, trainer, course designer and consultant, as well as president of the British Equestrian Federation and a bureau member of the International Equestrian Federation. “I still ride daily, and am currently enjoying coaching, among others, my son Harry who is competing internationally,” he says.

GEORGE NASH

(St Catharine’s, 2008)

W

hen George Nash was 13, the cox of his school’s first eight persuaded a group of boys – including George – to try it. The team won the inter-house competition, and by his final year, the team won silver in the National Schools’ Regatta. “It was really exciting because our school was fairly small in rowing terms,” he remembers. “I made the junior national team and was lucky enough to row with really good people. Our crew won the junior world championships. Then I got into Cambridge, and the Boat Race took things to the next level.”

Applying for Cambridge was, he says, a nobrainer because “it was the best place for rowing and for academia”. But combining the two is an ongoing challenge. “I’m currently taking a year out to concentrate on rowing,” he says. “It’s actually pretty tough rowing at Cambridge compared to what I’m doing now, simply because you need to put a lot of time into both rowing and academic work.”

Going to the Olympics is a long-held ambition.

“At Cambridge, I wanted to see how good I could be. Last year I rowed in a pair with Oxford’s

Constantine Louloudis and made the national team. Once I’d done that, I decided to go for it, take the year off and give it my best shot. The pressure of going to the home Olympics is going to be huge – you can use that to motivate yourself, but it’s definitely more of a challenge compared to competitions in other countries.”

“Didier Cuche would be my sporting hero because the way he approaches racing is really positive and inspiring” And that means that for now, George eats, breathes and sleeps rowing. “I start training at 7.30am and get home around 3 or 4pm,” he says.

“I love working really closely with a team, with really specific goals, and I really enjoy the feeling of rowing: being out there on the water, trying to go as fast as possible and racing against other people.

I’m looking forward to competing against the best people in the world.”

ALEX O’CONNELL

(Churchill, 2006)

“M

y older brother fenced at school.

I don’t recall whether I was interested or simply dragged along to watch, but I took it up when I was eight. It was something I immediately liked and enjoyed,” says Alex O’Connell. “I’m not 100% a natural-born athlete, and the mix of the mental and physical aspects of fencing appealed to me, as indeed it still does now.”

Fencing was one of the best parts of Alex’s Cambridge experience but nonetheless he says that becoming a top athlete has been an organic process.

“We won a lot of matches at Cambridge and the team was a very tight-knit bunch when I was there; they’re still very close friends of mine,” he says.

“But I don’t think there was suddenly a time when I thought: I’m going to fence and I want it to be my career. I was always interested to see how far I could go. I won the Under-17 World Championship title in 2005, when I was 16, and I believe that made me think I could really achieve something.”

Training for the Olympics has meant spending a lot of time away from friends and family. “I’ve just spent a week training in France and we’re about to go away again. It will have been worth it

whatever happens, because I will have put myself in the best possible position I can, but it will taste a bit sweeter if or when I’m there in the summer,” he says. “There was a quote in the training hall in France about thriving on hard work, rather than success but, while doing a very hard physical session does give you a buzz, grinding away week after week without knowing if you’ll be successful is very hard.”

Key piece of equipment: “My shoes are specially made and not something I can borrow from another fencer.”

As for actually competing at London 2012, Alex is looking forward to it. “Just as competing in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 was a very special moment, experiencing that again and doing it so close to home, with so many people who’ve helped me watching, will be amazing.”

LOUIS PERSENT (St John’s, 2008)

A

rchitecture student and relay runner Louis Persent has a unique perspective on London 2012. As well as being an Olympic hopeful, he has been using his architecture skills working part-time for LOCOG (The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games) as a cartographer to help fund his training.

with the same coach, Steve Garnham, since he was 16, and in recent years has moved through the national ranks to compete internationally. He won a silver medal in the 4x400 metre relay at the 2008 World Junior Athletics Championships, won bronze in the 2009 competition, and made the Olympic 4x400m squad in 2010 and the European under-23 team in 2011.

“I started in athletics as a triple jumper, so one athlete I hugely admire is Jonathan Edwards, and the way he made athletics look effortless. It was as if he was built perfectly for his event.”

He remembers training in Cambridge as “bittersweet”. “I did a lot of training away from my coach and on my own, but I was also a member of CUAC, which was fantastic. The Varsity victory in Oxford in 2010 was one of the best days of my life, and definitely up there with winning international medals.” In his first year, Louis travelled to the US to compete with a combined Oxford and Cambridge team. “Running at the 50,000-capacity Franklin Field stadium in Philadelphia was very special,” he says.

“I’ve had a sneak preview of how things are shaping up and know the venues like the back of my hand,” he says. “It’s been exciting to watch the construction process, and while there’s the athlete in me who associates it purely with my sporting ambitions, there’s also the architecture student who can’t help but critique the project!”

Louis has always loved athletics (not least, he says, because no special equipment is needed: “It’s about as simple as it comes”). He has been working

He has learnt not to think too much about being an “Olympic hopeful”. “I know that if I work hard and race well I can make the 4x400m team,” he says. “There are lots of runners in my position, all needing to make just a small improvement to gain selection. So that is where my focus lies. The Olympics are not far away now, but there’s still a lot of hard work to do.”

ANNAMARIE PHELPS

(St John’s, 1984)

A

nnamarie Phelps’ life on the water began during her second year at Cambridge.

After trying several other sports, including Cuppers netball, soccer and athletics, Annamarie rowed in the Lady Margaret first four boat in the May Bumps, before “scraping” into Blondie (the CUWBC reserve eight) for the Henley Boat Races in her third year. “Our win against Osiris (Oxford) was the first time I really believed I was good enough to achieve something, and we did – so it was a very emotional day,” she says.

Annamarie went on to win gold in the lightweight coxless fours at the World Rowing Championships in 1993, and silver in 1991, 1992 and 1994. “To stand on the winners’ podium in 1993 as a world champion was a truly awesome experience,” she says.

A slew of medals and a world record followed – all excellent preparation for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. “I was tremendously proud to be part of the team,” she says. “We had a mountain to climb, as there had been little or no investment in women’s rowing. Despite breaking the world best time in the European qualifying regatta six weeks before, we failed to produce a good result in Atlanta.”

Retirement from active rowing has not abated her enthusiasm for the sport. Annamarie is chairman of the Cambridge University Women’s

Boat Club, a deputy chairman of British Rowing, and the second woman ever to be elected steward for the Henley Royal Regatta. “It is a great privilege to be involved in the transformation of the women’s race at Cambridge,” she says, “and to see the club have the opportunity to develop a programme equivalent in every way to the men’s club for the first time.”

“My sporting hero is Romanian Olympic gymnast Nadia Comăneci, after whom I cartwheeled through my parents’ glass front door.”

Annamarie will be at London 2012 as a member of the Paralympics GB team. “I think the Paralympic movement is one of the most pure sporting events for true athletes,” she says. “I am thrilled we have the games here in London this year.”

RICHARD PHELPS

(St Edmund’s, 1992)

F

or Richard Phelps, rowing is part of a very long family tradition. “My family has been on the River Thames for over 300 years: as watermen, boat builders or professional rowers. My grandfather put me out in a sculling boat when I was six years old – my rowing progressed from there.”

“Competing in the Olympics is knowing that you’ve joined a very small group of elite athletes.

Regardless of whether you win a medal or not, nothing can take away the title ‘Olympian’.”

Twenty-one years later, before even matriculating at Cambridge, he was selected for the British Olympic Rowing Team, competing in the men’s eights. “Making the 1992 team was the culmination of years of hard training, endless monotonous miles on the river, the lows and highs of competition and great camaraderie,” he says.

“Selection was stressful, and you knew that if you ‘cracked’, there were plenty of others waiting in line behind you. Walking out onto the track during the Olympic opening ceremony, the emotion was part joy, part relief, and part determination to make all the hard work worthwhile.”

He arrived at Cambridge to study Land Economy the following October. For the next three years, he was part of a winning Cambridge Boat, but it was the second of these wins that brought him the most joy. “It was, technically, the best crew I ever rowed with,” he remembers. “On race day we hit this awesome rhythm that meant every stroke was a gem – I was almost sad the race ended!”

Richard, like many rowers of his generation, also remembers with great fondness his Cambridge coach, New Zealand-born Harry Mahon. “Harry revolutionised the way I rowed,” he says. “He was able to inspire all the squad to want to change and to tell them how to change. Facing terminal cancer in 2000, others might have given in and let their illness dictate to them. But Harry led the British men’s eights to victory at the Sydney Olympics.”

GUY POOLEY

(St John’s, 1987)

R

ower Guy Pooley first took to the water as an escape from spending torturous hours on the school cricket pitch while suffering from hay fever. “There was only one alternative to cricket and that was semi-recreational rowing on the Grand Union Canal,” he says.

Years later, this groundwork paid off, when as a chemistry postgraduate in Cambridge he was selected to join the Boat Race crew. “I rowed four times in the Boat Race, in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991, losing on each occasion. The boys I now teach at Eton College find that very funny!”

Moving to London to begin his teaching career required a greater degree of sporting flexibility, so Guy decided to increase his single scull training.

This proved an exceptionally good move: before long he had been selected for Great Britain’s Olympic team in the men’s quadruple sculls. “I trained twice a day, most days of the week, for all of that year, while writing up my PhD thesis and teaching. An unfortunate consequence was that my future wife saw very little of me during this time.”

His Olympics campaign got off to a flying start.

In 1991, Guy won his first major title in the single scull in the amateur championship of Great Britain, the Wingfield Sculls. “Rowing can be extremely physically stressful but this just drops away when you win,” he says. His success continued, with further wins in the Wingfield Sculls and the Scullers

Head in 1992, before he reached the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992. “Competing in the Olympic Games was an amazing experience – but unfortunately we never got near the medals,” he says.

Guy was determined to return to the Olympics, and spent a further four years in training. In 1996 he travelled to the Atlanta Games as the spare man, and when a team-mate had to withdraw due to illness, Guy was able to compete in the double sculls. “Taking on the world’s best crews with one day’s practice was always going to be a difficult task, but the hastily rearranged GB crew managed to beat a number of nations – although we did not make it through to the semi-finals,” he says.

“Winning is the exhilarating feeling that everything you have been working towards for a long time is going completely to plan.”

Guy has continued to compete since retiring from international competition in 1996, winning the Scullers Head for a second time in 2001, days after the birth of his second child.

STACIE POWELL

(Churchill, 2009)

“I

started diving when I was six,” says Stacie. “My grandparents booked my sister and me onto a crash course. I liked it so much, we ended up staying for three weeks and joining the club in Plymouth. This meant my Dad had to drive from Bristol to Plymouth every weekend for me to dive. When we moved to London, my parents chose the house nearest the diving pool in the city.”

“Nothing beats the feeling of jumping off a 10-metre dive board, performing three-and-ahalf somersaults and hitting the water without a splash!”

Stacie’s family’s early commitment to diving has reaped great rewards: silver and bronze medals in the European Junior Championships, and a place at the World Junior Championships, the Commonwealth Games, the European

Championships and the World Championships.

Stacie has also won a string of medals in the British Championships, including four gold and four silver medals in synchronised diving and platform diving.

Stacie only just missed out on the 2004 Olympics, after being placed third in the trials. “I was determined not to let this happen again,” she says, “and all my extra hard work paid off when I won the trial qualifying for Beijing in 2008.” At her Olympic debut, Stacie was placed eighth in the synchronised dive and tenth in the platform dive.

Stacie’s focus now is on a place in this year’s Olympics, even while juggling her training with a PhD in Astrophysics. “I often read papers when I have a spare minute at the pool. The internet helps a lot, so I can do my work from anywhere, even when I am away at competitions.”

And will it be different to be competing in London? Stacie is in no doubt that it will. “The Olympics on home turf makes it extra special. The crowd will be cheering for you – and 17,000 people behind you at the pool can give you that extra edge over your competitors.”

JOHN PRITCHARD

(Robinson, 1983)

J

ohn Pritchard became interested in rowing “by complete fluke”. He had been a boxer and karate fighter, but when he was 16 years old, his gym moved to north London and he needed to find somewhere to train near home. “A friend from school suggested the rowing club. After a couple of weeks, I was enticed into a boat and by 19 I was in the men’s heavyweight national team,” he says.

He says that when he went on to row for Cambridge in the Boat Race, “the pressure was intense.” It was only heightened in his first Olympics in 1980. “The Games was the ultimate sporting competition for us rowers. First, you aspire to succeed in the sport generally. Secondly, with success, you aspire to representative honours. Even with this, the idea of the Olympic Games seems huge,” he says.

“At first, it felt surreal. I remember taking delivery of my kit for the first Olympics and trying desperately hard to appear ‘cool’. I dashed home, ran to my bedroom, stood in front of the mirror and pulled on my GB Olympic racing vest. Anyone who is not moved by that experience should not be involved in sport.”

“I have three pre-competition rituals: 1) Never race in a brand new shirt; 2) always pat the back of the man in front and wish him luck; and 3) ‘Start me up’ by the Rolling Stones.”

John has competed in several World and European championships, and in the Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984. He won silver in both Games, with the gold going by a tiny margin to the East Germans (who, it was later revealed, were all given performanceenhancing drugs).

His most poignant piece of kit is the racing shirt of his opposite number in the East German boat.

“The East German team were entirely forbidden to give their shirts away, and the rower was punished by the authorities for doing so.”

JON RIDGEON

(Magdalene, 1986)

I

n 1986, residents near Magdalene College encountered an exotic sight: an Escort XR3i emblazoned with the words “Jon Ridgeon”. It was a name they would soon come to know, as Ridgeon established himself as an Olympic sprint hurdler with a stellar future seemingly assured. But two years later, Jon’s sporting career was dealt a blow from which it would never fully recover. What happened afterwards was the making of him.

“The people I admire most are those who have overcome immense adversity. Only the other day I was hosting an event for Oscar Pistorius, the South African Paralympian. Now there’s a sporting hero!”

Jon was always serious about sport. “It sounds like a cliché,” he explains, “but one of my earliest memories is wanting to be an Olympic champion.” When he got his place at Cambridge, he was already a European Junior Championship winner in the 110m hurdles – and the trophies

piled up. In 1987 alone he won gold at the World University Games in Zagreb, silver at the World Championships in Rome, and was named the British Athletic Writers’ Athlete of the Year.

But in 1988, driving to training every day, cramming for exams and fighting a virus all took their toll. Jon had an adverse reaction to his inoculations for the Seoul Olympics, and although he managed a fifth place, was running under par. Years of injury and a premature retirement followed. Jon did make one brief comeback for the 1996 Olympics; but as he says today without a trace of bitterness, “my moment had passed”.

His ambition, however, had not. Jon simply changed focus, and today, as the CEO of leading sports promotions agency Fast Track, he is more likely to be found climbing than sprinting. “I love mountains. That simple goal, to the top and back, is a wonderful antidote to the complex lives we lead.”

It is perhaps no surprise to find that he watched the first dawn of the new millennium at the top of Mount Aconcagua in the Andes: the highest place on earth that a human can draw breath at that time of year. Having traded in his 110 metres of track for 6,959 metres of rock-face, Jon Ridgeon has ended up on top of the world.

CHRISTOPHER RODRIGUES CBE FRSA

C

hristopher Rodrigues’ parents were both classical ballet dancers, but rather than following their path, he found another – down to the river. He began rowing at school and continued when he came up to Cambridge to study Economics.

“I rowed for Jesus in the small boats events,” he says. “For the University, I rowed in Goldie in ’69 and in the Boat Race in ’70 and ’71. One of my most vivid memories of Cambridge is rowing past fields of sugar beet in the winter near Ely. There was snow all around, and it was truly cold – the only time I’ve been colder was when I fell into a lock one afternoon!” The effort and the cold mornings paid off with Cambridge victories on the Thames, including the 1971 boat, which broke the record for the second-half of the race.

Security for the Boat Race in those days was rather less sophisticated than it is now, he remembers. “When a policeman called me aside [as president of the Boat Club] just before the ’71 race and told me they suspected a bomb might have been planted under Hammersmith Bridge, my response was, ‘Well, I guess we should try to go through it pretty quickly, then!’”

Later that year, after the team beat the Cuban national rowing squad in a North American competition, Christopher was offered Cuban

(Jesus, 1968)

nationality, provided he was willing to row for Castro’s crew. “I’ve never regretted not taking them up on this offer!”

“When you hit your stride, you feel you can go on for ever. It’s magical – almost an out-of-body experience – and the sense that you’re participating in an iconic event makes it all the more extraordinary.”

Over the years, Christopher has been involved with numerous Olympics, formerly as the chief executive of Visa International, and now as chairman of Visit Britain. “I’ve had the good fortune to attend a number of Games, either as a guest or sponsor. There’s something about the triumph of the human spirit that is very compelling in the main Games, but I think the Paralympics are where the spirit of the Games shows through even more.”

MATT ROGAN

(Fitzwilliam, 1993)

M

att Rogan inherited his love of sport from his family, who he says were a huge influence. “My grandfather was an Irish amateur boxing champion, my Dad was a senior amateur footballer, and my Mum was a tennis coach – so sport is in the blood!”

“I have two good-luck charms.

Firstly, a conker my Mum picked up and gave me the day she dropped me off at Fitzwilliam for my first Michaelmas term.

Secondly, a St Christopher medal my sister gave me before my Ironman Triathlon in Switzerland.”

At Cambridge, he represented both Fitzwilliam and the University in tennis and football, captaining the Men’s Grasshoppers tennis team to Cambridge’s first Varsity Match win in tennis of any sort for six years in 1997. “These were great fun,” he says, “but most of my favourite memories are from the

social side of sport, especially the ‘social night out’ that I ran for the men’s tennis team with the women’s hockey team. I planned the evening with the hockey social secretary, Claire Edmondson, who is now my wife!”

Since leaving Cambridge, Matt has made his passion in sport his profession and is now managing director of Two Circles. “Over the last seven years, I’ve been lucky enough to see London 2012 from the inside, principally working with the London 2012 Organising Committee and its sponsors,” he says. “We’re heavily involved with the participation legacy around London 2012, which has been both challenging and hugely rewarding.”

As if that hasn’t kept him busy enough, together with his father, Matt has written a book, Britain and the Olympic Games: Past, Present, Legacy, examining British contributions to the Olympics, as well as how the Olympics have helped shape modern Britain.

“We focused on comparing and contrasting the London 1948 and 2012 Games,” he says. “Since publication, we’ve shared our research in all sorts of places, from the Harvard Business Review to infant school assemblies, met some extraordinary people, and most importantly, raised a lot of money for charity.”

BRUCE TULLOH

(Selwyn, 1959)

B

ruce Tulloh is famous for running barefoot, and when asked what his most important piece of kit is, his answer is simple: “My feet”. “All of my family were good at sport, but all I could do was run,” he says, reflecting on how he got started in athletics. “I only started training properly when I was doing National Service in Hong Kong in 1956, but by the time I came to Cambridge, I was already national champion at three miles and had run for Britain against the Soviet Union. My main purpose in coming to the University was to get to the Rome Olympics.” Unsurprisingly for a man of such determination, he succeeded.

After running for Selwyn, and then for Britain at the 1960 Olympics, Bruce continued longdistance running, becoming European 5000m champion in 1962. He went on to add coaching and writing about running to his work as a teacher; and during that time, running changed out of all recognition. “In the Sixties, apart from the students, everyone had to do a full-time job and then train after work,” he says. “I was there before the boom in African distance running, but I still had to compete with full-time runners from the Soviet

bloc. Now there is a lot more money in the sport, which means that top-class athletes can be full-time runners – going to Kenya to train in the winter and the Alps or Pyrenees before major championships.”

“I consider the Olympic Games to be one of the high points of human expression. We are very lucky to have it here and I hope that some of our grandchildren will be inspired.”

Bruce has written more than a dozen books about running, fitness and the Olympic Games, but perhaps one of the most notable is Four Million Footsteps, an account of his cross-continent run from Los Angeles to New York in 1969. The book, he says, “is a record of raw experience freshly lived, and something I shared with my wife and son that will always be part of our lives.”

ANNIE VERNON

(Downing, 2001)

G

rowing up in rural Cornwall, Annabel Vernon says that passing her driving test was a big deal. “I was 17 and in the sixth form,” she says. “I wanted to do something different and meet some new people.

My brother had just started rowing, and suggested I try it. I loved it immediately and thought, this is the sport for me. This is what I love; this is what I could be good at.”

“When you win, it’s a relief not to have messed it up, then happiness and joy sink in and you feel it’s all worth it.”

Rowing at Cambridge was the obvious next step. “Of course, Cambridge is rowing mad. It’s the number-one sport and within a few days of arriving, I realised that the rowers had the best social life and the most fun, with a great boathouse on the river and lots of social events like dinners and cocktail parties,” she says.

“In my second year, my goal was making the Boat Race team. Then I gave the under-23s a try – and then I thought I would give seniors a go. I just wanted to see how good I could be. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, it was 2008 and I was on a plane to China for the Beijing Olympics.”

Beijing was a life-changing experience. “I don’t think anybody could have prepared me for just how special it feels to be an Olympian for Great Britain,” she says. “I went into it thinking it would be a lot like the world championships, but the Olympics have this absolutely unique buzz. The whole feeling of going to the Olympics is really indescribable.”

Will London 2012 be different? “The biggest difference this time around is that all my friends and family had tickets to watch me in Beijing, whereas none of them managed to get tickets to watch me in London,” she says. “At this stage four years ago, we were talking about the challenges we would be facing in Beijing. Now we’re talking about the challenges we’ll face in London. There’s challenge and opportunity in every scenario.”

ANNA WATKINS

(Newnham, 2001)

A

nna Watkins didn’t pick up an oar until her first term at Cambridge. “I arrived at Cambridge already holding the idea that I wanted to row, seeded by various people who mentioned it as a sport that suited tall people,” she remembers. “The weather was bad all term, so we had more crew formal halls than outings. It was the perfect introduction because the other rowers became my closest friends!”

Having started, however, Anna quickly made progress, and soon had to make a choice – whether or not to try to take her rowing to the next level. “I had realised I had a good physiology for the sport, thanks to the persistence of the two NCBC coaches, Tim Granger and Michael Gifford,” she says. “I ignored this for a while, because I didn’t want a change of lifestyle and I was aware there would be an impact on my studies. But I couldn’t ignore the opportunity, and eventually I threw myself completely at the task of climbing the mountain from chubby novice to international competitor.”

Rowing at Cambridge was, she says, a magical time. “Bumps is an inspired race format and I miss it. I have no idea how we coped with such a short,

narrow, twisty and overcrowded river. I remember ‘ergs’ in the boat bay at 6am and beautiful summer evening paddles at 9pm, complete with angry swans,” she says.

“I am looking forward to being in the middle of the race and to those six minutes where I have the power to make it happen.”

Anna says that London 2012 is already very different from Beijing. “The build-up feels like it has been going on for ever, and there has been a lot of media awareness. There is a sobering knowledge that there will not be a bigger competition than this in our careers, but also an incredible excitement about how lucky we are to be in the position we are in.”

DR KIERAN WEST MBE

K

ieran West first experienced rowing as a child, watching his father compete.

“It looked like a lot of fun, so aged 10 I decided to take it up.” By 16, Kieran was training to make the Great Britain under-18 rowing team, but a back injury in his penultimate year at school meant he was unable to participate in any sport until his second year of reading Land Economy at Cambridge.

“My reaction when we won Olympic Gold at Sydney in 2000 was a clinical sense of satisfaction that our preparation and race planning had worked, followed by intense joy. We had actually achieved what we had only dreamt about for years.”

Once allowed back at the oars, Kieran quickly established his elite sporting credentials, rowing in the Cambridge University Boat Club (CUBC) Goldie crew in 1998 and the Blue Boat in 1999.

Soon after he was selected for the Great Britain

(Christ’s and Pembroke, 1995)

men’s eight team. “For the Sydney Olympics we trained at Hammersmith, so I took a year out of my studies to focus on rowing full time. Training on weekdays and Saturdays was twice a day for two- or three-hour sessions, with one longer session on Sunday. We would be given a day off only every three or four weeks.”

The team won gold in Sydney, after which Kieran resumed his PGCE course at Cambridge and became president of CUBC for the 2001 Boat Race.

When he returned for his PhD in History in 2005, Kieran also returned to CUBC, competing in the 2006 and 2007 Boat Races.

He says: “I was not eligible for the team after the 2007 Boat Race, as there is an agreement between Oxford and Cambridge that students are only allowed to compete in a maximum of four Boat Races, and I had reached that quota.” Kieran instead rowed for Pembroke, competing in the 2009 bumps for the first time since his debut for Christ’s in 1997. “That has to be some sort of record gap!”

Of all the kit – Cambridge and Olympic –­ Kieran has worn over the years, the item he treasures most is his first Blue Boat zephyr. “It represents my first major sporting event and the one that started my international rowing career.”

SARAH WINCKLESS

(Fitzwilliam, 1993)

“M

y Cambridge days were defined by sport and the people I met through it,” says Sarah Winckless, former Olympic rower and current chair of the British Olympic Association Athletes’ Commission. “Whether it was turning up to a supervision purple-faced, having just played basketball, or my first Boat Race when I was so nervous that I had to remember to breathe, sport shaped my days and filled my nights with dreams of new challenges – mainly of beating Oxford.”

Sarah was always a keen sportswoman, throwing discus internationally as a junior and playing netball and basketball in school. But it was rowing that became all-consuming: the quest for the perfect angle of the blade cutting into the water, the drive and arc of the stroke, and the power of body over boat. Although preparing for a race was nerve-jangling, she says that “once I had my hands on the boat and was heading out to row, I felt most at home, and most alive.”

Yet coming up to read Natural Sciences in 1993, Sarah did not intend to row. “Dad was president of the Cambridge Blues and my stepdad won a silver medal in the Olympics, but I thought rowing wasn’t for me,” she says. “At Fitzwilliam, though, I was persuaded to give it a go.”

Sarah made the Blue Boat, and listening to the Rocky theme tune as she trained (“it allowed me to laugh at myself and lighten the mood”) her rowing

took off. She competed in double sculls at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and at the Athens Games in 2004, where she won bronze with Elise Laverick.

She also competed at the Beijing Games in 2008 in the women’s eight, and took gold in the 2005 and 2006 world championships, both in the women’s quad.

“What does it feel like to win an Olympic medal? “Crossing the finish line, all I knew was that we hadn’t come first. I was gasping for air and trying to cool down.

Elise sitting behind me was shouting, I didn’t know why, then I made out what she was saying: we’d done it, we’d won a medal” Today, this “retired” sportswoman has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with her brother to raise awareness of Huntington’s Disease, is preparing for the 125-mile Devizes to Westminster Canoe Marathon, and hopes to complete the London to Paris Bike Ride in September. And she still pursues that elusive ideal stroke. “I go out in my single and look for it,” she says. “Such a simple movement – so hard to get perfect!”

Contact the Cambridge Alumni Relations Office www.alumni.cam.ac.uk contact@alumni.cam.ac.uk +44 (0)1223 332 288 1 Quayside Bridge Street Cambridge, CB5 8AB www.cambridgesportscentre.com