LYR has a terrific, motivated and enthusiastic team to help you reach your goals, whatever they are:
- If you are a teacher or youth worker wanting to run a great Indoor Club, we’ll give you all the materials, training and support you need, and we’ll even make it easy for you to measure and evaluate the achievements of your participants
- If you want to learn to row, you couldn’t find a more supportive, fun environment
- And if you really get the bug and are ambitious, our performance coaches can take you to the top of your game
Meet the Coaches…
Paddy Ryan, Performance Coach
Paddy is LYR’s Performance Coach. He’s a 6ft 8″ Australian and has serious street cred both as a rower and as a coach - he won the Wyfold Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta in 2003, and also coached the winning crew in the same event two years later. His greatest passion (besides his dog) is helping athletes develop in the sport and win.
Ben Cox, Head Coach, Lea RC
Ben Cox started coaching at Leeds University eight years ago and ’turned professional’ at King’s School Rochester in 2004. He moved to London in July 2007 to work for LYR at Lea RC. He is amazed at how dedicated and impressive young people can be.
Penny Cuthbert, Development Officer
Penny develops LYR’s programmes with Youth Clubs and does our coach training – as well as being a budding amateur photographer. She started rowing to encourage her kids to keep fit. She won a Gold medal at the National Veteran Champs 2007 and Veterans’ Head of River. She loves introducing young people to rowing and watching their faces light up as they discover the fun they are having.
Dan Cooper, Community Coach, Lea RC
Dan started rowing at Swansea University where he captained the Men’s team in his 3rd year, and then became the University Club Coach. Now he works at Lea RC where he concentrates on the junior programme in the gym and on the rowing machines, making sure the juniors are working as hard out of the boat as they are in the boat.
Maurice Coughlan, Coach, Globe RC
Maurice is a coach at London Regatta Centre and at Globe RC. In recent years he has made a major contribution to the Polish adaptive rowing squad by coaching Martyna Snopek who won her second World Bronze in 2007 and qualified for the Beijing Paralympic Games 2008. He’s not a bad oarsman himself and has won medals at Henley Veterans, National and World Masters Championships during the years 2004-2008.
Stephanie Ware, Community Coach
Steph is the RoEL! community coach for the boroughs of Tower Hamlets & Lewisham. She believes in athletes that are determined & dedicated, but also that ANYONE can achieve their goals, if you put your mind, body and soul to it! She is a dedicated runner and has a particular interest in sports nutrition.
Barbara Couperthwaite, Community Coach
After doing NO sport for 18 years Barb found her niche in the bow seat of a South African eight which had a fantastic few years on the sunny side of the world. She has subsequently found that coaching provides all the satisfaction involved with rowing and more. Even though she now does ultra marathons for fun she’ll never pass up an opportunity to get back on the water.
Taiwo Sodeyi, Community Coach
Taiwo began his career in Athletics, as a sprints and hurdles coach but also worked as a multi-sports coach in East London. He is now the RoEL! Community Coach for the boroughs of Barking & Dagenham and Havering. He believes in all athletes that are brave enough and willing to try before accepting that they may fail. He is a dedicated sprint hurdler, with a keen interest in sport biomechanics.
Steve Salter, Community Coach
Steve has been involved in rowing since the age of 11 where he started coxing for his local club on the Isle of Wight, and started rowing himself aged 13. He currently rows for London Rowing Club. Steve enjoys anything to do with sport; participating or watching, especially cycling and football and tries his hardest to get to as many Charlton Athletic FC home games as possible.
and those who stay warm and dry…
Khaleda Khanom, Office Administrator
Is a huge chocolate fan. She has just completed her studies at the University of Greenwich and hopes to pursue a career in a Social Work. When she joined LYR, she thought Canoeing and Rowing were the same thin! Everyone at LYR believes their dream has come true, in that she has taken over Sales Force, sorry guys, not yet! Besides watching Arsenal play football, she has very little interest in sports. However we believe that is all about to change.
Liz Nicholson, Fundraising and Projects
Liz’sonly sporting achievement was gaining a half blue in sailing several decades ago when Cambridge was scraping the barrel to find enough women who had ever been in a dinghy to make up a team. After a career in publishing and time off to bring up two sons she has been working as a charity fund-raiser for the last few years.
Matt Rostron, Managing Director
Matt, aka ‘the boss’ used to row a long, long time ago but was very, very good – or so he tells us. Originally from Rochdale, North Manchester, he moved to London 3 years ago to get London Youth Rowing up and running. LYR is not the only charity he supports – he is also a keen Rochdale Football Club fan!
Sophie Ejsmond – Development and Projects
Sophie spends most of her time looking for funding for LondonYouthRowing. She used to row, badly, but she did produce two excellent oarsmen – her sons have both rowed internationally and at Henley Royal Regatta. She believes passionately in the power of sport in developing young people’s confidence and skills.