Meet the Coaches

Roy is a professional rowing coach for various Cambridge clubs. At X-Press he currently coaches the Women's masters crews and provides private coaching for individual scullers and pair rowers.  

Roy also currently serves as Head Coach for Anglia Ruskin University, and is employed as coach for the first crews of Hughes Hall and Lucy Cavendish. Previously, Roy was head coach for the women’s crews at Chesterton Rowing Club.  He is a British Rowing Level 2 qualified coach.

With over 20 years' of coaching experience across all levels for both men and women, including several crews with ex Blues , Roy brings deep expertise to every session. A former first crew rower at X-Press, he has a record of success (X-Press M1 blades in 2008, second in Pairs Head and National Championships), as well as racing with ex Blues and Olympic rowers.

Roy’s coaching style is progressive and deeply rooted in a nuanced understanding of both the art and science of rowing:

•  He focuses on helping rowers develop a true feel for how boats move through the water, while integrating a strong grounding in the mechanics and physics behind each stroke.

• He has a ‘hands on' coaching approach, and evaluates the pros and cons of different techniques as well as the paths to reaching the optimal style.

• Rower development includes an approach for the crew and one for the individual; the latter always refined to be in tune with their own perspective.

Jumbo is a volunteer coach for X-Press, and currently coaches the Men's Masters crews and helps with Anglia Ruskin novice crews

Jumbo has been rowing with X-Press for over 30 years, and has recently taken up coaching. He obtained his level 2 coaching certificate in September 2023.

He has extensive experience of competitive masters rowing on the Cam, including regular appearances in the town bumps since 1980, and in competitions all around the UK.  He has travelled with X-Press to World Masters in Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and competed three times in the Head of the Charles in Boston, USA, and twice in the Rhine marathon.

Although retired from his consultant post at Addenbrookes hospital, Jumbo maintains a keen interest in sport and exercise medicine. As coach his chief aim is to make outings enjoyable and help crews to improve technique to both prevent injury and enhance boat speed.