Martyn Rooney

Martyn Rooney rowed in Cambridge with Rob Roy where he was an elite rower and Captain for 2 years. He ‘retired’ from rowing at the age of 24 to concentrate on running. After 5 years, and a series of injuries, he returned to rowing with St.Neots where he was Captain for 2 years and rebuilt the coaching and racing structure. After he properly retired from racing in 2000 he turned his full attention to coaching.

Main domestic success – won SHoRR twice; WHoRR on the 2 occasions they entered in 2009 and 2010; HWR wins in the Junior Quads (2005), Coxed Fours (2008) and in 2010 the Eights in a new record time. National Championships 15 Gold medals 4 of these at senior level; National Schools Regatta 11 Gold medals; Indoor Ergo Championships 6 medals including 2 Gold.

Internationally 18 different athletes from his squad have earned a total of 80 international caps, 10 World Championships, 15 Coupe de la Jeunesse, 6 GB vs. France, 19 Home Country Internationals and 30 other international events, a total of 62 medals won – 33 Gold, 15 Silver and 14 Bronze. Most notable were 2 Bronze medals at the WJC in 2005 and 2008 and in 2010 two of his girls were in the first ever GB WJ crew to win a Gold medal at a WJC. He has coached GB crews at 6 Coupe de Jeunesse and 2 World Championships before withdrawing from the GB team in 2008 because of work commitments.

Martyn can be contacted by email: martyn@cuwbc.org

John Thicknes

John Thicknes has been a full-time rowing coach at Durham University for the last 3 years, and has been involved rowing and coaching rowing for over 20 years. His athletes have won medals at Henley Royal Regatta, Henley Womens Regatta and the National Championships, and have gone on to achieve international representation at the U23 World Championships and World University Championships.  Most recently he has been working as a full-time coach at Durham University, where he has been involved in running a talent identification and development programme for GB Rowing sponsored by Siemens.  He has also been responsible for managing some of the logistical aspects of the club’s operation including running training camps and acting as lead coach for some events in the racing calendar.

John joined the CUWBC team on 2010 in a joint role as CUWBC coach coordinator and CULRC (Cambridge University Lightweight Rowing Club) chief coach.

Rob Milner

Having been a guest coach for CUWBC for the 5 previous years, in September 2008 he increased his coaching role and has been coaching continually ever since. Rob learnt to row as an undergraduate at LMBC and moved on to row at Cantabs where as well as rowing competitively until the summer of 2008, also was mens captain and club captain. After leaving university Rob worked within a small group of engineers at Peach Innovations building a rowing instrumentation system which is now used by many national squads including the GB squad. He continues to work developing systems for sports and medical applications.

Jonathan Conder

With over 30 years of rowing experience both as a rower and a coach, Jonathan Conder “JC” has become a recognised face on the River Cam. Having rowed for Molesey Boat Club and the Cambridge ’99 Rowing Club, JC decided he wanted to put something back into rowing, and share his experience and knowledge with Cambridge crews. Under CUBC coach Vladimir Bachev, he completed a two year coaching ‘apprenticeship’; he holds a UKCC Level 3 Coaching qualification and is also a British Rowing ‘Coach Educator’.

Crews coached by JC have won gold at the National Championships, finished in the top twenty of men’s and women’s Head of the River Races, reached the semi finals at Henley Royal Regatta and the finals at Henley Women’s Regatta.
He continues to provide his experience alongside his family and work commitments and claims to enjoy early mornings…!

James Appleton

James “Jimmy” Appleton began his involvement with CUWBC in 2005/6 in the second year of his degree when he coxed Blondie. The following year he coxed a victorious blue boat and has been coaching with CUWBC since then.

In 2009/10 Jimmy took on more coaching than ever before, and was finishing coach for the lightweight boat, in addition to taking on a temporary post as Christ’s College boatman.

Jimmy is a professional landscape photographer, and when he’s not taking photographs or coaching rowing he spends his time running.

Nick Acock

Nick joined the coaching team of CUWBC for the 2003-04 season, having been cox of Blondie 2003. Since then he has been progressively more involved each year, normally coaching Blondie and being their finishing coach for 2008 and 2009.

In 2005 Nick was appointed Head Coach/Boatman for Clare College and his efforts here are begining to show through; the women’s first eight acheived its only ever Lent Bumps Headship in 2006 and the first men’s eight is now at it’s highest position in the Lent’s since 1986. Still an active cox with local club Cantabrigian RC, Nick regularly competes at a high level around the country and has several wins at S1 level under his belt, but most notably he reached the quarter finals of The Britannia Challenge Cup at Henley Royal in 2007. This continued success and immersion in the rowing world proves invaluable in feeding back the experience into CUWBC.