Bleeding Excellence with Headington's Performance Director Ryan Demaine

Catch our chat with Britain's most successful rower of all time - Sir Steve Redgrave - celebrating 100th episode of Last Stroke Counts rowing podcast, with a live audience, hosted by Maidenhead Rowing Club, for their 150 year anniversary.

An uncut version of the talk at the River & Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, organised by Alex Partridge and hosted by Martin Cross on 20/03/2025.'Stories from the Boat' - a first insight from some of the greatest races and fastest boats across the years. An Unmissable Evening of Rowing Rivalry, Evolution, and Inspiration. - What has changed in rowing across the decades? - How do past and present champions compare? - And who would come out on top if they raced each other today? Join us for an exclusive fireside chat featuring some of the greatest names in rowing, as they reflect on the sport's evolution, the demands of elite competition, and the rivalries that shaped their careers. Hosted by Martin Cross, this unique event brings together: - James Cracknell OBE (Olympic & World Champion, Atlantic Rower) - Alex Partridge (Olympic Medallist, World Champion) - Phelan Hill (Olympic Champion, Coxswain Extraordinaire) - Richard Schmidt (Thomas Keller Medal Winner, German Olympic Champion) - Tobias Kühne (German Olympian) - Duncan Free (Australian Olympic Champion, World Champion) - Drew Ginn (Australian Rowing Legend, Multiple Olympic & World Champion) Topics include: - Rowing through the decades - how training, technology, and tactics have changed. - Head-to-head: past vs. present - who would win if today's rowers raced against champions of the past? - Mental and physical toughness - the sacrifices and mindset needed to succeed at the highest level. - Stories from the boat - inside the biggest races, legendary rivalries, and the moments that defined careers. - Lessons beyond the water - what rowing teaches about resilience, teamwork, and leadership.

We sat down with the Performance Director of Headington School in Oxford, and GB U19 Discipline Lead, Ryan Demaine, to talk about building one of the most successful school programmes over the last two decades, facilitating an environment where the athletes can be their best, inspiring excellence and why developing athletes goes so much further beyond the current season, year on year.

We sat down with the Director of Rowing at Radley College and double Olympian who has been leading the programme of a hugely successful schoolboy rowing team for a decade - Sam Townsend. Radley has most recently won the National Schools Regatta after 25 years of gold drought. We discussed the nature of multifaceted challenges that come with running a squad of 150+ athletes and how to prepare them for a life outside of rowing, too.

We sat down with a double Olympian and silver medallist from the Tokyo Games in GB's first ever quad sculling medal at the Olympics to discuss the journey through the sport, why having fun daily actually makes you go way faster than taking everything too seriously, the power of consistency and staying on the program, winning a bronze medal at senior world championships in the single sculls and starting a business to try and help rowers prevent and manage injuries so that they can enjoy the sport to the fullest.

We caught up with Ben Hunt-Davis ahead of the newest release of his new book "Will It Make The Boat Go Faster?" and to explore his rowing story of competing across three Olympic Games to ultimately winning a gold medal in Sydney 2000 Olympics with the GB Men's Eight. We also touched upon Ben's work in the world of business consulting and his role as a Steward for Henley Royal Regatta.You can order the book using one of the links belowWaterstones --- https://www.waterstones.com/book/will-it-make-the-boat-go-faster/ben-hunt-davis/harriet-beveridge/9781529147605Amazon --- https://amzn.eu/d/08CgNCsaAuthor website --- https://willitmaketheboatgofaster.com/book/

We sat down with the owner of TG Gym & Wellness, Olympian & multiple World Champion Toby Garbett to find out his rowing story, what it was like competing at the Athens 2004 Olympics, how Toby became a community gym owner and accidentally ended up representing New Zealand in world coastal rowing championships.

Catch our chat with Ben who is a former GB & Leander lightweight, international coach and now delivers consulting, performance & psychology workshops in the medical industry. We've explored what psychological ingredients induce consistent performance.

Catch our chat from last summer with Olympian Matt Brittin delving into his career in sports as well as business, exploring what made him incredibly successful in all domains and sharing the lessons of leading, nurturing and inducing high performance in teams (sports & business). Matt is now the new head of BBC and former chief of Google.

Catch our chat from last summer with Ben Gallagher, who's served in the UK Armed Forces for 16 years and is now a World Champion representing GB in Rowing.