Profile: Stuart Whitelaw, Head of Rowing at Imperial

Stuart Whitelaw has been coaching at Imperial College Boat Club for 6 years now, becoming Head of Rowing last year.

How did you come to be at Imperial?

Actually my association with the College goes back somewhat further: I completed a PhD in in Mechanical Engineering (1997) and went onto work as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department. I also rowed for Great Britain during this time as an athlete and eventually went into coaching — first at the University of London and then I gravitated back to Imeprial.

What does your current job entail?

It basically comes down to providing our rowers with an environment in which they can attain excellence. In order to achieve this we’re obviously very fortunate to have the full support of the College in the form of funding, facilities and sporting freedom. In terms of my own day-to-day activities, it’s very varied. Some mornings I’ll be out there with the athletes on the water at 6am, or I might be writing training programmes and scheduling competitions.

Do you feel the weight of responsibility given Imperial’s great legacy in rowing?

No. You’re there to do the best for the athletes with you at the time. People get caught up in the history but ultimately it’s what you’re doing now that counts. That said, we do have a picture of the great Bill Mason, who lifted Imperial to stardom, looking down on us from the ceiling of the boathouse!

What does the immediate future hold for the Boat Club?

World domination! Or at least, to maintain and improve on the success we had last year. In addition one of the things we’ve been trying to do is to make rowing more inclusive, to widen the pyramid, thereby pushing the top athletes higher and bringing more people in at the bottom, and seeing how far they can get. That’s about integration and making sure that everyone feels valued.

Clearly with this role you have to eat, sleep and breathe rowing, but do you get time for anything else?

At the moment I have one day off in the week and work through the weekends. The time I have I spend with my wife and kids (although the kids still think I’m a human trampoline).