Rowing receives a boost from Sport England TASS

August 15, 2014

Just over a week before its current stars perform at the World Championships in Amsterdam (24 -31 August) the sport of rowing has received a significant boost.

25 of the next generation of would-be rowing champions who are seeking to combine top-level sport with academic success will benefit from the recently re-launched Sport England Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS).

Rowing has been awarded 25 places in the recently re-launched Scheme which is now Sport England funded.

Grants are awarded to put towards support services like coaching, physio, and other sports science and medicine services. TASS scholars are supported with guidance on how to balance training with studying and other demands on their time.

Olympic rowing champions like Anna Watkins and Helen Glover are amongst thousands of big names across many sports who benefited from TASS funding early in their career when they needed it most.

Glover recently said: “It was the extra things I never would have considered before, like
having physio, looking after myself and having the right kit…Those things made a huge
difference and tipped the balance.

“Having that support there means you’ve got a lot more in your favour and it massively brings those odds to the advantage of the athlete. It was the feeling there was a support system there, for me, specifically in my situation, that was really important.”

Since its inauguration in 2003 TASS-supported alumni or current athletes have won or gone on to win 78 Olympic and Paralympic medals: 28 gold, 18 silver and 32 bronze.

TASS made early funding available to these athletes – who are or were studying in further or higher education – for vital core support such as physiotherapy, strength and conditioning, coaching and other elements.

Steve Gunn, on behalf of British Rowing said: “British Rowing is pleased to announce that we have been included in the relaunched Sport England Talented
Athlete Scholarship Scheme. It is a proven scheme which has helped many of our senior team rowers on their journey to World Championships or Olympic success”.

Sir David Tanner, GB Rowing Team Performance Director said: “This is very good news for the sport of rowing. We are delighted that Sport England is supporting this successful scheme and the rowing is very much a part of it”.

Scheme Director Guy Taylor said: “It is essential that athletes have the opportunity to continue both their studies and their sport and we feel this partnership with Sport England will provide a unique opportunity for talented athletes”.

Other big-named sports stars to have benefitted from the first 10-years of TASS include Tom Daley, Rebecca Adlington, Greg Rutherford, Laura Trott and Zac Purchase.

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