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Natalie’s love for both rowing and coaching started as a junior at her local rowing club, and whilst at university she was a driving force in establishing Chichester University RC.  After leaving university, she was Club Captain and Head Coach at Worthing RC before being recruited by Headington School, Oxford.

Whilst at Headington, Natalie coached across all year groups, in a programme that is steeped in a history of producing national and international medal-winners.  Her crews won medals at the National Schools’ Regatta, and several athletes that she had started off on their rowing journey were in the victorious JW8+ at Henley Royal Regatta in 2021. 

Natalie’s role at Headington evolved over time, with growing responsibility for the day-to-day running of the club, as well as the welfare of the students from J14-18.  Since joining  SWPS in January 2022, she has put this experience to fantastic use to steer the Boat Club alongside the Head Coach, and performs a huge number of unseen but crucial tasks in order to maintain the smooth running of all rowing operations.  As the Lead Coach for J15s, Natalie’s SWPS crews have already been on the national podium on a number of occasions, and she is a vital component in the continued forward progress of the club!

Jonno’s coaching career has spanned the last sixteen years, and has involved working in some of the country’s top school rowing programmes.  The Lady Eleanor Holles School, Latymer Upper School and London Oratory had significant successes during his tenures, with his crews regularly winning national medals.  Over 25 athletes that Jonno has coached at some point during their school careers have gone on to gain international representation in the sport, and countless others have a passion for rowing engrained for life thanks to his boundless enthusiasm for the sport, and love for conveying this to young people.  Jonno has worked as Equipment Manager/Boatman alongside his coaching since 2009, and has a wealth of experience, setting him up well to maintain and organise a large fleet of top-level racing boats.  From 2018-2021 he was the England Equipment Manager, a role that supported the team’s performances at the Home International Regatta each year.  As the Lead Coach for J14s, Jonno inspires the youngest rowers of our club in their first year as full rowing members, which led to SWPSBC’s best ever J14 octuple results at the 2022 National Schools’ Regatta!

Iona rowed throughout her time at school in Aberdeen, gaining early successes as a part of the first Aberdeen Schools’ Rowing Association (ASRA) crew to win a gold medal at the National Schools’ Regatta.  Winning in such a demanding and competitive sport ignited the competitive flame, and Iona has never looked back!  Whilst at school, she won medals at National Schools’ Regatta and the British Rowing Junior Championships, as well as gaining selection for the GB J16 Team, and Scottish Junior Team at the Home International Regatta.  Continuing her rowing at university, Iona was selected for Great Britain at two World Rowing U23 Championships in the Women’s Eight, winning a silver medal in Austria in 2013 – a career highlight.  She has won Henley Women’s Regatta twice, and rowed in the final of the Remenham Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta.

As a coach, Iona has previously worked at ASRA, Surrey University, Whitgift School and Molesey Boat Club, most notably supporting their junior athletes to medals at National Schools’ Regatta, the British Rowing Junior Championships, and numerous athletes to selection for the Great Britain and Scottish teams.  She is a crucial part of the support network for our Senior rowers, as the whole squad targets developing into the best athletes they can be.

Sam began rowing at Bath University, and quickly realised that she had found a sport in which she had the potential to excel.  Her first GB selection was as part of a development Women’s Eight for the Windermere Cup in Seattle, USA, and this was soon followed by U23 representation in consecutive years.  In 2014 she won a Silver Medal in the Women’s Eight, and in 2015 a Bronze in the Women’s Four, which provided a springboard into her career as part of the Great Britain Senior Team.  2019 saw Sam qualify the Women’s Pair for the Tokyo Olympic Games, and she was subsequently selected for Team GB for what would have been her Olympic debut.  Sadly, the Covid pandemic, the subsequent delay of the Games, and a back injury meant that Sam missed-out on the rearranged Tokyo event.  After rehabilitating from this injury, she spent a further year racing at the highest domestic level for Leander Club, during which time she was a mentor for younger athletes just starting out on their adult rowing careers.  Sam has previously coached in prestigious programmes such as at Shiplake College, and is looking forward to passing on her knowledge to the current crop of SWPS rowers, including the biggest lesson she learned from rowing – the happier you are, the faster you go!

Bethany is a SWPS alumna, and rowed as a committed part of the club during her J14-18 years.  She raced each year at National Schools’ Regatta, and was a key part of the SWPS 1^st Quad that progressed through to the quarter-final at Henley Women’s Regatta, and then qualified for Henley Royal Regatta in 2021.  Whilst serving as Vice Captain of Boats, Bethany suffered from post-viral chronic fatigue syndrome, which meant she was unable to train and race with her peers for the last ten months of her time at school.  She is determined to use her own experiences to support all SWPS athletes, particularly any who find themselves ill or injured and unable to train for any period of time.  She found our Club an incredibly supportive place during her own tough times, and is keen to add her knowledge to the team to ensure that remains the case.  After a Gap-Year coaching at SWPS, Bethany will start her own Nursing degree in September 2023.   Coaching the younger rowers at SWPS, she is able to give the pupils an insight into the exciting journey they can look forward to as members of our club!

Jennie began rowing whilst at university, as a talent transfer athlete from England Rugby, where she captained England A.  She quickly progressed as part of GB Rowing’s World Class Start Programme, and trained at Molesey Boat Club prior to being selected for the National Team.  Jennie rowed in the GB Women’s Eight during the 2009 World Cup season, during which she realised that her passion for the sport lay in helping others.  She coached in top school rowing programmes both in the UK and abroad, before serving as Head of Rowing at SWPS from 2013-17.  During this time, she coached national medal-winning crews, including the school’s first ever Championship Gold Medal at the National Schools’ Regatta, in the Girls’ Pair.  Jennie was responsible for the massive increase of popularity of rowing at the school, and oversaw the planning and building of our wonderful boathouse which opened in 2016.  Jennie combines coaching the younger year groups with teaching GCSE and A Level PE, and uses her background as a Sports Science graduate to support both rowers and those pursuing academic qualifications in sport at SWPS.