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Coaching corner with Imogen Collins
Imogen Collins is British Canoeing ’ s Female England National Talent Squad Coach and from a young age , has been engrossed in the sport . Here she discusses her journey from messing about on the water , to attending Olympic training camps and becoming a coach for talented young people hoping to reach Olympic podiums . www . britishcanoeing . org . uk
WHAT AGE DID YOU START CANOEING ?
“ I first got into paddling when I was 10 years old . I attended a come and try session at Reading Canoe Club that involved playing around in plastic boats . Pretty quickly my whole family got hooked on the sport , and we ’ ve had a family membership to British Canoeing ever since .
“ My sister and I soon progressed from plastic boats , to paddling in longer skinnier boats such as the Lightnings . I competed in marathon and sprint but after competing in my first Sprint Regatta , I became hooked on canoe sprint and from the age of 16 , began focusing solely on canoe sprint .”
WHAT LEVEL DID YOU GET TO WITHIN YOUR PADDLING CAREER ?
“ During my time as a junior I was part of the junior training group , which was led by a number of different people over the years including Claudia Le Roux and Mark Hoile . I competed internationally at the Junior Development Regatta and at the Olympic Hopes Regatta . My event was then removed from the competition , meaning I missed out on the junior team , but this motivated me to get into coaching .”
WHO WERE YOUR MOST INFLUENTIAL COACHES AS A JUNIOR ?
“ There were two people ; firstly Dave Coulson , at the time he was the Lead Junior Coach and I was coached by him at Reading Canoe Club . He always believed in me and could see that I had talent I hadn ’ t quite found yet . He never said much , but when he did , the words he spoke were very powerful . The other would be Brian Greenham , as a coach I don ’ t know how he tolerated me but he was very motivational and I still talk to him regularly .”
HOW DID YOU GET INTO COACHING ?
“ I was fortunate enough to be offered the chance to work with British Canoeing as a female chaperone at junior training camps through Brendon Stead . Brendon very quickly realised that I could also add value to some of the coaching elements at these camps . This was the start of my coaching development in the pathway . I love working with the younger talent and my aspirations are to give as many young people as many opportunities as possible .”