FIELDMAN Henry

General
COXING CONSULTANCY
He founded Coxing Consultancy to help coach coxes and improve the relationship between rowers and coxes. "There is a bit of a separation [between rowers and coxes]. They're going through a difficult training regime, you're not. And when they're exhausted, you're really not that tired. You have a very different role, it's tough when you're coaching them and you want to help as much as you can but you can see they're going through this awfully difficult training regime and you sometimes feel like you want to do more. But I definitely feel part of the collective. The boat doesn't go straight without us. I coach a lot of coxes and a lot of them talk about being disrespected by the rowers. The way they describe it is sometimes being bullied. It's not like that here though at Team GB, everyone sees what everyone brings to the team and it's great and I've never experienced anything like that. But post-rowing, I would love to help shift the way some people treat coxes in club and school environments." (coxingconsultancy.co.uk, 25 Aug 2019; swlondoner.co.uk, 10 Mar 2020)

EDUCATION
After completing a bachelor's degree in zoology in 2011 at Imperial College London, he went on to complete a master's degree in biology of vision at University College London in 2012, followed by a master's degree in psychology and education at the University of Cambridge in 2013. He coxed for each of these universities on their rowing teams. (LinkedIn profile, 01 Sep 2015; coxingconsultancy.co.uk, 25 Aug 2019)

EARLY DAYS
He was inspired to try out for the British rowing squad after a chance encounter with a fellow rower. "I earned my first Great Britain vest at the Coupe de la Jeunesse in 2006 in the coxed four. I had enjoyed coxing at school but hadn't really imagined I could ever cox for Great Britain. One early morning during one of our runs around the river before school began, I found myself running with one of the girls in our team who was a few years older than I was. She had been doing Great Britain trials for a few seasons by this point, and suggested I go in for trials myself. I remember her saying, 'I don't see why you can't be of that standard', and that really put the seed in my mind. I trialled that year and didn't make it, then came back the following year and won the seat in the Coupe coxed four. Following that I worked my way up through the under 23 team, Great Britain second eight and then finally into the senior team proper." (britishrowing.org, 01 Apr 2020)