Coach of the Year award for Team GBR Chris Gowers

by RYA on 19 Dec 2008 Skandia Team GBR Head Coach Chris Gowers, who aided Paul Goodison to Olympic sailing gold this summer, was honoured at the annual Sports Coach UK awards on 17 December.

Known for his interactive style of coaching, Gowers, from North Wales, was crowned in the High Performance Coach of the Year category at the awards dinner, which was held at the Dorchester in London’s Mayfair.

In additional to coaching Goodison to his first Olympic gold and fourth European Championship title in 2008, Gowers has been central to developing a generation of Laser sailors and as Skandia Team GBR Head Coach he provides a calm and steady hand and helps establish the standards in the coaching team at major international regattas.

Gowers’ fellow award recipients from the night included coaches from Britain’s other top performing sports in Beijing, such as Jurgen Grobler (rowing), Shane Sutton (cycling) and Bill Furniss (swimming).

Royal Yachting Association (RYA) CEO Rod Carr, who attended the awards ceremony, said: 'The Sports Coach UK awards recognise the often unsung heroes of sporting excellence. They not only highlight the importance of the coach in the world of elite sport, but also the amount of effort and passion that our dedicated and talented coaches put into developing their sailors.

'Chris has been a huge help, not just to Paul and the British Laser squad but to the whole of Skandia Team GBR over a number of years, so I’m delighted for him.'