The Big Interview: Angus Groom

The path to becoming an Olympian is one of hard graft, incredible highs and lows, teamwork, individual relentless training and that elusive, long-dreamed-of medal.

Angus Groom OG 2010 has achieved this not once but twice, competing with the GB Rowing Team at both the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where he won a Silver Medal in the men’s quadruple sculls, and now is heading towards his final competitive race, rowing for Oxford in this year’s Boat Race on 3 April 2022.

It all began after Angus joined the RGS in 2003, a member of Nettles house and keen sportsman. At the RGS he played rugby and athletics, and took up rowing in the 4th form at Walton Rowing Club, winning his first major competition a year later. Indeed, he achieved his first Great Britain selection when just a 5th former. He recalls that Mr Wilkes, then RGS Director of Sport, enabled him to train at Walton Rowing Club for his Wednesday afternoon games, which was very helpful in his development as an international rower. In many ways, none of his peers at the School really knew what he was doing and what the world of rowing entailed, as there were very few other rowers around the School at that time. ➧

In his final year at School, Angus was selected to represent GB in the double and quadruple sculls at Munich International Regatta where he won a silver medal. At the GB Rowing Junior Final Trials Regatta, he finished first in the single scull – the fastest individual in the country. That summer he was also selected for the GB team for the World Junior Rowing Championships. Even then, however, the dual worlds of rowing and academia meant that going to university remained a clear ambition, in tandem with his sporting prowess.

Mr Woodman was his Biology teacher and was a big influence on Angus’ choice of subject at university and his subsequent decision to forge a career in Medical Science. He won a sports scholarship to Durham University in 2010, where he read Natural Sciences, and was awarded “Sportsman of the Year” at the Palatinate dinner (the celebration of Durham University sport for the year) in his final year there in 2013. He went on to represent GB in the Under 23 World Championships and was part of the four-man team which won the Queen Mother Challenge Cup at Royal Henley Regatta in 2015. He was also a member of the Coxless Fours team which won a gold medal at the 2015 World Rowing Cup in Italy.

“At 13 I dreamt of being an Olympian but never knew if it was possible. Realistically it was all about setting goals and meeting the next challenge up the ladder, as you never know how far you can go.” In his early days of competing in the Great Britain team, it was all about the GB kit and what it represented. “Earning the red and blue hoops” was a measure of progress as the kit changed with each move up the levels, be it age group or seniority.

Competing in Rio in his first Olympics was a huge experience, part of Team GB and with a very strong British presence throughout the hotel, right down to the branding everywhere. There was much to be distracted by but as race day approached focus turned to the competition itself.

“My experience out in Rio was extraordinary. The city is a very special place to be and rowing under Christ the Redeemer was surreal. Normally the rowing venue is out in the countryside but in Rio you were racing in the heart of the city. Our racing experience was particularly turbulent having to change a member of our crew four days before the start of the competition due to illness. We were going up against established crews in the quadruple sculls event who had rowed together for four years or more. The standard of the event was such that anyone from the field could have won gold. We are very proud of how we handled ourselves as athletes, as this was not easy to deal with mentally. We were very proud with our 5th place, but at the same time disappointed as there will always be the feeling of “what if” had we been our full strength crew. Only 5,000 people in history are able to call themselves Team GB Olympians, and so to be one of these is something that I am very proud of. My experience in Rio gave me strength, drive and motivation to try to win a medal at Tokyo 2020.”

Angus is very aware of the role psychology plays in sport, and that as an athlete you measure your self-worth by your performance. This can work in both positive and less helpful ways. After Rio he began talking to a sports psychologist which had an enormous impact. It didn’t just address issues such as the mental recovery from injury and disappointment, which athletes have to deal with, but focussed on optimising performance. It was no coincidence that Angus and the crew rowed their best after working with a sports psychologist. Collectively the team had open and honest discussions, working on their strengths and weaknesses. This brought real cohesion and belief and trust which translated into optimal performance in their racing.

Row, breakfast, weights in the gym, rest, rowing machine. Repeat. This means there is plenty of thinking time. How do you go about measuring the success of the day beyond a five- and half-minute race? He introduced other focal points to the day other than the race itself to look forward to no matter how small, even as trivial as building a Lego set! Two measures of success! ➧

Angus was thrilled to be selected for the GB men’s quadruple sculls at the Toyko Olympics and he took a lot of the learnings from Rio to Tokyo, about being an Olympian.

On the day of the Finals race itself, Angus found himself not nervous but full of clarity and trust in the team in the boat. A sense of trust and self-belief had grown in the group and, secure in the belief that they were going to do the best that they could do and thus walk away happy whatever the result, the pressure of the race was released. They had been in a 7-week training camp and gone straight to Tokyo, delivering their best performance to date in their final practice race. The experience of having already taken part in one Olympics gave Angus confidence in the expectations and process around the event. Each crew member had a particular focus and Angus’ role in the boat was the “race calls”: technical decisions, when to push ahead etc; he also delivered the pre-race talk.

The GB boat got a flying start and were still up in the lead at 1,000 metres: it was very exciting to find themselves at this place, at this stage. Then the Italian team caught a crab (technical term for messing up their oars!) and the GB team seized this as time to push ahead. The race kicked on as they ticked off markers and processes, blotting out the pain and just focussed on getting to the end in the best way they could. The Dutch crew came past them, the standout team in the competition, and went on to take gold. Angus recalls the last 500 metres – so much pain. And believe, believe it will happen. It did and the GB team came second, silver medal position. Crossing the line, the beeps of the timers went off – 3 in quick succession. Through a blur of blackness in his head, the results board showed 1st place to The Netherlands and, to Angus, what looked like 2nd place to GER. He then remembered that Germany were not even in the race and it had to be GB!

The race took place in the morning so the afternoon became a whirl of media interviews, capping off the perfect day with the four of them sharing a bus with Andy Murray back to the Olympic Village. It genuinely felt like a dream until Angus woke to see his medal on the bedside table the next morning, when it became a reality. Approaching the Games, they had felt that only bronze was realistic, so winning silver felt like his “gold” and he achieved everything he had ever wished for. The final broke GB records – the fastest team ever in that race, and the first ever medal for that particular boat class.

After Rio in 2016, Angus went to Bristol University to study for an MSc in Stem Cells and Regeneration and he is at now Oxford University working on a DPhil in Medical Science. His research focusses on the earliest mutations in blood stem cells that contribute to the development of acute myeloid leukaemia. Throughout his time, he has combined high-level training and international competitions with on-going academic studies, a balance which he has embraced whole-heartedly and with considerable success. As he said of embarking on his DPhil in 2021, “It seems strange to be starting my career at 29”, though we could reflect on the remarkable results he has achieved on the water as a complete career already!

Photography © Row360 Angus describes himself as “very happy to be in Oxford now, using my brain again.” Rowing at elite levels and the dedication involved has developed a wide range of transferrable skills which Angus is now applying to life in academia. Study has always been part of his life, and he is looking forward to where his DPhil will take him, be it further research or the commercial world. He has also been training hard for the Boat Race on 3rd April 2022. Having spent years with GB rowers, he is finding it refreshing to train alongside other international rowers, some of whom he used to compete against. It is also providing a technical challenge as his specialism for many years has been sculls (two oars) and he is now re-learning single oar technique in a boat of eight. Only one other OG has taken part in the Boat Race – Chris le Neve Foster OG 1999 who rowed for Cambridge and actually taught Angus Latin … at the RGS!

So Angus has now retired from international rowing and the Boat Race is his last race. Ready to move onto life beyond the water.

Fact: His silver Olympic medal is surprisingly heavy and weighs about half a kilo. It is embossed with his winning race details on the side and Tokyo 2020 on the back.