Lee Valley High Performance Centre: the engine room of British athletics
Lee Valley High Performance Centre (HIPAC) in North London has proved the most successful elite training base for British athletes. spikesmag.com spent a day at the state-of-the-art training track to find out why it has become such a powerhouse. We spoke to its coaches, athletes and the man behind the architecture
Coaches:
Lloyd Cowan, coach to Olympic 400m champion Christine Ohuruogu:
“The coaches we have here are coaches of excellence because we all want to be the best. If another coach does something good with the athletes then I’ll steal it. I won’t do it without permission; I’ll ask how it works. You won’t normally see coaches who won’t share ideas with other coaches. I always believe that if you give something, then you get it back ten-fold.”
John Herbert, coach to former European long jump silver medallist Jade Johnson:
“The ethos and structure of Lee Valley was very much around in the 80s and 90s with the successful Haringey club. Many of the coaches who work out of Lee Valley – and are now top performance coaches – came out of that era and have maintained that ethos. Most of them are top performance coaches, which is all about training at the right intensity, discipline and planning. The building gives the kids an opportunity to be more focused.”
Leading HIPAC-based coach Mike McFarlane:
“I think it’s an environment where you’ve got no excuse. Athletes can’t say they haven’t got someone to watch over their session. There are five coaches here that all have got good reputations, have done well and succeeded at the highest level. If you come through that door to join a group with these facilities you know a professional attitude is required.”
Athletes:
Jeanette Kwakye, the world indoor 60m silver medallist and Olympic 100m finalist:
“The centre is a hub of professionalism. We have everything here that we could possibly ask for - physiotherapists, nutritionists and physiologists. I can come here, spend the day here and get so much done. It has made life a lot easier, made we work a lot harder and recover a lot quicker because everything is so close together. I’ve got every single support service I possibly need right here in one place.”
World indoor long jump silver medallist Chris Tomlinson:
“It is really nice to mix with world-class athletes. I remember a block and starts session I did with a couple of sprinters a few days before the World Indoors. I beat them over 50m and that give me a huge amount of confidence ahead of the Championships. I was also doing some runway work but I was too cautious in the final strides. Phillips Idowu (Olympic triple jump silver medallist) was giving me grief and said I should go for it. I thought he was absolutely right and I started to be more aggressive. Being around world-class athletes has helped me.”
The architect
David Morley, partner of David Morley Architects, the firm that designed Lee Valley:
“This was a great project because we came in right at the beginning and were able to help the Lee Valley Authority select the precise location for the facilities. In the same way that the technology of a sports shoe helps performance, I strongly believe that architecture can do the same. For training, an uplifting environment must help; daylight has proven benefits to well being. Designing it so that you can easily get from changing to warming-up and from the indoor track to the outdoor facilities helps make a day’s training more efficient. Our concept of ‘open plan’ sport – all the areas are visually connected – helps athletes to be inspired by eachother. If we can also inspire more people to participate, we’ll get a bigger base on the pyramid of skill levels. That will mean the peak of the pyramid will raise higher, too.”
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