WAIS Rowing Head Coach Rhett Ayliffe appointed Rowing Australia National Head Coach
Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) Rowing Head Coach Rhett Ayliffe has been appointed Rowing Australia (RA) Head Coach of the Reinhold Batschi Men’s National Training Centre (NTC).
Ayliffe heads to Rowing Australia after leading a resurgence in the WAIS program since his appointment in September 2014. Five WA athletes competed at the Tokyo Games, including the first rowing gold medallist Annabelle McIntyre and bronze medallist Jack Cleary.
Earlier this year Ayliffe was seconded to Rowing Australia to coach the men’s eight at the Tokyo Games. In what was his fourth Olympic Games across a 20-year coaching career that includes coaching David Crawshay and Scott Brennan to gold in the men’s double scull in Beijing 2008.
“I am both excited and grateful for the opportunity to become the Head Coach of the Australian Men’s Rowing Team. I am proud to lead a team that enjoys a rich sporting history and I want to thank Rowing Australia for trusting me with this position,” said Ayliffe.
“Having a previous history with the majority of NTC athletes over my last 17 years in coaching & recent Tokyo games, I am well positioned and eager keen to get to work.
“I value the support WAIS has given me over the past seven and a half years to rebuild the rowing program and WA pathway. To lead a team that enables Western Australian athletes to have a genuine opportunity to graduate to the NTC and make the Olympic Team has been a highlight.
“I am grateful to WAIS and CEO Steve Lawrence in supporting me to bring in changes, that I believed would improve the program. The team including Leon Vogels, Matt Doyle and Martyn Binnie have been some of the best support staff I have worked with in my career. I also would like to thank and acknowledge the role Jamie Hewlett has played in supporting me and the program.
“The WA pathway is a collaborative joint venture between Rowing Australia, WAIS, Rowing WA and the High Performance Clubs and their combined support has made these successes possible.”
WAIS Chief Executive Steve Lawrence said,” We are very excited for Rhett and proud to have been part of his journey to the role of Head Coach of RA’s Men’s National Training Centre. Rhett has been a great leader of the WA high performance pathway in his role as WAIS Head Coach and we are very confident he will be equally successful in his new role.”
WAIS in partnership with Rowing Australia will commence recruitment for a new Head Coach to lead the program through to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and beyond.