Christian Felkel returns to GB Rowing Team

Multi-medal winning Felkel appointed as new Technical Efficiency Specialist

Highly respected international coach Christian Felkel is returning to the GB Rowing Team as its new Technical Efficiency Specialist coach.

Christian left British Rowing in 2020 to spend more time with his family during the pandemic, where he spent a short time working with the German Rowing Federation, having spent 12 years as a High Performance coach for Great Britain and leading the Men’s Eight to a gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Now, as Technical Efficiency Specialist, Christian will work to bridge the gap between performance engineering and front line Olympic and Paralympic coaching to successfully develop and integrate biomechanical performance innovation projects into day-to-day coaching practice. He will work with the Performance Engineer and the Olympic and Paralympic Head Coaches to create and develop biomechanical projects that ultimately impact on boat speed.

Christian has been a rowing coach since 1982, first in Germany, then in South Africa and the UK. He has attended five Olympic Games as a coach, from 2000 to 2008 for South Africa and 2012 and 2016 for the UK, winning one gold and three bronze medals.

Speaking about his return to the GB Rowing Team, Christian said: “It’s great to be back with a team where I’ve had success as a coach, combined with the opportunity to take on an entirely new, different role of Technical Efficiency Specialist. I’ve been a coach for a long time but this additional technical aspect is a new challenge and I look forward to getting started.”

Louise Kingsley, Director of Performance said: “It is fantastic to have Christian return to the GB Rowing Team. This role will provide a unique opportunity to bring never before seen technology to frontline coaching delivery. As a world-leading men’s coach, Christian will work alongside our Performance Engineer Chris Bailey to seek the perfect balance of art and science to deliver success in Paris.”