Nicola Benavente to lead next chapter of British Para Rowing success

Nicola Benavente has been appointed GB Rowing Team’s new Paralympic Head Coach

Nicola has worked as Paralympic High Performance Coach for two years, establishing fantastic relationships across the squad and winning her first Paralympic gold and silver medals at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. These successes complemented two World Championship golds at the 2023 World Rowing Championships with the PR3 Mix4+ and PR2 Mix2x.

Nicola was a GB Rowing Team Start coach from 2014 to 2022 where she was most recently instrumental in establishing Matt Haywood as a leading sculler within the Olympic men’s programme. Nicola was part of the UK Sport female coaches leadership programme in 2021 and was selected onto the UK Sport Coaching in High-Performance Sport programme in 2023.

Speaking of her appointment, Nicola said: “I am honoured to be appointed Head Coach for the Paralympic team. I’m excited to continue working with such a great group of athletes and to continue to build on the success of Paris 2024.”

Louise Kingsley, GB Rowing Team Director of Performance said: “Nicola is an outstanding, talented coach who delivered great success with a gold medal for the PR3 Mixed coxed four and a silver medal for the PR3 Mixed double in Paris. She is well respected amongst the athletes and staff and with her strong vision for leading the programme I am confident the squad will be in great hands with her at the helm.”

Nicola will begin the new role on Monday, 9 December 2024. Recruitment to find a new High Performance Coach for the Paralympic Squad will get underway in 2025.