A few weeks ago, I was able to interview Greg Whyte, sports scientist, and ask him a few questions about his work with David Walliams on the Thames swim, his other Comic and Sport Relief challenges, as well as his feelings on both our home town of Luton. Photos are credited to Greg Whyte.
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While Little Britain’s David Walliams fought tirelessly against the cold and sewerage in 140 miles of the Thames, swimming alongside him for 100 miles and carefully monitoring his progress was Greg Whyte, an expert in science behind sport.
Greg has had an eclectic career, having represented Great Britain in the Modern Pentathlon in the Olympic Games in 1992 and 1996, and won a Silver and Bronze medal in the World Championships in 1994 and 1999. Alongside training and preparing celebrities for some awe-inspiring challenges for Comic and Sport Relief, he is also a Professor of Applied Sport and Exercise Science at Liverpool John Moores University where he runs an MSc course, and is a specialist at the Harley Street Clinic that aims to improve sport performance.
It was in 2005, when David Walliams was first considering Comic Relief projects that Greg Whyte first got involved with the BBC’s annual fundraising projects. It all started with a tongue-in-cheek comment made by Walliams that he would swim the English Channel. It proved eventually to be the challenge he undertook, with Whyte at his side, coaching and mentoring him. Since then, Greg Whyte has been involved in nine Comic and Sports Relief projects and has helped his respective celebrities raise an amazing £13 million for charity.
When asked if any of these fundraisers, including Walliams’ recent Thames Swim, Eddie Izzard’s 43 marathons in 51 days and the trek up Kilimanjaro, have been the most challenging, he says, “a challenge is about the journey, not the end point.” He cites Bleakley’s attempt to water ski across the Channel as being an amazing achievement, considering the fact that “she was weak, had no endurance and was afraid of water.” But he does concede that Eddie’s marathons and Walliams’ Thames swim were “standout performances.” Indeed, Izzard was given a special award at the 2009 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards to mark his incredible achievement.
David’s Thames swim, compared to the Channel swim, was “different, though similar up to a point. The Channel was tough but was only one day. The Thames was over multiple days. We went to France for three days for up to eight-hour swims and we had four months training. But David had already swum the Gibraltar Straits, and done the non-stop cycle, so he was in much better physical condition this time.”
Greg Whyte says “I am effectively anonymous; it is ultimately about the performer, but my job as coach is to bring about success.” He is responsible for the logistics of each challenge, arranging food, scheduling, training, support and how long each stage will be. Underpinning his coaching and research is his experiences in sport, including Olympics games and World Championships and he says “I was fortunate to be talented to take part in sport and joined academia with sport. I could use the science in training.”
He is grateful to his parents and believes “success in life is built around family. My parents were interested and committed to give me opportunity.” But he also believes the facilities in his hometown of Luton were as important. He was a member of the Luton and Vauxhall Swimming Club, Luton Sword Club, Luton Athletics Club and he used to ride horses in Harpenden, all of which gave him a terrific grounding in sport that helped pave the way for the rest of his career.
The town of Luton often receives a bad reputation in the media, but Greg says that a lot is being done in Luton to help young people get involved in sport. “It is an extremely challenging time with the obesity epidemic conspiring to make it very difficult. But there is still commitment, drive and excellence in Luton with very good facilities.”
His advice to anyone trying to get into sports science, and applicable to any profession, is “to work hard, take opportunities and put yourself out there. My Comic Relief work was done for nothing, like much of my early career. I did unpaid work in football, and Formula 1. We live tragically in an X Factor driven society, as though ‘sexy’ jobs fall through the door. But you have to work for it.”
He maintains links with his home town, is still a Luton Town Football Club season ticket holder, and attends matches regularly with his dad. He describes last season’s play-off final against AFC Wimbledon as “gutting” and says “Luton deserves to be playing in a better league. The support is amazing, both home and away. They are playing good football and I hope they do get promoted this year.”
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