Equestrian prospects taste sports science and medicine

30th March 2010

A number of equestrian prospects for Olympic and Paralympic success from the East Midlands, were amongst the British Equestrian Federation's (BEF) Foundation Squad, trying on life as an elite athlete for size, as they attended a taster day with the English Institute of Sport (EIS) and Loughborough University on the 30th March.

With some of the country’s top athletes training at the University and accessing sport science and medical services from the EIS High Performance Centre, the session, funded by the BEF, aimed to educate riders on the various support networks which they may require as they develop and compete at the highest level.

"Today was an opportunity for the riders to see what life is like behind the scenes for an elite athlete at the EIS and Loughborough University. It was great to be able to get an insight into the sport science and medical services available and to understand how these could be used to develop their careers" says Regional Coach David Hamer.

"The facilities and academic opportunities at Loughborough speak for themselves and the EIS experts are some of the best in the world - so it's great for our Foundation Squad to get a feel for what it’s like to be an elite athlete based here" he adds.

Riders were introduced to EIS services including Performance Nutrition, Performance Lifestyle and Strength and Conditioning, the latter session being run in conjunction with the University support staff who also deliver services to University athletes.

Victoria Underwood, EIS Performance Operations Manager at Loughborough said; "The British Equestrian Federation has invested in giving their developing riders this opportunity to learn about performance sport science and medicine and how they can access services at the University.

"Delivering support services to over 350 athletes from around 26 Olympic, Paralympic and professional sport in the East Midlands alone, we hope that the first of two sessions the squad have invested in will deliver a thorough insight into how sport science and medicine could play a part in their life as an elite athlete."

The Regional Foundation Squads have been set up via funding from Sport England and are being co-ordinated by the BEF. The Squads aim to identify and support talented riders, between the ages of 16-24, who show the potential to progress to International sporting success.