‘I think it’s fair to say my PE teachers at school wouldn’t have expected me to go on and represent Great Britain at an Olympic Games,’ smiles rower Oli Wilkes, thinking back to his formative years at All Saints’ Primary and Highfields School in Matlock as he reflects on his selection in the British coxless four team for Paris 2024, where he will make his Olympic debut.
Born in Beverley in East Yorkshire on July 14 1995, Oli moved with his family to Matlock when he was just two and talks fondly about his upbringing in the area.
‘I really liked the fact Matlock’s in the countryside and you could do some fun outdoor activities, I obviously went up the Heights of Abraham a few times!’
And one of Oli’s most treasured memories growing up - despite admitting he ‘didn't show much promise in football or rugby’ - was his involvement in sport.
A keen mountain biker today, as a youngster, it was swimming that particularly inspired him.
‘I enjoyed my school life and the sports I got to take part in there,’ he recalls.
‘I started swimming at Matlock Swimming Club and that’s where my sporting journey started, through the love of swimming. I think the club was - and still is - called ‘MAD Swimming Club’, which stands for Matlock and District Swimming Club.’
Between the age of 13 through until his first year at the University of Liverpool, Oli swam competitively.
He jokes that one of his ‘claims to fame’ is beating three-time Olympic champion Adam Peaty OBE in a freestyle race, during a period in which he was surrounded by a highly talented pool (pardon the pun!) of Derbyshire-based swimmers.
‘I must stress that was in freestyle, because Adam’s obviously a world-beating breaststroker!’ adds Oli with a laugh.
‘We both competed in the same county and it became pretty obvious he was going to be somewhat of a superstar, as he was hitting national records and going off to international competitions.
‘It was cool knowing you were racing alongside this guy that was super talented and who was really going places with his swimming.
‘Adam was at the City of Derby Swimming Club and I was at the Derventio, which were sort of rival clubs at the time (and have since merged to form Derby Excel Swimming Club).
‘Sarah Vasey, Molly Renshaw and Abbie Wood were at my club too. Abbie’s going to the Olympics this year and Sarah and Molly both went to previous Olympics. It’s been quite inspirational for me to watch these people who I swam alongside have success.’
While Messrs and Mmes Peaty, Vasey, Renshaw and Wood all went on to excel in the pool at senior international level, a change of direction for Oli when he was a university student saw him end up becoming a top-class rower instead.
‘I started rowing at university when it became more difficult to swim competitively,’ explains Oli, who celebrated his 29th birthday recently.
‘I didn't quite have an especially good relationship with the swimming coach at university. So, I decided with a friend of mine that we were going to start rowing the next year. The fitness and strength I had gained from swimming carried across well and I found I had a decent knack for rowing.
‘After two years of training at Liverpool, I went to Edinburgh University to do my Masters and I carried on rowing and it snowballed from there.
‘I managed to get my first international race with the under-23 age group World Championships. I left university without a job and I made the commitment to start training full-time, with the goal of making the senior national team.’
Fast forward to last year and Oli was part of the men’s coxless four that won gold at the World Championships in Belgrade and at the European Championships in Bled.
The quartet of Oli, David Ambler, Matt Aldridge and Freddie Davidson also won gold at the European Championships in Szeged, Hungary, in April this year.
So, what chance is there of Oli and his crew striking gold at Paris 2024 too?
‘Last season, we had quite a dominant season in R4 and were world champions last year,’ explains Oli.
‘This season we've had a few bumps in the road. In one of our races we were beaten by Italy and the most recent race we had saw us beaten by the US and the Kiwis. So, we've probably got a little bit slower while the opposition is pushing on a little bit.
‘The Olympics will be all about us trying to re-find the form that we enjoyed last season. It won’t be easy, but I think we're on the right track. We've got two training camps just before the Olympics and that’s the time to really find the speed that we had.
‘I'm optimistic. I think we're on a good trajectory. As long as we keep pushing on, I think we could be on for a very exciting race in Paris. If we are at our best, I think we can compete for the gold. We have to push for that. I think I'd be lying if I said we weren't going there to win.’
Oli will be cheered on in France, where he will hopefully compete in the final of the men’s coxless fours at the National Olympic Nautical Stadium of Île-de-France in Vaires-sur-Marne on August 1, by his parents, brother and some of his cousins.
‘We’ll travel out on the Eurostar around a week and a half before the race with the rest of Team GB,’ outlines Oli, who is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing him to train full-time.
‘Then we’ll train in Paris until the race. I'll be staying after the race until the closing ceremony and then coming back to Derbyshire to see family and friends after that. My grandma is coming back down from the Lake District, so I'll see her too. Let’s hope I can bring an Olympic medal back to show her!’
Who are the Derbyshire athletes heading to the Olympics?
Oli is one of a number of talented Derbyshire athletes set to compete at this summer’s Olympic Games.
The aforementioned Adam Peaty OBE will compete in the 100m breaststroke and 4x100m medley relay in Paris – as well as the 4x100m mixed medley relay, if selected – where he will be looking to add to his Olympic medal tally of three gold and two silvers, won across two previous Games in Rio de Janerio and Tokyo. The Derby College alumni received the Freedom of the City of Derby following his success at the 2016 Olympics and an honorary degree of Master of the University of Derby the same year.
Also competing in the pool is Alfreton-born Jacob Whittle, who will be making his second appearance at the Games – having debuted in Tokyo aged just 15! Jacob will compete in the 4x100m freestyle relay. Another teenager – 17-year-old Eva Okaro – will take part in the 50m and 100m freestyle events as well as the 4×100m freestyle relay. Eva is coached by Ash Morris at the renowned Repton School in Derbyshire.
Buxton-born Abbie Wood returns to the Olympics having won five Commonwealth Games medals (two silver and three bronze) since her trip to Tokyo for the delayed 2020 Games. She competed in Japan alongside Derbyshire-swimmers Sarah Vassey and Molly Renshaw and will take part in three events in Paris.
In other sports, Allenton-born boxer Chantelle Reid will represent Great Britain at middleweight level. Chantelle won a gold medal at the 2014 European Junior Boxing Championship and bronze at the 2015 World Youth Championship before a back injury forced her to quit the sport until making a comeback in 2020.
Two-time medallist Hollie Pearne-Webb MBE will captain Team GB’s women’s hockey team in Paris in what, she has announced, will be her last Olympic Games. The Belper-born defender was part of the Team GB side that won gold in Rio in 2016 and followed up with a bronze medal in Tokyo. Hollie was granted the Freedom of the Borough of Amber Valley in March 2017
Interviews with Chesterfield-born para-badminton star Jack Shephard and swimming sensation Megan Neave from Repton will appear in our preview to the Paralympic Games in the September issue of Derbyshire Life.
