Barney Williams    Victoria Talent Development Centre Coach Making the transition from Olympic medallist to high performance coach, Barney Williams joins the Rowing Talent Development Centre coaching staff with the same energy and passion he applied to his own athletic career. Barney attended the University of Victoria to pursue his Olympic dream of competing for Canada in rowing. Following his studies at UVIC he joined the Canadian National Rowing team ultimately winning a gold medal at the 2003 World Championship in the Men’s 4- and a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in the same event.  Following the Olympics Barney studied at Oxford University in the UK, completing a Diploma of Legal Studies at Jesus College and a Master’s of Management Research at the Said Business School. While studying at Oxford, Barney competed in the famous Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race winning in 2005 and 2006. Now focusing on a career in coaching, Barney is enrolled at the National Coaching Institute of BC and has helped guide the University of Victoria to back to back Canadian University Rowing Championships for the first time since 1999. Barney is thrilled to have the opportunity to help athletes achieve Olympic and International success through the access to world class training facilities, high performance coaching and access to cutting edge support services through the Talent Development Centre; a performance partnership between Rowing Canada Aviron, Rowing BC and Canadian Sport Centre Pacific.

Patrick Newman Victoria Talent Development Centre Coach With over 30 years experience in the sport of rowing, Patrick joins CSC Pacific as the Rowing Development Coach. Originally from St. Catharines, Ontario, Patrick now calls BC home. As a member of the Canadian Rowing Team at the 1988 Seoul and 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games, he led his team as coxswain.  He has coached numerous Olympians and World Champions achieve their ultimate dreams, coaching the men’s single team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, as well as gold, silver, and bronze medalists at numerous World Championships and Pan Am games between 2003-2010. Patrick brings a very strong technical background to the sport and hopes to continue his journey helping athletes excel and reach their full potential generating future Canadian champions.

Ben Rutledge Vancouver Talent Development Centre Coach Ben is a seven-time world Cup Medalist, three-time World Champion,two-time Olympian and 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist with the Canadian Men’s 8+ Rowing team. His efforts have also garnered him the Canadian Partners of the Year award from 2003, 2007, 2008 at the Canadian Sport awards and was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. Ben is currently Rowing British Columbia’s Head Coach and Assistant Talent Development Centre Coach for the Vancouver Talent Development Centre at the University of British Columbia.