Ayliffe answers call to lift rowing stocks
Rhett Ayliffe is back in Perth and determined to build WA rowing back to the top.
Ayliffe is from NSW but has completed a homecoming of sorts by returning to take up the WAIS rowing head coaching job.
The 47-year-old father of three left WAIS in 2005 to further his coaching career after three years with the program.
He then led David Crawshay and Scott Brennan to gold in the men's double scull in the 2008 Beijing Olympics before honing his skills at the AIS in Canberra over the past five years.
But when the job at WAIS came up, the mere mention of the opportunity had Ayliffe's West Australian wife Emy packing her bags.
"I think she literally had the boxes packed that night and I hadn't had an interview yet," Ayliffe said.
Ayliffe admits he needed to be convinced it was the right move, but the more he thought about it, the more excited he became.
He took up his post in September and is happy to be back in familiar surrounds.
He is not prepared to say WA rowing has gone backwards since he was last here, but the representative numbers tell a story.
In 2004, WA boasted 11 athletes in the Olympic team, five in the under-23 team and eight in the junior team.
Now we have just two athletes in an Olympic boat, two in the under-23 team and two in the juniors.
"The numbers say we are not actually producing what we have in the past," Ayliffe said. "I don't know the answer to that, that's what I'm trying to find out."
Ayliffe, who is working directly with six WAIS rowers, is raising the volume and intensity of the training program.
A typical Monday would involve the athletes cycling to the shed and rowing about 36km over about 3 1/2 hours, before riding home again.
In the afternoon they would go into WAIS and complete a weights program in the gym.
"I'm trying to make sure they are well prepared to move into a national crew," Ayliffe said.
"We only have them for parts of the year because once they make a squad or a team they go east."
Ayliffe is also encouraging London Olympians Alexandra Hagan and Hannah Vermeersch to consider competing in the pair so they don't miss out, because the Australian women's eight is so far failing to produce the results required to qualify for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
The eight finished 10th at the world championships in Amsterdam and will need to move up to at least fifth next year if they are to make the Olympics.
Maia Simmonds and Perry Ward had promising displays in Amsterdam, but not in Olympic-class boats. Ayliffe is looking to move them into double teams or a lightweight four.
