Duo still going to great lengths
Morgan Hellen and Tim Grant have represented their country since they were 15. They have dedicated their lives to rowing, with the ultimate aim of winning a gold medal in the men’s pair.
They train six days a week in the hope of selection for the GB team at the next world championships but have higher hopes for the 2020 Olympics.
The duo dream of rowing together in the same boat but understand that is a decision only GB chief coach Jurgen Grobler can make.
Morgan began his rowing career aged 11 while at Oakwood Park Grammar School. The school had held an assembly in which they advertised for the young boys to take up rowing and encouraged them to join the Maidstone after-school rowing club. As a boy of solid stature and fair height, he decided to give the challenging sport a shot.
Spaces were limited to 30 and so places were given on a first-come firstserved basis.
He said: “I was the last person to hand in my slip and the boy behind me in the line was told he couldn’t join.
“I was pretty lucky that I got there when I did.
“If I didn’t, I probably wouldn’t have pursued it otherwise and would certainly not be rowing today.”
Tim’s rowing vocation began a little more opulently.
His dad, Andy, was on a deckchair in Cairo reading Sir Steve Redgrave’s autobiography and a thought entered his mind. At 12, his son was already 6ft and, as described by Sir Steve, of perfect rowing physique.
When Andy returned home, he took Tim down to the river Medway. Both youngsters ended up enjoying the sport and joined the Maidstone Invicta Rowing Club permanently in their first year of secondary school.
After two months it became apparent Morgan and Tim were remarkably talented and their coach, Ray Long, moved them up to the top squad.
Six months later, Andy and Morgan’s father, Paul, began talking about moving the two boys into a boat together. Long agreed and decided to try the two in the double boat.
Tim said: “I remember being excited about it and within a few months we began to train together and were ready to start our j14 season.”
The company Siemens, who sponsored the GB rowing team, quickly recognised their talent and sponsored the two boys, providing them with new boats and blades.
“That’s when it all began for us and we started winning all of the Maidstone Head races,” added Morgan.
With a regional regatta win rate of 95%, the boys began to compete at national events. At the age of 14, Morgan and Tim competed in their first National Championships at the National Watersports Centre, Nottingham.
The event was one of the top three national races in the UK for their age group, along with National Schools and Inter-regionals. Sculling in the double, they were able to glide away with a silver medal.
They began to compete in the other national regattas but admitted to becoming a little bit complacent with their training.
Tim said: “We went to national schools thinking that we were the bee’s knees and came away with fourth place, out of 20 boats, which is obviously the worst place to come in a sportsman’s eyes.”
The duo then had three months to make amendments to their rowing. At the National Championships again, it was clear their efforts had paid off. Morgan said: “We came away with a gold. “That was the first time that we had ever won a national medal – it was a big moment for us.”
Then, in 2008, at the age of 15, the boys went on to represent Great Britain for the first time in a GB versus France under-16 competition, held in Valenciennes. They were a year under age but reached the finishing line first, which won them the entire race.
Morgan’s parents were so passionate about their son’s sport that they bought a bright orange, original Volkswagen campervan to travel and sleep at regattas in.
In 2012, Morgan and Tim went their separate ways. Tim headed to Oxford Brookes University to study economics, finance and international business, while Morgan studied architecture at Berkeley University, California. They were both given rowing scholarships and while studying, competed separately in several major events.
In 2013, Tim represented Team GB at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival. At 6ft6in he won two bronze medals in the 4- and 8+ boats, held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre.
The following year he competed at the Henley Royal Regatta in a university boat and took away the Temple Challenge Cup winning trophy.
In 2014, at the Under-23 World Championships in Amsterdam, Tim competed in the GB men’s four. However, while still at university, Morgan travelled from the other side of the world to compete at the same regatta, in the GB men’s eight.
Then, in 2015, Morgan competed at the Henley Royal Regatta with his California Bears university team and took home the Visitors’ Challenge Cup. The ultimate triumph was winning the Varsity 8 at the 2016 NCAA Rowing Championships at Lake Natoma, which marked the first national title by the Bears in the 2V8 race.
Morgan discovered that in order to be the best at a sport, you have to have fun doing it.
He said: “I soon realised that I needed to start loving rowing again and not wanting to just reach the end result.
“There is nothing better than rowing everyday with your friends, instead of sitting in an office.”
University clarified that life for Morgan is certainly on the water, even though he came away with a creditable 3.40 Grade Point Average (GPA) at the end of the four years.
For Tim, the main lesson he learnt was how to handle his time management and the consistency of training required to be a good rower.
He said: “At school I never achieved my academic ambitions, so I had to find a way of becoming as competitive with my university work as much as I am with rowing. I quickly found the right balance and was able to walk away with a first-class degree.
“It was four years that we were apart, and it was hard going from seeing someone nearly every day, rowing in the same boat together and then not seeing them at all.
“It went quickly but it’s good to have my best mate back in the country.”
Since returning home the pair have moved in with another professional rower, in Caversham, Reading, the headquarters of the GB rowing team.
Tim added: “I definitely didn’t think that I’d be living with Morgan after all these years but it is great to live with someone who is looking to achieve the same goals as me.”
After rowing at the 2014 Under-23 World Championships, Morgan and Tim came home to discover a boat had been named after them at MIRC.
However, they both have even bigger plans for the next 10 years. Morgan and Tim want to be in the Olympics ‘more than anything else in the world’ but more importantly, with gold medals around their necks.
Morgan said: “I wouldn’t do it for anything else, this is the only thing that is driving me on.”
Tim added: “We’ve both reached a good age for being able to race in the Olympics, it’s not like gymnastics where being younger is deemed better.”
The two athletes will most likely retire from rowing in roughly 10 years’ time, at the age of 33. But for the young men, it does not stop there.
Ever since they were 16, they have planned to row the Atlantic.