A wise head on young shoulders seems like the perfect idiom to sum up Nick Conway.
From just a few moments in his presence, it’s clear the Norwich School oarsman is cognisant of his role in this year’s U19 team, but also acutely aware of the importance of enjoyment and love for the sport.
Conway is the only returner from the men’s squad that travelled to Trakai 12 months ago. However, what an asset to have in this year’s team. Having won gold in the Men’s Eight last year, he has his sights set on standing in the middle of the podium once more. This time, he’ll race in the Men’s Four, alongside Csombor Hanzcar, Edward Ludgate, and Guy Parson, guided by Westminster School’s Matt Harris.
“The Four is seen as the flagship boat,” said Conway.
“There’s pressure that comes with that, and we want to follow on from last year’s success, where we won all three sweep events, but especially the Four with a record winning margin. I’m very aware of the mantle I have to live up to and the shoes I have to fill.”
Credit: Benedict Tufnell
Last year, Great Britain won the Men’s Four by just under four seconds, beating Italy and Germany into second and third places, respectively. It was followed by silver in 2024 and gold in 2022 in this boat class.
Across the age groups, 2026 has been a vintage year for the Men’s Fours. From Latymer winning the GB v France match, to two gold medals at Coupe de la Jeunesse, gold at the U23 World Rowing Championships, wins at World Rowing Cups I and III, and most recently, the development squad winning and setting a new European Best time in Varese, something is clicking across all the boats.
“I’m 100% excited by that. It comes with pressure, but it also comes with excitement. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t fast enough. The goal is to go out, blow the competition out of the water and see what we can do. To be in this position is immensely exciting.”
Such is the nature of the U19 team that only five returners remain from last year’s team. Plenty of fresh faces eager to make their mark and take their first steps on the international stage. To be selected to represent your country the fir
“It’s a new group of people; I’m the only returner from last year, so it’s a different position to be in. Last year, I was the young guy, and now I’m the old guy, so hopefully I can pass on that experience, and we can go as fast as possible.”
Three years ago, Conway was the young guy at Norwich School. After a rugby career was cut short by injury, the former Centre switched to rowing in the summer of his J15 year.
Initially sceptical of the sport, Conway would even try to sneak his hockey stick into school as he didn’t want to row. That mission was made even more challenging by the fact his mum is the Head of Rowing at Norwich School.
The Coxless Four is a boat the Conway family knows well. Nick won the Open event at the inaugural Junior Fours Head last November while his mum, Debbie, raced for Great Britain in the 1998 Nations Cup.
Credit: AllMarkOne
It’s fitting then that it was his mum who was his first coach at Norwich School, guiding his through is J15 races.
“There are moments where it’s quite nice to get the gossip! She’s certainly present at a lot of my races, but I don’t know how much spectating she’s able to do because she’s off helping the J15s and J14s,” said Conway with a laugh.
From J16 onwards, he’s been coached by Ashley Carter Mayers, who guided the Men’s Four to two gold medals at this year’s Coupe de la Jeunesse.
“He’s brilliant; he’s great at taking stress when it needs to come off but also telling us what needs to be done and how it needs to be done. He’s someone who finds the balance between giving us a standard and making sure that if we don’t meet that, it doesn’t dishearten us and we can still step onwards and keep improving.”
Over the past few years though, one of the biggest lessons has been to enjoy the process. After taking his J15 and J16 rowing very seriously, he’s found results have come more easily when you enjoy the process. Conway is a big believer in doing sport and doing rowing because you want to be there and because you love it.
A key turning point actually was watching his brother Dan experience the sport a couple of years ahead of him.
“The point that really lit the fire for me was watching my brother go through the Trials process before me. I distinctly remember his racing, watching the way he acted, and seeing his performances, which really inspired me to change my attitude and see how far I could go with the sport.”
From winning Junior Fours Head with Archie Wilkins, James Howard, and Max Stone, to winning February Trials with Barney, these experiences have helped shape an incredibly exciting year for Conway.
It has helped him get recruited to the University of Washington, where he’ll start in September. However, the ambitions don’t end there. Beyond U23s, Conway has big ambitions in the sport, ones which will hopefully lead him all the way to an Olympic podium in the not too distant future.
For now though, all eyes are on tomorrow’s opening Heat. At 12:21 BST, they’ll take on Moldova, Türkiye, Ireland, Italy, and China with the top two crews advancing directly to the semi-finals on Friday, before the race for medals on Saturday.
The post The first time was so nice, he had to do it twice: Nick Conway ready for his second U19 campaign appeared first on British Rowing.
