British Virgin Islands international athlete Eric Matthias has turned to the University of Hertfordshire to help him prepare for the London Olympics.
Eric (26) has spent six weeks tapping into the specialist strength and conditioning and physiotherapy support which is on offer to elite athletes at Hertfordshire Sports Village at the university in Hatfield.
Eric, who competed in the discus event at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, is the first of the London Olympic hopefuls from the Caribbean island to make use of the top sporting facilities at the Sports Village in the run up to 2012.
The Sports Village is one of the 14 venues across Hertfordshire which together make up an official pre-Olympic training camp following endorsement by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games.
Eric, who finished 37th in Beijing, is convinced that the strength and conditioning and physiotherapy expertise he has received has already helped improve his chances of qualifying for London.
He said: “I noticed some improvement in the shoulder injury that I have had after just two days of working with the physiotherapist and the strength and conditioning staff. The sports complex here is a lot more efficient compared to the system I had when I was at college in the States.”
Eric’s coach in the UK, Malcolm Wallace, is certain that the Sports Village expertise and its state of the art gym and outside training ground will help him make it to 2012.
He said: “He can’t believe the support he is getting from the university because in the US-college system athletes don’t get the same kind of [co-ordinated] support that they do in the UK.
“We are hoping first to get him ready to compete in the Commonwealth Games in October and will then focus the following year on building up for 2012.”
The partnership between the British Virgin Islands and the Hertfordshire consortium, which represents the official pre-training camp venues, was originally launched 13 months ago. The island’s Olympic Committee signed a Memorandum of Understanding in June last year that it would use the Hertfordshire venues as its official pre Games training camp for 2012.
The university’s director of sport Nick Brooking said the university was delighted to play a part in the London Olympics and help overseas athletes like Eric increase their chances of competing.
He said: “We are really pleased to be able to help Eric with expert sports-specific physiotherapy and strength and conditioning support while he is in the UK, utilising our staff that already work with world class athletes from a range of sports.
“We are really excited about developing the partnership with the British Virgin Islands and following the support we have provided to Eric we hope to be helping more of their athletes achieve their potential at the London 2010 Games over the next two years”
Picture: Left-Nicki Combarro, Physiotherapist; centre-Eric Mattias, athlete; right-Malcom Wallace, coach
