Sport
1News

INEOS Team UK's 'Head of Human Performance' reveals how team turned things around in time for Prada Cup

February 13, 2021

Ben Williams is one of many who have helped the British team turn things around at the Prada Cup.

INEOS Team UK took the Prada Cup by storm last month with their impressive turnaround from rough performances in December.

Entering the Prada Cup round robins, the British syndicate was ranked a distant outsider after their poor outings at the Christmas Cup.

Fast forward to the end of the round robins though and INEOS Team UK had booked themselves a spot in the Prada Cup final after going undefeated against Luna Rossa and American Magic.

So how did they do it?

One key team member that helped the turnaround was Ben Williams who is the Head of Human Performance.

Williams told 1 NEWS his role is about managing the sailors' physiological performances, meaning he was in the thick of it after the poor Christmas regatta.

"No one was happy after the Christmas regatta. Everybody knew there was a lot of work to be done but in that moment, it was about an all-team meeting and our senior leadership saying, 'okay lads, it's time to roll up your sleeves'," he said.

"We had a really positive reaction from the whole squad."

Williams added it's not difficult to connect with the sailors as they can understand an approach clearly.

"One of the things we noticed quite early was that a majority of the team are well-educated - 30 to 40 per cent of our team have an undergraduate degree and then we have some guys who have masters degrees and PhDs," Williams said.

"So in terms of an athletic population, they're actually quite a smart population capable of understanding complex strategies."

INEOS Team UK will now race Luna Rossa in a best of 13 Finals series to decide who earns the right to challenge Team NZ for the America's Cup.

SHARE ME

More Stories