I came to Lloyd with a personal best of 14.5 and retired a 13.2 athlete with commonwealth and European gold medals and a world bronze. Lloyd knew how to get the best out of me at the right times and adapted training if and when I wasn’t 100% which made for a great partnership. A one of a kind coach who I owe my career to.
Andy Turner is a retired track and field athlete who specialised in the 110mH. Coached by Lloyd Cowan he improved steadily.
Andy competed in the 2004 Athens Olympics, was third at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, Achieved a bronze medal at the 2006 European athletics championships and finished fourth at the 2007 European Indoor Athletics Championships. In 2008 he was then selected to represent Great Britain at his second Olympic Games.
His 2010 season was very successful as he was not only crowned the European Champion but was also the Commonwealth Champion. In addition to this stellar season he broke the world record for the 200m hurdles. The following year he went on to win a bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships and competed at the 2012 Olympic Games on home soil.
In 2013 all his hard work and dedication to the sport earned him a bronze medal at the World Championships.
I met Coach Callender a month after my seventeenth birthday. At that time, he was exactly what I needed in my bourgeoning athletics career. Clarence introduced me to a new way of thinking; a positive way of thinking that quickly filtered down into my performances on the track. In our first year working together, he instilled in me lessons and skills that guided me to significant improvement on my times and a place on the GB junior’s team.
More than just supplying me with the tools to be great while competing, Coach always supported me in my personal life and stressed the importance of education. Outside of my parents, he was a reassuring source of support when I decided to attend University in the United States in 2010. Rather than leave me ostracised, he continued to help me with any questions that I had while overseas, and when I returned to England each summer, he implanted more seeds of wisdom and track knowledge in me, which in turn meant my further development. His tutelage culminated in a European U23 gold medal, three Pac 12 Sprint titles and numerous call ups to compete for my country.
We achieved a lot before injuries and personal problems stopped me from competing or training from December 2013 through September 2014. When I decided I was ready to return, Coach welcomed me with open arms and revealed that he had started working with Lloyd Cowan. Whilst I had known Lloyd by proxy of his friendship with Clarence, I was not too familiar with his training style. What was surprising about this new partnership is the attention to detail and patience that Coach Cowan and Coach Callender displayed while dealing with me. I was bereft of confidence, but Lloyd and Clarence showed a belief in me that was unwavering, and their pearls of wisdom started to take effect on me, slowly but surely.
The 2015 season was one of extreme learning, but after that year I was a new man. In 2016, they guided me to my second fastest 200m time ever (which was also a qualifying standard for the European championships that year) and my fastest ever 100m time in all conditions.
Clarence and Lloyd are track historians, who take great pride in their knowledge of the sport. They not only are world class coaches, but they are world class men. Both being fathers, their paternal instinct is one that is evident when they are moulding their athletes and the continued and consistent success of their athletes is proof of their abilities. Not only did they help me achieve goals that I didn’t seem feasible on the track, they helped prepare me for life as an adult black man.