About our training camps
St Mary’s is a high performance centre and a partner site for the English Institute of Sport. This performance environment means we have extensive experience of hosting training camps for international and professional squads. A wide range of sports have used our excellent facilities including athletics, triathlon, badminton, canoeing, rugby union, rugby league and football.
London 2012
As a designated Pre-Games Training Camp for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Game we hosted squads from Ireland, South Africa, China and Japan. In total, athletes from ten different nations chose St Mary’s as the perfect base for their final preparation. This was a hugely rewarding experience for the University and ultimately a very successful one that helped support 15 medal winning performances.
St Mary’s understands the requirements of high performance. This is highlighted in the feedback we gained from Olympic squads:
We now know what a good training camp looks like and this will shape our expectations for Rio 2016.Sonia O’Sullivan - Chef de Mission Irish Olympic Team
Our team manager, Hezekiel Sepeng, has been to many training camps around the world and he would opt for the University wherever possible because of both the facilities and the efficiency of the staff involved. I am sure that our silver medalist Caster Semenya’s success was made all the easier due to the excellent preparation facilities at the University.Gideon Sam - President South African Sport Confederation and Olympic Committee
St Mary’s performance centre is the number one location to go to when we look for our preparation base in Europe. It provides the athletes with the kind of routine they require with easy access to top class facilities.Mark Rowland - Head Coach of Oregon Track Club Elite