Toby Garbett

Toby Garbett (born 14 November 1976) is an English former rower who won two World Championship gold medals for Great Britain and competed in the men's coxless pair at the 2004 Summer Olympics.^[1]

Toby Garbett (2004)

Toby Garbett

Medal record
Men's rowing
Representing  Great Britain
World Rowing Championships
	2000 Zagreb	M4+
	2001 Lucerne	M4-
	2002 Seville	M4-
	2003 Milan	M4-

Early life and club rowing

Garbett was born in Chertsey, Surrey and rowed for Leander Club after leaving school.^[1] Standing 1.93 metres (6.3 ft), he progressed through the British junior and under-23 squads before joining the senior team in the late 1990s.^[2]

Career

At the 2000 World Championships for non-Olympic events in Zagreb, Garbett rowed in the two seat of the British coxed four that led from the start to take gold, Great Britain’s first world title in the boat class.^[3]

The following year he, Steve Williams, Ed Coode and Rick Dunn won the men’s coxless four final at Lucerne in 5:48.98, succeeding the celebrated Redgrave crew as world champions.^[4]

Garbett remained in the flagship four as it won consecutive silver medals at the 2002 World Championships in Seville and the 2003 regatta in Milan.^[5]

Olympic cycle (2004)

In February 2004 national coach Jürgen Gröbler reshuffled his crews, moving Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell into the four and instructing Garbett and Dunn to form a new coxless pair.^[6] A month later Garbett and Dunn’s runners-up finish at the Hazewinkel trials made them favourites for Olympic selection in the pair,^[7] but back pain briefly threatened Garbett’s place during the final build-up.^[8]

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens the pair placed fourth in a fiercely contested semi-final dubbed “the semi from hell” and went on to win the B-final for seventh overall.^[9]

Later career

Garbett continued to vie for national selection and in July 2008 successfully appealed his omission from the Beijing squad, forcing a late re-trial in Austria.^[10] Although narrowly outside the qualifying standard in a 2 km time-trial, the bid ultimately fell short and he retired from international rowing later that year.^[11]

Coaching and business

After elite rowing Garbett qualified as a Pilates instructor and British Triathlon Level 2 coach, winning age-group national titles before opening TG Gym & Wellness in Henley-on-Thames in 2022.^[12] The centre also serves as the strength-and-conditioning hub for Leander Club’s athletes.^[12]

Achievements

Olympic Games

• 2004 – 7th, Coxless pair (with Rick Dunn)

World championships

• 2003 – Silver, Coxless four (with Steve Williams, Josh West, Rick Dunn)
• 2002 – Silver, Coxless four (with Steve Williams, Josh West, Rick Dunn)
• 2001 – Gold, Coxless four (with Steve Williams, Ed Coode, Rick Dunn)
• 2000 – Gold, Coxed four (with Steve Williams, Ed Coode, Rick Dunn, Alistair Potts)