Alumni, staff and sporting guests gathered for the celebrations at the University’s West Park Teaching Hub on the Loughborough campus.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Nick Jennings CB FREng FRS gave an opening speech before dinner, welcoming guests to the event and provided an update on the University's recent developments and successes across a broad range of sports-related activity. Professor Jo Maher, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Sport), then gave guests an update on the ambitions of the University in respect of its sport strategy, looking at women’s sport, sustainability in sport, and para sport.
Hall of Fame member and former 5000m world record holder, David Moorcroft OBE DL, later presented the awards and conducted short interviews with the Hall of Fame inductees to share highlights of their impressive careers and achievements.
There are now over 80 members of the Hall of Fame in an ever-growing group of incredible Loughborough alumni and linked sportspeople who have succeeded at national and international level and have worked to make a difference in sport.
The Hall of Fame covers four categories: performance, performance coaching, performance support, and sports leadership.
On Friday evening, the five inductees were awarded across three categories.
Matt Gotrel MBE was awarded in the performance category, whilst Dr Michael Peyrebrune was recognised for performance support. Three inductees joined the Hall of Fame for sports leadership. They are Dame Liz Nicholl DBE, Dr Herbert Schofield CBE, and Barbara Slater CBE.
This years’ inductees were joined by other members of the Hall of Fame
Opening the inductions with the performance category, Matt Gotrel MBE was welcomed to the stage as he was congratulated for his performance as a rower. An impressive rise to the top of the sport, Matt became a two-time world champion and won a gold Olympic medal with the men’s eight GB rowing team at the Rio Games in 2016. It was his debut Olympic Games, and he joined teammates who had varying levels of experience on the global stage. Ultimately, their performance won them first place on the podium.
He started out as a sailor and only found rowing when he began studying at Loughborough in 2009, making his Team GB debut just three years later. Matt has since returned to his childhood passion of sailing. In 2019 he joined Sir Ben Ainslie’s INEOS Team to challenge for the America’s Cup. He has most recently become a Grinder in the Switzerland SailGP team, having spent time with the British SailGP team and at INEOS TEAM UK.
David Moorcroft asked about Matt’s gold medal winning Olympic moment. Matt said:
“Every performance has a huge journey behind it, whether you win or lose. I think the journey becomes the thing that you remember more than anything. And although we won the Olympic gold medal in Rio, the eight that year hadn't won a single race until we got to Rio. But we knew we were perfectly capable of it.
“The togetherness of that squad, having been through a year of getting beaten by everyone, and then knowing that on the day when it mattered, everyone would come together…everyone was on the same page, and it was pretty magnificent to be part of.”
L-R: Professor Nick Jennings CB FREng FRS, Matt Gotrel MBE, David Moorcroft OBE DL
Loughborough swimming coach and Visiting Research Fellow Dr Michael Peyrebrune was celebrated for his work as a sports scientist and became a member of the Hall of Fame in the performance support category.
Throughout his career, Michael has supported the training and racing of many talented swimmers. He has worked with GB Swimming and implemented training and coaching plans for athletes and coaches.
Across three Olympic Games, Michael was the sports scientist to three successful British swimming teams. As a sports scientist and support coach, he worked directly with three Olympic champions and World Record breakers: Rebecca Adlington OBE, Adam Peaty OBE, and most recently Daniel Wiffen.
During the last 20 years, Michael has been instrumental in the design, development and delivery of much of the material used in the GB and England coaching education system. Michael has developed ideas and findings from his research publications to create procedures and protocols based on scientific practice for the GB national team. The basis of his protocols – including warm-up and active recovery – continue to be used. Materials created by Michael were also sold to swimming’s world governing body, FINA and delivered to coaches globally.
Michael began his sporting life as a swimmer. David talked to him about his switch to the coaching and science side of the sport, and how that came about. Michael said:
“The landscape has changed beyond recognition. I think everyone in an athletic career gets to the point where they think okay, how much have I done, how much can I go on? How much do I want to go on? And then you start to look at what a future career will look like. And for me I was in sports science so that was a natural transition.
“Specifically because there was potential with lottery funding, all of a sudden here’s something that I can actually take on and go and develop and improve and be world class at.”
Commenting on those at Loughborough who inspired and helped him on his journey, Michael talked about meeting across different sports for coffee in the morning, and the incredible conversations and learnings that he had from within the Loughborough sporting ecosystem:
“It’s not just the lectures, it’s not just the research, the theoretical work, but it's the actual practical work, the practical experience of working with and integrating with these people on a daily basis. It’s gold dust.”
Professor Nick Jennings CB FREng FRS and Dr Michael Peyrebrune
In one of our newest categories, sports leadership, three people were recognised for the work that they have done to contribute to sport in an inspiring, influential and positive way.
The first is Dame Elizabeth Nicholl DBE. Once described as the most powerful woman in British Sport, Liz has presided over record performances by Team GB and she transformed the UK high performance system. Liz joined UK Sport in 1999 as Director of Elite Sport, just two years after its establishment. She later became Chief Operating Officer in 2009 before becoming Chief Executive Officer just a year later.
When Liz was CEO at UK Sport, the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games took place, as well as winter Games in Sochi and PyeongChang. The Tokyo Games took place in 2021, not long after Liz stepped down. During this time, the GB teams saw great success at the Games.
Liz’s passion for netball has been deeply rooted in her management career. She had two tenures as Chief Executive of England Netball and as Director of the 1995 World Netball Championships. She represented Wales in international netball competitions, earning 22 caps between 1975 and 1979, during which time she was also completing her postgraduate degree at Loughborough.
Having spent more than 40 years in the sector, Liz resigned from her full-time career in 2019, and then became World Netball President shortly after.
When studying her undergraduate degree at Nottingham University, Liz met fellow Hall of Fame member Baroness Sue Campbell DBE through netball. They remain friends to this day. Liz said:
“I had no idea this course in Recreation Management existed, but I soon knew that I didn't want to work in the lab, and she [Sue] knew I wanted to work in sport. She pointed me towards the course at Loughborough, and it changed my life.”
Liz commented on the prowess of sport at Loughborough:
“As every Olympic and Paralympic Games comes and goes, I know that there's the analysis done about where Loughborough would be in the in the medal table.
“It's very impressive because it's not just about the athletes that are here and have the opportunity to train to do everything they need to do to prepare to be the very best they can be at the games, but it's also about the coaches and the sports scientists and the other personnel, the managers, the leaders, that Loughborough University has created over the years.”
Professor Nick Jennings CB FREng FRS and Dame Liz Nicholl DBE
The University awarded posthumous induction to the Hall of Fame to Dr Herbert Schofield CBE. A founding father of the University that we now know, Dr Schofield built the foundations of Loughborough University and Loughborough Sport, setting the path to the outstanding reputation in sport and sports related subjects enjoyed today.
It was more than 100 years ago that Dr Schofield had a vision that sport could play a role in the life of every student at Loughborough. He was Principal of the then Loughborough College from 1915-1950.
Over the years, and following his ‘sport for all’ ethos, the University began to focus on programmes related to physical education, teacher training, and the development of sporting activity outside of the classroom. Dr Schofield wanted to educate the minds and the bodies of the students. The inter-war years saw a series of significant developments, several of which were linked with sport.
The College and its sporting offer grew over several decades, beginning as early as 1919 with the purchase of acres of land for expansion of the College and its facilities. Dr Schofield enlisted the students’ support in the construction of the new pitches, sports buildings, and a swimming pool. In 1931 Dr Schofield established an annual summer school, with courses including physical education.
In attendance at the Hall of Fame dinner was Dr Schofield’s great grandson George Drake. George studied Economics at Loughborough, graduating in 2012. He accepted Dr Schofield’s award on behalf of the family. George said:
“Coming back, and I haven't been here for 10 years, and actually again realising the magnitude of what this place has done and achieved and the people who have passed through, it's incredible.”
Professor Nick Jennings CB FREng FRS hands alumnus George Drake Dr Herbert Schofield’s certificate.
Finally, alumna Barbara Slater CBE, former Director of Sport for the BBC, joins the Hall of Fame.
Barbara became the BBC’s first Director of Sport in 2009, a role she held for 15 years. She was previously Head of Production and Head of General Sports for the broadcaster, but initially started her sporting journey as an Olympic gymnast, competing in Montreal in 1976.
As Director of Sport, Barbara was responsible for more than 20,000 hours of annual global sports coverage across television, radio, and online.
During her tenure, Barbara oversaw the coverage of seven Olympic Games, including the multi-platform coverage of the London 2012 Olympics. She led the development of women’s sport coverage at the BBC and was responsible for bringing the FA Cup and TV cricket back to the broadcaster. Barbara oversaw the production of 14 men’s and women’s football World Cups and European Championships, plus Wimbledon and the Six Nations.
Barbara won a special recognition award at the Broadcast Sport awards in 2024 and was named on the BBC Woman’s Hour Power List 2023. In 2021, she became the first woman to receive the IBC International Honour for Excellence in recognition of her career in sports broadcasting.
Talking about bringing women’s sport to the fore of television during her tenure with BBC Sport, Barbara said:
“I think I look back and that is the thing I shall feel most proud of, because I really think that we did make a difference, but we made a difference because it was the right moment at the right time, the calibre of women's sport merited that enhanced coverage...”
She added: “It was the right moment to take a spotlight and shine on it.”
David asked Barbara about broadcasting the coverage of London 2012. She commented:
“I think every single member of the team knew the weight of responsibility, of trying to get it right.
“And so it was absolutely wonderful to work on […] everybody shared in that responsibility of wanting to do the UK proud. And by the way, I mean, I'm talking volunteers, I'm talking across the board. It was a really wonderful experience because everyone just wanted to get it right.”
L-R: Professor Nick Jennings CB FREng FRS, Barbara Slater CBE, David Moorcroft OBE DL
As part of the event, the University’s Director of Sport, Richard Wheater, gave a speech that commented on the success of Loughborough Sport in the last twelve months, including para sport, the Lightning Netball franchise and more. He thanked everyone involved in the whole Hall of Fame process and event. Attendees also heard from former Head of Higher Education at Loughborough College, Eric Macintyre MBE, who is working on a book about the history of sport at Loughborough, due out soon.
Many congratulations to our new inductees.
Nominations for future Hall of Fame inductions are now open.