From competing to coaching with a dual career pathway

When Jess Libby called time on Olympic 470 campaigning with the British Sailing Team, she decided to pursue a dual career pathway in the engineering industry and as a sailing coach.

With a degree in engineering design and an impressive toolbox of transferable expertise from eight years of competing as an elite athlete, Jess has thrived in both roles.

Managing two careers while maintaining a work-life balance is tricky, but as Jess explains: “It’s fulfilling because I’m using all the skills I’ve worked so hard to get over the years.”

Having emerged as a youth talent from the Optimist and 420 classes, Jess (née Lavery) was already learning to manage multiple demands on her time while taking GCSEs and A Levels.

In addition to studying, training and competing, Jess gained RYA Dinghy Instructor, Powerboat and Race Coach qualifications, opening the door to potential earnings to fund her sailing.

She then developed her coaching skills alongside 470 campaigning while a student at Bristol University, sailing three weekends a month and using the remaining one to work as an assistant coach with the 420 Class Training and RYA National Youth Squad.

Energetic and enthusiastic, subsequent coaching for Jess included Optimist and RS Feva squads, assisting at internationals and becoming the GBR 420 class coach.

New direction

Jess went full-time 470 sailing after graduating, initially in a girls’ team and then as one of the first mixed teams when a change in format was announced for the Olympics.

But Covid came along and at the back end of 2020, it was the end of an era for Jess, who with some impressive results – including a Junior Worlds silver medal – decided to finish 470 campaigning.

It was a change of heart which coincided with an opportunity to become Head Coach for the RYA 420 National Youth Squad, while also working three days a week as a design engineer.

“I’m really glad I did the Olympic classes but I stopped at the right time for me,” she says. “To make it to the top, you have to make tough choices and sacrifice a lot and trying to break through when I was campaigning in that period was really difficult; the same GBR 470 helms went to every Olympic Games during 2012-2021.

“But it makes you extremely resilient and you really know what good looks like, what performance and hard work look like, which are incredible attributes not only for life but also for employers. You don’t realise until you step into the workplace how driven you are in terms of your work ethic and the standards you set for yourself, the intensity of what you go by.”

Juggling jobs

Jess continues to coach 420s and has also been the lead coach for the British Sailing Team’s 470 transition squad for youth sailors moving into the Olympic classes, while working as a research engineer with flexible hours and an option to buy holiday.

Sharing her experience of juggling two top-flight careers, Jess says it’s vital to be transparent with employers, for example about when time off will be essential for events, and to have a job where it’s possible to switch off the laptop completely when not at the desk to be able to focus on coaching.

She adds: “One of the main reasons I don’t coach full time is because of the time away from home, which was a major factor in me stopping Olympic sailing. My degree and career also offer financial stability, something I really value.

“Equally if I’d stopped 470 sailing and not coached, I’d have struggled. Coaching keeps me in contact with the sport I love. I’ve got knowledge to share and to see people improve and moving forwards to achieve their goals is hugely rewarding.”

Two-way rewards

Highlights have included watching her 420 sailors win Youth Worlds races and podium results at European regattas. Jess also has a massive sense of achievement from the sailors she has coached at youth level continuing to enjoy and excel in the sport, whether in Olympic classes, team racing at university, keelboat and match racing.

She says: “I like the human side of coaching. The hardest moments are when sailors have a meltdown with each other or individually, and you have to reset them and get them back into a place where they can perform. You can’t control anything a sailor does on the race course but you can help put them in the right frame of mind to do themselves justice.

“Engineering is logical, while as a coach I enjoy using the people skills like communication, which in turn make you a better engineer. Coaching teaches you how to get teams working together.”

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