In March this year as COVID loomed large I started writing blogs. I kept going all the way through ‘Lockdown One’ and, as the outside world tentatively reopened, I paused. Now, as precious daylight hours wane and the cold creeps in, it seems like the perfect moment to round off the year with an inspiring story or two.
The first is that of John Stanbridge, RAF Aircraft Technician and… GB Bobsleigh pilot, who juggles a full-time job in the armed forces with national level competitive sport and a side hustle raising his own sponsorship. When I first chatted to John, my knowledge of bobsleigh was limited to say the least, so I was relieved when he said: Most people’s experience is through the Disney film ‘Cool Runnings’.
Not to be a sheep, but the first thing that popped into my head when he mentioned bobsleighing was Cool Runnings. Beyond being one of the ultimate feel-good sports films, Cool Runnings is about the power of the human spirit, about determination, about collaboration, about friendship. It leaves you with lasting lessons that will stand you in good stead whatever life throws at you. It teaches you how to triumph against all odds.
John’s no stranger to overcoming adversity, “my parents split when I was young, then my brother and I spent time living in a women’s refuge, moving around until my mum managed to find her feet. My interest in the military came later through visits to air museums and shows with my stepdad. I was always in awe at the size of these machines and their ability to fly. At 13, I joined the air cadets which gave me an insight into the RAF – I was even lucky enough to experience a flight in a Chinook helicopter. I felt like part of a team, developed self-confidence and enjoyed the structure, discipline and opportunities to take part in regional and national sports competitions, sprinting being my particular strength.”
When the time came for John to apply for the RAF, the minor short-sightedness in his left eye ruled him out. Quick to bounce back, John had a Plan B – join as an aircraft avionics technician: “I’d always had an interest in how things work and fit together. The RAF offered adventure, new places, a chance to learn new skills – and to be paid to do so! I left home at 18 and after 10 months training, I started working as an aircraft mechanic. I’d never had a passport and couldn’t afford driving lessons, but within my first three years I’d travelled to 12 countries on exercises, learning to parachute, snowboard, rock climb, and completing my driving test. My first tour of Afghanistan was at 19 years old; I spent three months away over Christmas. Completing two more tours taught me to deal with pressure and make critical decisions. Maturity and responsibility were forced upon me, making me who I am today.”
John’s advice is simple – know what you want then go out and get it, but don’t expect it to land at your feet. You need to work hard, focus and use setbacks to adapt and go again. That’s exactly the approach he intends to take to fulfil his ambitions in bobsleigh. When he was 19, John saw an RAF flyer for bobsleigh try-outs. The rest is history. He threw himself in, tackling sprinting, jumping and pushing tests. He was immediately fast but not heavy or strong enough to be competitive. With a benchmark set, John set to making sure that next time around he would have all the skills to be selected.
He was soon picked for a Novice Camp in Innsbruck: “the only way to progress in bobsleigh is to do it. I immediately loved the thrill and adrenaline rush, trying to understand and control the 2-man sled to survive and stop myself and the brakeman behind me ending up on our heads. When I got into a 4-man sled with faster speeds, higher G forces and requiring greater skill, I remember going round one corner and not being able to lift my head off my legs as the force bent me in half. It’s not all fun either, sleds weigh over 170kg and you find yourself out in the cold, doing maintenance and safety checks but I wouldn’t change a thing. The RAF uses sport and adventure training as a tool to develop its personnel, placing them out of their comforts zone in high pressure situations; skills that translate to the workplace and battlefield.”
John continued to train and officially joined the GB development squad in June 2020. That success brought with it a new hurdle: a shortfall in funding. Each pilot is responsible for securing finances and putting a team together: “The joy of being selected to compete for your country in any sport is amazing but I was also filled with a fire to succeed knowing the challenge I had before I could even get out on the ice. With no prior experience in sponsorship, I started researching. I figured out the most cost-effective way to secure a team and provide a unique opportunity to investors.”
First he needed peak performance: “I recruited Ex-GB Olympian John Baines to be the main brakeman. Bobsleigh consists of two aspects: the push – a powerful explosive hit to get the sled to maximum velocity as quick as possible and the drive – how the pilot navigates the fastest lines at speeds of 80mph+. A faster push equals a faster down time. Other factors like the sled, runners, temperature, weather conditions play a part too. Bobsleigh can be brutal – it’s a high pressure, high risk environment and you need the right team with the right skills plus the courage to get back up and into the sled if you crash.”
My favourite moment in Cool Runnings (spoiler alert) is how the Jamaican bobsleigh team handle having an accident at a critical moment, no longer being able to fight for an Olympic medal. The fault for the accident lies with an old sled. Equipment failure. Enough to dampen even the hardiest of spirits. Or is it? Sanka, the brakeman, calls to his friend Derice, the pilot: “You dead?” After every previous crash in training Derice asks Sanka the same question only to receive the chipper answer: “Yeah, man,” but when all hopes should be dashed at the 1988 Olympics, Derice replies: “No man, I’m not dead. We have to finish the race…”
For John, the race to get to the Olympic Winter Games is already underway and like the team in Cool Runnings, one thing is not an option for John – giving up. Never one to expect something for nothing, he’s currently looking for innovative ways to engage communities and give back to them too: “I am in talks with a colleges and cadet forces to hold interactive STEM events (COVID-19 guidelines permitting). I’ve also run a bobsleigh event at a gym, showcasing some of the exercises and testing we go through as GB athletes. People in the UK have rarely seen a bobsleigh in real life. We would usually travel to air shows to showcase sports opportunities in the RAF and sometimes people don’t even believe us when we say compete in bobsleigh. Kids love to get in and have pictures taken. It’s great to introduce new people to my sport. The British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation host experience days and trials every year for young adults as they look for future talent.”
Like everyone, everywhere this year, John risked having his dreams put on hold when the pandemic burst into our lives, but he responded with his customary resilience and decided to get creative: “COVID caused an initial effect on group training for the team, we all worked hard to maintain fitness and to keep progressing over the off season. I put my engineering skills to good use to build a squat rack and weights bench out of wood, managing to purchase the last set of weights and bar I could find. The GB facilities at Bath were closed and we were unable to work on team specific training until late July with new control measures in line with government guidelines.”
The impact of COVID spread beyond physical preparation to the team’s sponsorship plans. With most businesses pausing to wait and see what would happen next as they sat in the eye of an unpredictable storm, finding sponsorship was harder than ever: “With so many companies unable to be productive, they are apprehensive about new sponsorship deals. We have had some success but still need more support. The majority of support up to now has come from companies in the defence sector who see a synergy between our values as athletes and as military personnel. COVID could disrupt the season completely, but we are hopeful that everything will go ahead as planned especially since extra precautions have been put in place by our federation to ensure athletes are protected and risk is minimised.”
I for one will be following John and his team as their journey continues. If tenacity brings success (and I believe it’s a key factor) then there’s no doubt we’ll see John at the Olympic Winter Games before too long either. When I think about John, I’m reminded of another moment in Cool Runnings when they describe what it means to be a bobsleigh driver: “He’s the first to show up, and the last to leave. When his buddies are all out drinking beer, he’s up in his room studying pictures of turns. You see, a driver must remain focused one hundred percent at all times. Not only is he responsible for knowing every inch of every course he races, he’s also responsible for the lives of the other men in the sled.”
John’s sense of responsibility came to him at a young age and was reinforced in early adulthood by the loss of his father: “There are defining moments in everyone’s lives that change them. One for me was the loss of my father when I was 20. It fell to me to arrange the funeral and sort out the legalities. I didn’t have time to stop and process it as I had a job to do; I was halfway through my final engineering course. I had to complete it if I was going to succeed. It’s that day that I decided I was going to make the most out of every opportunity available to me. Live the hardest, work the hardest, enjoy every experience. Try and be better every day and live the life my father never had.”
I can’t claim to know John well, but in a year when we’ve all learnt that there’s little we can take for granted and have been reminded how priceless it is to be surrounded by our loved ones, especially at Christmas-time, I’m sure that whatever happens next John will do his family and his nation proud.
You can find John on LinkedIn HERE, while his GoFundMe page is HERE.
Katie Traxton is an ESA Board Director and Chief Communications Officer at Formula E.