A PLYMOUTH Royal Navy sailor has rowed to success in the World Indoor Rowing Championship – winning a first ever medal for the Navy.

His success is especially impressive because he has been serving in the cramped confines of Royal Navy submarines for many years – with little time or gym equipment to keep fit.

Chief Petty Officer Collin Leiba, a submariner based at HM Naval Base, Devonport, was placed third in his category - gaining a bronze medal at the competition in Boston, US.

This is the first medal won by any serving member of the Royal Navy for the 11 years the Navy has competed in this event. Devonport’s Central Amenity Fund provided some financial support for Collin’s entry.

Collin, 51, also a previous Plymouth body-building champion, said: “More importantly, this represents a great opportunity to promote sports collectively and Indoor rowing specifically. This proves that service in the Royal Navy and the funding gained by the various organisations can make a huge difference.

“Thanks to the tireless efforts of the RN indoor rowing team manager Paul Winton, we now have a platform from which we can stimulate widespread interest.’’

Paul said: “This world medal is just reward for his endeavour and application, now ‘Mr World Indoor Rowing 2015’’ to add to his ‘Mr Plymouth 1992’ bodybuilding title!”. 

Paul added: “Collin has been a leading light of the Royal Navy Indoor Rowing team for five years, during which time he has developed his performance over a wide range of distances and achieved notable success. Possessing great physical strength and a well developed physique - he has adapted accordingly to develop aerobic capacity and endurance to aid his indoor rowing capability.’’

Despite the unavoidable enforced physical inactivity of long spells of service in submarines such as Plymouth-based HMS Trafalgar, HMS Tireless, HMS Trenchant, HMS Turbulent and HMS Talent – Collin has maintained his fitness.

He excels at short distances on the rowing machine at 1,000m, 500m and some shorter sprints and is the current UK Record holder over 500m and 1,000m in the men’s heavyweight 50+ age group. The ‘blue riband’ race distance for all major indoor rowing championships is 2,000m.

Defying the normal aging process Collin, of Smethwick, Warley, West Midlands, has reduced his 2,000m personal best (pb) by 13 seconds over the past 5 years to six minutes 25.6 secs.

In Boston he rowed close to his pb with a time of 6 mins 27.9 secs to clinch the 3rd place in the 50-54 age heavyweight category.

Regularly competing at major National, International and World Championships, he won the Men’s Heavyweight 50+ Gold Medal at the British Indoor Rowing Championships in 2013 and was 4th at the World Championships last year. The Royal Navy team comprised nearly half of total the Team GB at Boston among the 400 or so international competitors.

Collin is an engineering technician (marine engineering submarines) having joined the Navy 30 years ago to develop and enhance his engineering skills and to travel.

He first got into rowing while serving on HMS Turbulent which provided little chance and space to keep fit other than on a rowing machine and a fixed bicycle.

His boss Commander Nigel Reese was a very good rower. Collin said “An intense but friendly rivalry ensued in which we endeavour to outperform each other over 5Km lost that battle, but we did have a race over 1Km on the casing (upper deck) and he clocked 3:03 and I clocked 2:58.

"What I did not realise until 7 years later that the time performed was a British Age Group record - I was 41 at the time.’’

While serving on HMS Talent he surprised everyone by achieving a 2,000m time that would have placed him in the top ten of the British Championships that year (2009).

He subsequently began a successful competitive career in indoor rowing started in 2010.

His combined sporting achievements are: 1991- Combined Services Boxing Champion (Heavyweight), 1992- Mr Plymouth (Bodybuilding), 2013- British Indoor Rowing Champion (50-55) 1st Place, 2013- British Record Holder over various sprint distances: 100m-14.5s 300m – 45.2s 500m 1:19:1 1000m 2:56:7 in the 50-55 age group, 2015- Veterans 50-54 years heavy weight World Indoor Rowing Championships 3rd Place