Second Camp Done and Dusted

Our second camp which was held in Sydney, after our imposed quarantine, started out on Thursday afternoon, once the rest of the crew had arrived. We headed out for a row to just get ourselves back into the swing of things. It wasn't too bad and we were able to blow out some of the cobwebs!

We were told on Thursday afternoon that we would be doing some racing over the coming days with a number of the Senior A and Under 23 crews that were heading overseas in the coming months for World Champs. These races were being held in conjunction with the 2nd World Cup which was being held in Munich on the same weekend. As Australia opted not to send any crews overseas this season it was going to be interesting to see how we compared to the crews racing in Munich.

The schedule that was set out for the camp was on each day...an early morning session to warm ourselves up, then a race around 10:40 a.m., a few hours off and then back for an afternoon session. So it was to be a pretty intense few days and I was really hoping that everyone stayed healthy and injury free.

Our first race didn't feel too bad and we were able to take about 3 seconds off our time from the selection trials, but in my books still not good enough. But with each row that we had, the boat was moving much better and we were really coming together as a crew and rowing as one.

Our second race on Saturday was slightly better, taking another second off. But again I think we were all getting a bit frustrated that the times weren't coming down a lot faster. Lisa was great in trying to get us to relax during our rows as the more we become frustrated the slower we row. Tara (who was coaching us) had us do some really hard and fast 250m which seemed to help us tremendously, so we were really happy with our row after that session. We realised that if we could put those 250m together then we could do a fantastic last row.

Sunday morning came around and I think that most of us had a few nerves. I know I did as I wanted the selectors to see that we meant business and really wanted to go to Poland. And even though we knew that this was not a race for selection, they would be watching to see if we had made any great improvements over the last month and a half.

We had a great warm up and headed to the start. We were racing with our Australian rep in the Mens Arms/Shoulders single scull and the Trunk and Arms Mixed double scull. The single sculler Ben went off go, the double with Kathryn and Greg went 35 seconds later and then we wnet 60 seconds after the double. This had basically been the same the last two days.

We had a pretty good start and during the race were making up some pretty good ground on the other boats. But to be honest, to me the row felt really messy and all over the place. The two previous days we had caught the double but this day we didn't, so I was very doubtful that we had a good race. We headed back to the landing and it was extremely quiet in the boat. I think that the others were thinking exactly like me, that it was a terrible row.

Upon getting to the landing Tara was waiting for us and when we had stopped told us it had been a PB (personal best). I remember looking at her and asking her if we had gone under 3:50. At that point she smiled and said "Way under!" We had just taken 8 seconds off the time from the day before and 14 seconds off our time during selection trials. There was a loud WooHoo from the whole crew! We had finally learnt how to race! Although the race had been a bit messy it was alot faster.

I can't even explain the feeling in the boat during the afternoon session. Doing that good row had completely changed the way the boat felt that afternoon. It had obviously made us all relax and realise that we do have the potential! Tara had us do a couple of 500m pieces during this session and we were able to equal our time from the morning...so it wasn't a fluke!

(Photo: Exiting the Sydney International Regatta Course)

Our last row on Monday morning had some good pieces in it and some bad. We were all extremely tired from the last 4 days and I know myself I had no strength left in my right arm and both legs. My old body was telling me that I needed a day off!

Over the last couple of camps we have become like a small family and we have shared many laughs and stories with each other. One of the phrases that has come out of our time together is a shared joke, one which I won't go into here as it would take too long to explain. But we have a catch cry for our crew of "It can't be good for the fish!". This is thanks to Henry! So during the week of my quarantine I found a shop who made up some shirts for me for the entire crew, which I presented to them on Saturday. Tara had also made all of us bracelets in green and gold to wear as a crew.

The camp was fantastic but also sad. Unfortunately we will not have Tara to coach us anymore. In a way it is bitter sweet. Tara has been identified as having Olympic potential in the sport of Kayaking and has been invited to live and train in Queensland. So it is fantastic for her but not so great for us. We decided that we wanted to make sure she still felt part of the team and at dinner on Sunday night gave her a lovely photo of all of us together. We were all wearing shirts that I had made up and hopefully she will remember how much she has done for us in our quest for selection. Of course we all wish her the best for her future in kayaking. Hopefully we will see her name "Tara Huntly" on the list of Australian athletes for London 2012! (Photo from left: Tara, Carol, Stoodley our mascot, Lisa, Henry, Alex and Pete)

We are now all back at our home bases and will come together again for one last training camp before our selection time trial on the 12th of July.