Another Croak from the Stroke by Henry Macphillamy

Well, here I am on a Sunday night, home after what has been a pretty intense six day camp out at the Riff. It’s cold, and it’s raining outside, so I think we were extremely lucky to have such fine weather over the last week. It got as warm as 25 or 6 on Tuesday, and had a real summery feel about it. Who knows what the weather gods have in store for us for when we head back for our final prep camp on the third of August.

To briefly summarise the camp as a whole, it was challenging in both a physical and mental sense. Despite the ups and downs, the niggling frustrations etc etc, we were probably consistently rowing as well as we ever have done by the end of it. When I tried to compare the way the boat ‘felt’ and sounded as it was running through the water today with selection trials back in April, well... I simply couldn’t! The differences are simply too stark.

As rowing is such a tactile sport, you can really ‘feel’ and hear how well the boat is moving through the water. Where before the boat was rocking all over the place, we have now learnt how to balance it up a lot better by playing around with the heights of our oars. Where before you could hear the harsh sounds of blades skimming and slapping across the water as we prepared a stroke, more often than not we now hear the smooth sounds of water sliding and bubbling its way beneath us. The way we have been ‘finishing the stroke’, together has also had a big improvement on the way the boat feels. When the crew takes a stroke and finishes at the same time and at the same place, there is a satisfying ‘thud’. This is followed immediately by a surge of speed as we ‘tap’ our blades off the water, follow our hands forward and prepare ourselves for another.

I think I can safely say that as a crew, we all found it tough in the windy conditions which we had to deal with earlier in the week. We will have to be prepared to race whatever the conditions however, so from the point of view of a practical learning experience it was a valuable one. If we can keep our focus no matter what is happening around us, the better our overall preparation is going to be.

Now we have just one week left at home which to do our individual training. If the rest of the team are anything like me, they’ll also be running around trying to do a million little things which need to be sorted out before we leave. It’s all moving along so quickly I can hardly believe it! Right now the focus is most definitely on just keeping the fitness ticking along and staying healthy.

This is going to be relatively easy, as my guide dog Billy has taken it upon himself to demand walking credits for all the time i have spent away from him. He also seems to have got it in to his head that since I don’t seem to be using my bed all that often these days, it may as well become his bed! Fortunately, when I put his harness on his guiding is as good as ever, and he has managed to keep me safe as we cruise the mean streets. I only hope he won’t need too much retraining after a five week holiday, or worse still, decide to go on strike pending better pay and conditions.

In the mean time, preparation continues as the time to leave draws closer and closer.
Four out!

Next Stop...Staging Camp

Our last camp before we join the Senior A team for the staging camp finished yesterday. What a week it was!

After our rest on Friday afternoon we were all ready and looking forward to our 1000m race piece on Saturday morning. Or at least we thought we were! As a crew we had worked out what our top stroke rate should be for us and we were told to leave it at that and not try to rate faster. We had Ben, our Arms only rower in the lane beside us and he was sent off 95 seconds before us, we then had to chase him down. The row didn't feel too bad but I honestly don't think that any of us were completely spent at the end of it and we should have been! We did catch Ben and pass him but we realized after that row that we needed to do a hell of a lot more.

We headed back up the course to the start where we stopped and had a chat. Lisa had us do some pairs work on the way back down, trying to make the movements much smoother. Then once the pairs work was done we went into all four rowing. This was much better than the piece we had just done. We were to have two more sessions on Saturday, however Alex's hip was giving her some problems and rather than damaging her any more than need we cut that down to one session. It was more important to make sure that everyone in the crew was healthy as it is so close to the race that counts! We did row in the afternoon and took what we had done at the end of the morning session, into the afternoon. It actually felt the best we had rowed at steady state.

After a week of absolutely beautiful weather we awoke on Sunday morning to an overcast sky and rain. It was also very cold. We were to do two 500m pieces in the morning session and these were to be at race pace. We all had a chat about taking the good rowing we had done the day before and continuing that on but this time, unlike our 1000m, we had to give it our all and have nothing left at the end.

The first 500m, we had a fantastic start and the row felt amazing. We were all very happy with it and I can tell you that I certainly didn't have much left in the legs when it was over. Pedro wanted us to head back up the course, cross over at the 750m mark and then do the second 500m. Well this time the start wasn't great but the row itself felt awesome! When we were done, Pedro asked us how we thought it was, I did yell over to him that it felt awesome. It turns out that it was the fastest 500m we had ever done and the second 250m of it was our fastest ever split! Awesome!!! What a way to finish off a week long camp.

A couple of the Junior girls from the Quad came over to the sheds and gave us "high fives" saying that they had seen us row the last 500m and that it had looked fantastic! The fact that they took the time to come over and let us know, made me feel pretty damn good, as I am sure it did the others. They also told Henry that he had stroked it magnificently...this put a huge smile on his face!

We did have one more row before the camp ended but this was a short, steady state row just to finish off. Once the boat was washed and put away it was time to say goodbye to everyone, but only for 6 days.

It has been a tough week for everyone. By the end of the week, bodies were hurting, tempers were frayed but that was to be expected. The next 6 days will give us time to recover (whilst still training), put our lives in order and pack for the next part of the journey. The exciting part is about to begin!

Camp Continues

Well today was the fourth day of our camp and we have all been getting a bit tired. We have had 3 sessions a day and the boat is definitely coming together. I think that every time we get part of it right, we then have to work on something else! It is certainly a never ending process!

We did a lot of work with race pace pieces this morning, getting the boat up to race pace fast. I think that we were all pretty happy with the outcome, we were finally able to pull the stroke rate up and we have now worked out what rate works best for us as a crew.

In between our sessions this morning we sat at the finish line and cheered on the Australian Junior crews who were simulating a heat race for their World Championship campaign which starts next week in France. We were quite impressed with how they looked and we will be there tomorrow cheering them on for their final race! It is amazing to see the up and coming new crop of rowers for Australia and I am sure that we will hear about some of them in the future. It has been a pleasure being included in the Juniors camp and being able to share dinner with them each night. We have been included in the daily wrap up of how training went every day and it is interesting to hear that some of the crews concentrate on the same things that we do. It proves we aren’t much different to Able Bodied crews.

We were given the afternoon off this afternoon and it gave us some time to recharge the batteries. A few of us went to the new Harry Potter movie, it was a nice change just to sit and watch! We also had a few laughs which I believe was certainly needed as we are all trying so hard to put this crew together that we needed to lighten the mood up. Lisa decided she would try and walk like Pete which was quite a funny spectacle, the two of them limping at the same time.


With only two days left of this camp it is hard to believe that in just over a week we will be back here for our staging camp before heading to Europe. With about three weeks of training left before the World Championships I am sure that we will prove to ourselves that we have the speed to mix it with the best. We will all be giving 110% in each training session, it’s the only way!

Day Two of Camp

I decided that I would do a quick update today while we are having a rest between sessions. We have all been together now for two days and we have had some really good rows and some crap rows!

Yesterday morning we had a not too bad first row back together and we were able to get some good run on the boat, but by the afternoon I think we had all forgotten how to row! Mind you the wind had picked up and we rowed into a very strong headwind! We had to do some race pieces and setting up the boat into the head wind was good but when we turned around to do some other race pieces it all fell apart. We had to put that behind us and think about the next day.

This morning we were all a bit better, more relaxed and more focused. I think we were definitely able to put yesterday behind us. Our session this morning we did 6 one minute race pieces and they were good. We are slowly making those little steps to be able to row much faster.

On an exciting note, we all received our team gear the other day. So it makes it feel a bit more like we are really going! With the new zooties we will certainly stand out...they are very bright. But we will wear the gear with pride.

We are now out for our 2nd session today and hopefully we will be able to carry over the good row from early this morning.

Our Extra Camp

We have come to Penrith for another camp after our successful campaign to gain selection to the Australian Rowing Team for the World Championships. Lisa and I flew up to Sydney from Melbourne yesterday and met up with Matt Bialkowski (our support person for Europe) for a lift to the regatta course. Alex and Henry were meeting us there and Pete is flying in this morning.

Also at SIRC this week is the Australian Junior team who have their staging camp before they head off to France for the Junior World Championships. So it is with interest that we can see the next wave of rowers to come through the ranks, watch their training and be able to be a part of their send off.

Matt had a little surprise for Lisa upon our arrival in the form of a new cox box. Now most of us would not be too excited about a cox box, but for Lisa it was like a little bit of Christmas. What is a cox box some of you none rowers are asking...well it connects to the boat so that Lisa can speak to us...maybe yell at us at times...and we can hear her. There are also other components that tell her our stroke rate and if the boat is fitted with proper wiring actually tell her how fast we are going. The exciting thing for Lisa was that it was in Aussie colours and had a kangaroo on either side of it, so this made her day!


This will be the longest camp that we have had, at 6 days and I am certainly looking forward to seeing how we can "come together" even more. It certainly will be a tough slog this week with 3 sessions a day but we are ready for the challenge.

I know that for all of us this campaign is really exciting and we all have some incredible people behind us for support. For me, well I wouldn't be able to do all this without the support of my husband Russ. We haven't been home too much in the last 3 months, with selections, camps and now the upcoming travel overseas but without our family support systems in place this wouldn't be possible. So to Pete's partner, the parents of Alex, Lisa and Henry and to my own husband...thank you for your love and support.

Bring on the week!

A Croak from the Stroke by Henry Macphillamy

When the crew came together for its first camp, Carol did mention the fact that she was writing a blog, and I did say to her that I would contribute in some shape or other. I have said many things to her however, and up until this point, my focus was centred squarely on ‘d-day’, the day which would either kick start an unbelievable experience and challenge, or end an equally challenging yet not nearly as exciting one. As they say, better late than never, so here is my first entry.

It is impossible not to mention the feeling of closure and satisfaction I feel. Having said that, I know that the hard work has not even started yet. All that we have experienced thus far is just a taste of what is to come where it actually matters. We will be wearing the colours of our country which was our shared goal up until this point. The next step is nowhere nearly as clear-cut. We will train as hard as we can, and then we will compete at the highest level. It is the reality that is only now slowly sinking in, and then only because I have to think of words to describe the feeling! ... ... Wow!!!

Carol touched on the fact that the five of us, as a crew, are all different. In the material sense at least, we could not be more so. Our heights; our weights; our disabilities and attributes; our very different life experiences; our personalities and aspirations. Nowhere is this more apparent than when we travel together. As the elder statesmen of the group, Pete and Carol invariably sit in the front of the van, or in the case of the last camp, a very sexy wagon! The ‘three kids’, (Lisa, Alex and I) squash in to the back seat where we do all the things that you would expect siblings to do on a family road trip; squabble, laugh, play corners, blame unfortunate odours on each other etc etc.

When we step in to the boat however, all of these things become irrelevant. Rowing as a single entity is everything. Each of us knows what we have to work on and improve, and we know that the ability to work together will have a direct impact on our boat speed. The slightly dysfunctional family has to transform itself in to a crew intent on being as proficient as it can be every time we hit the water. The fact that we are slowly but surely improving our times is proof that we are at least on the right track in doing this. The fact that we were selected at all demonstrates how far we have come as a crew over the last few months.

While individual fitness is undoubtedly important, one thing I have taken away from this experience thus far is just how crucial it is to be in the right frame of mind. This is true for just about everything we do both as a crew and in our individual training. I cannot speak for the rest of the team, but personally, I have learnt so much in the lead up to this. When doing an erg session alone at home in my dingy garage, it seems so easy sometimes just to take a breather. As soon as negative thoughts start to enter my head it is like a weight sitting on my shoulders, or a big question mark over all the time and effort I have spent on my technique and fitness. Why does it hurt so much? Why am I doing this? Can I really handle it? Am I honestly capable of holding this split for another ten minutes?

As my coaches Simon and Tony so often tell me, when the question appears, you have to find a very good answer. The answer has nothing at all to do with physical strength or ability. It has everything to do with mental toughness. It is premature to say that I have all the answers, and I do not ever expect to. I am learning however, that there is a massive gap between what you think it is possible to do, and what it is actually possible to do given a strong head screwed on to your shoulders. I would like to think that, in relative terms at least, I am a lot stronger in this respect than I was, even from three months ago.

Racing in the boat is simply an amazing feeling. Initially I found it so hard to relax! The pressure’s on, and I have three people sitting behind me who depend on me keeping a rhythm which they can easily follow. The more time I spend with the crew however, the more comfortable I feel. You can feel everyone’s confidence growing during and after each decent session which we have together. I think the up-coming training camp out at circ will be absolutely crucial for this confidence. It will be the longest camp we have had to date, so I am really hoping we are able to use it to make some inroads in to that untapped potential which I know we possess.

This has been a pretty general post and overview of my perspective of how things are going for us so far. I am really looking forward to making further contributions to the blog, and giving you all an insight into our training and progress in the coming weeks. Four Out!

We Did It!

We arrived at SIRC just before 7am for our warm up training session. Everyone was pretty keen to get on the water and have the second last row for the weekend. It was a beautiful morning, flat water, a bit chilly but the sunrise was fantastic. We were only doing one lap of the course, concentrating on really becoming one, every movement in time with one another. This may sound really easy but when you have four people, all different sizes and all with different disabilities, well it isn't that easy!

We had a good row and the timing wasn't too bad, we were finally getting some "send" on the boat. In other words we were finally letting the boat do the work for us. This was something that Pedro (who is coaching us since Tara had left) had been saying to us since day one, "Let the boat do the work, drive with the legs and really build the stroke to the chest, send the boat". It made perfect sense to us but getting us all to do it together and exactly together has been the tough part. But this morning that came together.

After our row, we headed back to the motel, to pack up, check out and then head back for our final time trial. We all knew we had to do better on this time trial than any of the previous ones. We had to show the selectors that we were improving and deserved to be part of the team heading to Poland. On the way back to the course in the car it was very quite. I think that everyone was really getting into their "zones", thinking about what they each needed to do individually to come together as "ONE".

We all did our own land warm up and at 10:30 a.m. it was "hands on". With the boat on the water and all of us in our seats we headed out for our warm up. We did a bit longer warm up than the day before and then headed out to the course. Once invited on to the course by the officials we took our position in lane 5 and Lisa had us do one practice start. Wow! what a start it was, the best we had ever done. We backed the boat into the finger and awaited the officials to start us off. Unfortunately we had a bad start! But we were able to correct quickly and we were off.

Lisa called the race brilliantly, she had us lengthen out once the boat was moving and from there had us work each stroke. Not think about the entire race but to concentrate on perfecting each individual stroke. The boat felt good, I know I felt good and the row felt strong and engaged with the water. Before I knew it Lisa was yelling that we had only 250 metres to go. It was incredible, I thought we were only about half way, but we were almost there. She wanted us to dig deeper than we had done before and with 100 metres to go asked for more. I didn't think I had anymore but incredibly I found some and before we knew it Lisa said to slow it down to steady state.

I don't think that anything has hurt more than that last 250 metres and I am sure the rest of the crew felt the same. We had finished and we had done the best that we could, now it was up to the selectors. As we rowed past the viewing stands, the crowd were clapping and at that point Lisa said to us "That's for us" and I must say it felt good. Now all we had to do was wait for the verdict.

When we got back to the landing, Pedro was there waiting for us and congratulated each one of us. We had a few supporters there, Henry's parents and guide dog Billy, Pam, Pedro's wife and Kathryn Ross another adaptive rower, who congratulated us and told us it was a good row...but to all of us was it good enough?

We sat around for a while hoping that one of the selectors would come and speak with us, but we were getting cold and decided to have showers and change. Once we were back at the shed we were told that we were to attend a meeting with the rest of the Senior team. I think we were all on pins and needles hoping that this was when we would be given the nod. But no the meeting was about how well everyone had done over the weekend and to wish the Under 23 representatives good luck, as they were leaving for Europe the next day. Then Andrew Mathieson said he wanted the LTA crew to stay so he could speak with us. Well I can tell you a few things went through my head! And most of them were negative!

When Andrew did finally come over to us, he stated that he was happy with how we had progressed over the weekend and that as far as he and other selectors we concerned they were going to put our names forward to the Rowing Australia board for inclusion on the Australian Team for the World Championships in Poland. Well I think everything else went off in my head! We were going! And to be honest the relief was overwhelming. I don't think there was much of a reaction from any of us right away and I am sure Andrew was a bit miffed about why we weren't jumping for joy. I think it had been such a tough slog and mentally tough that it took a while for it to sink in. I know that walking back to the shed it hit me and I actually became quite emotional. All the hard work had paid off.

When we did get back to the shed that is when the hugging and emotion all came out! But we definitely came back to earth as we realized that now the even harder work begins. We have another camp in a weeks time in Sydney, then a week home, then back to Sydney where the staging camp will be held before we head to Europe. But we know that we are going which puts our heads in a better place because we know what we can accomplish. In just three short camps we have really come together as a crew...We Can Row as ONE!

The Day Has Arrived

Welcome to Sunday or "D" Day!

I am awake much earlier than Lisa and Alex so thought I would just quickly write a short note. This is probably the most important day of my short rowing career. We have to impress the selectors more than we have ever thought possible. It has been an interesting weekend. We have done two time trials so far,(to explain to non rowers reading this, the selectors look at our time and give it a percentage against the world best) and they haven't been too bad. On Friday we were ranked third highest amongst all the Senior A and B crews who are going to World Champs and Saturday we ranked 9th. So we are definitely in the mix.

We were disappointed with our row on Saturday as we all thought it felt a bit stronger but we weren't together enough. We did think that we had gone faster than Friday but the time was almost identical. I think that we are all putting so much into this that not only were we tired physically but mentally as well. So we had the afternoon off and I can tell you this old body certainly was happy about that!

So today is it...I am a bit nervous but I know that those nerves will serve me well when we are sitting on the start line. I am very ready to go out and give it my all as I know the rest of the crew is. So hopefully the next entry will be one that says, no that screams..."We are going to Poland"!

Last Chance Camp

I am sitting here in Penrith after an amazing weekend at a 24 Hour Mega Swim at Homebush. The event was great, we more than doubled the teams from last year and more than doubled the money raised. So far it stands at $146, 569.10 and hopefully everyone will get their pledges in! So I decided that since our last camp starts on Wednesday I might as well stay in NSW instead of going back to Melbourne for a day and a half..

I have booked into the Chifley Penrith Panthers as we were supposed to be staying here for our camp. However they have changed hotels so on Wednesday I will have to move to the Log Cabin Motel where we stayed during the last camp.

This camp is the most important camp we have. We will be time trialling on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at which time we have to prove to the selectors that we are fast enough to head over to the World Championships. We all know we can do it, but I am sure that the nerves will be there. Which is good as our adrenaline will be flowing.

I am having tomorrow off, especially after this past weekend, but I will be training at SIRC on Tuesday and Wednesday in a single before the rest of the crew arrives on Wednesday afternoon. Hopefully the next time I write I will have good news that we are on our way!