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!