Felicity Hawksley reports as the squad returned to Wimbleball Lake in Somerset for a new year's camp:
Exactly two weeks after we left, we were back. Christmas had been and gone in a flash, and before we knew it, we had returned to Wimbleball for our second training camp. Again, the weather was freezing and we layered up to retrieve our boats from the shed where they had been left over the holiday. The purpose of the camp was not only to cover some miles and move on technically, but to seat race. For many of us new to the squad, this was both exciting and terrifying in equal measures. The days preceding the seat racing flew by with some tough sessions. The camp wasn't just about improving our rowing, it was about learning to be hard. Being hard took its toll on us! We were knackered. The mileage total was steadily creeping up with every session. Some of our work was done on the ergos, the conditions being unrowable on one day. We also took some time to fly a powerful kite with our coach Alex. The wind was pretty high, and the thing was so strong, it felt like you could get carried away. Our cox, Becky, being the lightest, feared for her safety and promptly crashed the kite into a tree.
Midway through camp, our nutritionist Juliet arrived for a visit and suggested some new ideas to adapt our diets to the punishing mileage and weather. She even braved the launch with Alex, coming out on the water to see how we were performing under her nutrition advice-needless to say, she was very impressed!
Seat racing arrived. And so did Linda. At first, she was there to drive the launch and help Alex take the times, but she also rowed during the second session. We were tiring and the racing came down to brute strength and determination. As the light began to fade, it was finally over. We crawled home and showered, absolutely exhausted.
The lake was due to be bad a few days later, so we walked together up Somerset’s highest point. After our windy walk, we returned gladly to the truck. Alex had brought some food, we dressed up in everything warm we could find, and headed back to our digs, during which much “singing” was done!
The next few days saw a combination of boats going out, including singles, doubles, fours and the eight.The final day dawned. The coxless four were gunning to replicate the world record attempt made earlier in the week. Either they did it at the first attempt, or continued to attempt it until Alex got bored! Suffering from fatigue at the end of a long camp, they missed out on the record, but managed some pretty fast times anyway. And with that, the camp was over. We derigged, loaded the trailer and drove the long road back to Oxford.