For the third year in a row, we returned to Lake Sarnen in Switzerland for a pre-season training camp in early September 2018.

A squad of 14 athletes comprising both returners and new recruits set their alarms for the horribly early time of 0245am to head from Oxford –> Luton –> Zurich –> Sarnen.  Greeted by glorious blue skies, stunning picturesque mountain scenery and a glassy 5km Lake Sarnen, we were all keen to jump straight into training.  We were treated to a week of perfect rowing conditions, ideal for the small boat training we had planned.

As with previous years, this camp predominantly focussed on technique, with long steady state paddles mixed with pure technical sessions in singles, pairs, doubles and a coxless four.  We couldn’t help but take advantage of the spacious lake, regularly rowing eight boats side by side.  The space also allowed Head Coach Chris O’Hara to get creative with his sessions, inventing what he claims to be the first ever omnium-style “elimination race” of blocks of r18 paddling interspersed with 30 second free rate bursts, with the boat in last place being eliminated at the end of each sprint.

As well as Chris and assistant coach Jill Betts, we were joined by our nutritionist Jasmine Campbell and sports psychologist Heather Moon who both give excellent support to aid our recovery between sessions and preparation for the upcoming season.

This training camp, as with previous years, was an incredibly valuable opportunity for our squad to kick off our season in preparation for the 2019 Boat Races.  We cannot thank Chris, Jill, Jasmine and Heather enough for their dedication in organisation, planning and running of the camp, as well as the team at Swiss Rowing for hosting us and allowing our use of their facilities.

Following the success of the 2016 pre-season training camp, we returned to Lake Sarnen in Switzerland with a mixture of returning athletes and a selection of new recruits from our summer development squad.

Although we were greeted with pouring rain on the first day, which made for the first character-building moment of the season, the sun eventually burnt through and the weather was generally mild with scattered showers, which made for perfect rowing conditions.

The focus of this camp was predominantly working on technique. A number of our development squad athletes had never sculled before, and it was a great opportunity to learn new skills in single and double sculls as well as work in pairs and fours, and great progress was made by the whole squad in just five short days.

We were coached by Chris and assistant coach Jill and also accompanied by former VP Laure Bonfils (our gym bootcamp leader) and our squad nutritionist Jasmine. We had 2-3 outings and/or land training sessions per day, as well as video analysis sessions and talks educating us on the importance of nutrition and recovery, boat maintenance and what to expect during the approaching season. Jasmine also did an amazing job of cooking for the squad and bringing plenty of supplements for us to sample.

This five-day training camp provided a highly valuable, focused environment for the athletes before the season commences with the whole squad. We are hugely grateful for the hard work and commitment of the coaches and Jasmine in organising this camp and helping us gain the most from this trip, ensuring we are in the best possible position for the upcoming Henley Boat Races.

by Jade Bogart

The 2016-17 season was off to an exciting start, with a small group of returning and new athletes going to Lake Sarnen in Switzerland for pre-season training camp. The 7.5 km² large lake is roughly 85km south of Zurich, surrounded by gorgeous mountain and forest scenery. It was an incredible location. We stayed for 5 days at the Swiss Rowing Federation’s national rowing centre, which was situated only a minute away from the landing stage.

Lake Sarnen

Despite initial fears of thunderstorms, every day we had warm (sometimes too warm!) sunshine, little wind and flat water. These conditions were perfect for technical training, which was to be the focus of the trip. We went out 2-3 times a day, in a mixture of sculling and sweep boats. For many of the new rowers, this was their first time they had sculled.

On the coaching team was head coach Chris and assistant coach Jill, who as always were fantastic with helping us make rapid improvements. For the last half of the camp, we were also joined by a past President of the club, Linda Reynard. Not only was her additional help very useful, but it was also interesting to discuss how the club has evolved so much over the years. It made us feel even more privileged to be here!

Aside from making technical progress in our rowing, the squad had an afternoon off to visit the nearby city of Lucerne. We went to the historic centre and climbed the old ramparts in order to have a view of the town. The camp provided a great opportunity for the new squad members to mix with the seniors and to start to build the team ethos that is so important to the club.

This was also the ideal time to get prepared on other aspects of training. The girls received lots of information from our nutritionist Rianne, who accompanied us on the camp. We were introduced to many new products and had all our questions answered. Rianne also did an amazing job of organising the meals in our self-catered accommodation, so was really vital to the running of the camp! We were very grateful for all the advice she gave and look forward to working with her over the year.

The squad is currently back in Wallingford with the rest of the triallists and have begun the training for this year. We would like to say thank you to Chris, Jill, Rianne and to all those who worked to organise the trip behind the scenes. This was really a wonderful way to start the season.

This year, two pre-season training camps took place:

• A Pre-Season Training Camp to Lake Sarnen, Switzerland (see next post): with a small group of athletes – a mix of returning rowers and a select few of this summer’s development squad. Coaches: Chris and Jill.
• A Pre-Season Sculling Camp, in Wallingford. Coach: Andrew.

Julia was one of the lucky rowers to experience the pre-season sculling camp:

“I was a novice last year and only ever did sweep rowing, so the sculling camp was an amazing opportunity for me to learn to scull. The coaching was fantastic with so much attention and time spent on both each individuals techniques and working together as a crew when in doubles/quads.”

We would like to say thank you to Andrew for his amazing coaching.