January Camp - 2023
Georgia Watson - Head Coach of u14 rowing
A bright future for Bishops Rowing
The Bishops Rowing Club was fortunate in welcoming 20 u14s boys onto their January rowing camp this last week. The camp began with the boys pitching their own tents and a quick lesson on rigging before hitting the water for their first session. Even though the first few days involved long sessions of technical work where we went back to basics, the boys caught on fast and exceeded my expectations.
We had all the boys complete their tipping tests on day 2 and some were able to jump into a scull for a session where they were able to play around in the boat and get comfortable when it came to balancing in it. The boys completed a difficult land session on day 3 with coach Stef playing some golden oldie songs to get them through that sore session. However, no session dampened the boy’s mood with everyday ending with MPVs of a session and delicious dinners provided by the caterers. The boys completed their boat part test on the fourth day with every boy knowing their boats from the bow to the stern. The last day was their time to shine with our morning session involving competitive leapfrog in octs. I cannot express enough how proud I was of each boy after that session, they brought all the skills they had learnt that camp and put it all into that one session.
Bishops Rowing’s future cannot look brighter with such a large group of talented boys. I cannot wait to see what they will be able to do this season and in the rest of their years of rowing for the club. Their fascination for the sport and their willingness to learn together will not only create a winning team, but a group of boys who have amazing attitudes and support one another through it all.
Simone Correia - U15 Head Coach
The new year has started off with a bang for our u15 rowing boys. A training camp in Swellendam for 5 days consisted of good laughs, team bonding and hard work. The camp brought our age group closer together and we are now more than ready to kick off the next half season.
With only 6 weeks of training until SA Champs, the boys put their heads down and worked hard to get stronger and faster. A lot of time on the glassy water has allowed us to make some good progress and aim for the perfect rowing stroke. Overall the camp was a success and we are buzzing to get the season started and see what we can achieve!
Christopher Hale - U16 Head Coach
The u16 age group is humming off the back of a boatrace campaign, which unlike normal years saw the entire squad attend. Numbers in a squad increase depth and depth increases competition. With only 9 in the age group, if one athlete is absent it has a huge impact. A few of the boys were sick however, for the majority of camp, we were able to lock in some good pieces on the water, high-rate work, and decent work on technique.
The boys never complain, make the most of their situation, and have a joll. It has been a pleasure thus far and I look forward to the remainder of the season!
Oliver Kane-Smith - Open Age Group Coach
The Open age group left for camp a day before the rest of the club. After an early wake-up and a 3-hour drive, we arrived at the camp where the boys who had not been able to do their 2k trials the day before set about smashing the ergo. With the trials done and lunch devoured, we headed down to the water to rig the doats and get on for our first session naively hoping to have missed out on the heat of the day. The focus of the camp was on the smaller boats, namely four pairs and singles. We used this first session to identify the issues to tackle throughout the week.
The following sessions were spent hammering out the basics and committing new techniques to muscle memory. For the second 4 that I took this meant a huge focus on the back end or finish of the stroke. Lots of time early in the morning was spent learning how to feel the balance of the boat and being able to respond and work with the other members of the crew and move away together all in an effort to minimize any unnecessary movement in the boat. Little by little and stroke by stroke we made improvements.
Afternoons were crunch time when the boys grafted pieces on the water. This led to some competitive racing between the crews where the boys pushed themselves to greater heights all in an effort to win bragging rights by beating the other crew.
At the end of the day, it was a lekker camp with good crew vibes and hard graft.
