Rowers from both Shanklin Sandown and Newport Rowing Club enjoyed a fantastic three day rowing camp on the River Medina. The camp, aimed at preparing rowers for the up and coming season, was run from Newport Rowing Club and saw club members rowing up to three times a day in a variety of boats.
The camp began days before, with the long task of moving nine Shanklin boats from the club's boathouse on the esplanade to Newport, involving two trips, a lot of ingenuity and a lot of time being given up by club members!
The camp itself began on the Sunday and ran through to the following Tuesday. With only four hours of 'rowable' conditions due to Newport's tidal water, it was an impressive feat of organisation and discipline from everyone involved to achieve the session plans on the day! With this achieved, all rowers were able to go afloat in a variety of boats from coastal fours to river single sculls. The benefits of this were universal for all rowers, with many sculling for the first time, or for others simply rowing in different combinations to give themselves new experiences.
As well as the water sessions, workshops were put in place by coach Lesley Walters in an effort to help rowers better understand other elements of the sport that are often forgotten about. This included a session centered about rowing technique and a nutrition workshop - important elements of the sport that can often be forgotten about in the face of improving physical fitness.
By the end of the third day, the participating rowers had spent around twenty hours in three days either on the water, rigging boats, in workshops or refueling! With members of both Shanklin and Newport attending the camp it was also a fantastic opportunity for both shared knowledge and diversifying crews!
Shanklin would first and foremost like to extend their thanks to Newport Rowing Club, whom offered their facilities on the only consistently flat water on the island. Without this the benefits of the camp, which was largely focused on fine tuning technique, would have been far more limited! Thanks also goes to the coaches who gave up their own time to ensure the camp was a success, with some even taking time off work. The final message of thanks must go to Lesley and Garry Walters, who were without question the driving force behind the idea, preparing all of the session plans, ensuring all boats were at Newport in time for the Sunday and being ever present throughout the entirety of the three days.