Training Camps 2007/2008
The Christmas vacation saw this year’s squad go on two training camps, the first in for a week in the Netherlands and the second, a week in France.
The first camp in Tilburg, hosted by coach Jan Visser’s old club T.S.R. Vidar, saw the squad completing three water sessions most days, despite temperatures below -8°C at times. The access to several small boats, provided by Vidar, allowed every member of the squad to make vast technical improvements, as well as giving us the opportunity to do some seat racing. Towards the end of the week the squad split into two eights and raced a Dutch composite crew, including several U23 lightweight internationals.
After a two-week break for Christmas and New Year, the squad reconvened in Soustons in the South of France for another week of hard training. This week involved more rowing in eights than the previous camp, and the almost deserted lake meant the training was extremely focused, leading to more advances in both technique and fitness.
The squad owes their thanks to Jan Visser and Pete Bannister for their coaching on both camps, to T.S.R. Vidar for their hospitality in Tilburg and to Tom Harvey, Matt Phipps and Bodo Schulenburg for the unenviable task of trailing boats from Oxford to Soustons.
Overall both training camps proved most successful, and the squad are now in a perfect position to make the most of the next term’s training in advance of the Boat Race in March.
Posted at 18:46 on 11/02/2008