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News
Blisters were aplenty as our rowers got back in their stroke at this year’s Rowing Camp. For the novice rowers, toughening up the skin on the palms of their hands was a priority as they worked through some challenging training sessions.
Early each year, when other students are still making the most of the last of the summer holidays, our rowers travel to Karapiro to spend a week training on the lake. There are some significant logistics in bringing a camp such as this together including the transportation from College of 18 rowing boats and many unwieldy sets of oars, another 8 coach boats, 3 ‘ergs’ and enough food to fuel 65 rowers, 8 coaches and the parents in attendance.
Once camp is established, training gets underway in earnest with the rowers out of their beds each morning a5 5.30am for a light ‘first breakfast’ at 6am before getting on the water by 6.30am for a first rowing session. By 9am they are back on land for breakfast number two; this time a cooked breakfast to set them up for the day. By 11am they are back on the water again before lunch at 1pm.
The time between lunch and the next water session at 4pm is a mix of downtime and land based sessions, either working on core technique on the ‘ergs’ or the gruelling, hilly road run. With the final hour and a half water session completed by 6.30, it’s a very tired group of students who arrive for dinner at 7pm and have no qualms about the lights out rule at 9.30pm!
With so much physical activity, the meals are designed to add a balance of appealing good nutrition and fuel! We are grateful to a rotating team of parents who ensure that food is on the table in a timely manner with little going to waste.
Long time ‘camp parents’, committee members, Jan and Nick Barker have been instrumental in streamlining the activities in the camp kitchen. The ‘meal directory’ is a work of art with menus and quantities of ingredients required per head laid out in an exacting military style, offset with photos of how the meals should look. With over 1000 bread rolls, 200 litres of milk, 800 eggs, 90kgs of potatoes, 60kg of carrots and the all-important 105 litres of icecream ordered for the week, we can begin to understand the scale of the operation.
And then there’s the laundry. With so much time on the water and in physical activity, there is a need for a supply of dry clothes so laundry and a ready supply of $2 coins, 50 no less, is another part of the logistics. Again we have our parents to thank for the ensuring the flow through the washing machines.
Ask any rower what they think of camp and they will tell you it is tiring but that it helps to set them up for the season.
Our thanks go to the staff members and to the team of parents who made this possible for our students.
Parent Team:
Camp parents 2013 – Jan Barker (Committee) and Nick Barker (Committee).
Camp parents in training – Greg Lewis and Lynley Lewis (Committee).
Darryl Mac (Chairman), Helen Clarke (Committee), Greg Clarke, Sherron Fissenden (Committee), Garry Fissenden, Desiree Jenkins-Allright (Committee), Debbie Swiatek, Greg McBain, Geoff Strang (Committee), Jo Dakin , Jacque Fisher, Bruce Allison, Laura Allison, Carol-Ann Torrie (Nurse).
Cambridge Town Regatta
A selection of our rowers went on to compete at the Cambridge Town Regatta following the camp with the following results:
Boys U15 Coxed 4 – A Final 4th
Boys U15 Quad – B Final 1st
Boys U 17 4 Coxed – A Final – 6th
Boys U 18 Quad – A Final – 6th
Boys U18 Eight – A Final – 7th
Girls U 16 Double B Final 2nd
Girls `U17 Quad A Final
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