Curlew Rowing Club’s 2015 Winter Training Camp wrapped up Sunday after three days of intense training and general bonhomie.
The camp had a strong turnout, with 30 senior squad members attending the weekend in Peterborough.
The team stayed at a hotel just adjacent to the picturesque Peterborough RC, making early starts a bit easier than usual.
The weather was chilly to say the least (crews had to break through ice on the river on Friday), but everyone managed to stay cheerful through the three daily sessions of technical and distance training.
Team captain Matt and women’s captain Maxine tackled the Herculean task of cooking lunches for the club, while the men’s team showing impressive enthusiasm for the daily washing up.
Curlew head coach Luke Vernall joined Curlew veteran Andy Gallop, Ben Askin and the omnipresent Matt Richardson in providing excellent coaching for every session.
The crew were coxed by women’s captain Maxine Livesey, Matt (again), the lovely Nicola Freeman and men’s captain John Stewart, who good-naturedly volunteered to take up the coxing seat after sustaining a leg injury.
The weekend was not without mishap: Matt flew off his bike while delivering some Churchillian oratory to a crew on Friday evening, and Bryony and Alex took an unfortunate plunge in the icy water while tapping at the catch in their double. But all in all, everyone left camp in high spirits and excited for the season ahead.
Here’s a message from captain Matt:
“From a Club standpoint, it was great to see the squads take so many people, we had 30 rowers signed up from the senior end of the squads. But what was great was the sense of club we had, everyone mucking in to help with the cleaning, cooking, washing up as well as being flexible on the water. From the rowing standpoint, I am not sure I have ever been to a camp where we’ve had so many coaches…with a coach per crew for all sessions. This gave the crews the best possible chance to improve over the weekend and improve they did. I would like to thank everyone who made this camp possible with special mention to our coaches Andy and Ben who continually give their support unpaid to help move this club forward. It was a great weekend, and a testament to all those involved with Curlew RC.”