Tag: swiss championships

  • Swiss Rowing Championships championnats suisses d’aviron 2020

    Swiss Rowing Championships championnats suisses d’aviron 2020

    So the racing season is over. One race done, and all done for the year. Very grateful, that with everything going on around the world, and in Switzerland, we were able to come together to race together. Great organisation skills from the Swiss Rowing Federation, the organising committee of Luzern, and discipline from all the clubs, to enable a safe regatta.

    In the last week, the entire training squad from Vevey, has been tapering down, and getting ready for the first and only major race of the year. The Swiss Rowing Championships, held as always, at the Rotsee Lake, Luzern, Switzerland. The central point of rowing for Switzerland, and some may say, the best natural rowing venue in the world.

    In the last week, the masters squad travelled to a small lake north of Vevey, to sharpen up for the coming ‘all or nothing’ regatta at the end of the week. We completed around 4-hours of training, about 60% less than a normal week’s training volume, and each session included high intensity. As a result, we all felt fresh, and sharpened up the coordination required for the 1,000m blast.

    The races were all stacked together on the Friday, meaning that most of the squad were racing 3 times. We fielded a crew in the men’s quad, 2 doubles and four singles. Took home silver in the quad, silver in the double and a gold in the single scull.

    Training volumes for the 8.5-months were 5% higher than last year. 84% of training volume (time) was spent <75% heart rate peak, and 5% of training volume (time) was spent >90% heart rate peak. Average training volume c.a. 10.5 hours a week.

    The race in the single scull was always going to be a fast one. No one knew the others form, leading into the race, so I made some assumptions on what would be required to win it. I figured 3:35 or there about would be the winning time, and confirmed this on seeing the still conditions at the Rotsee. My opposition always start fast, and I started well. By the 200m mark, I settled into race pace with about half a lengths lead. My opposition cranked it up, and started to creep ahead, yet I was comfortable with the planned race pace of 1:45, and knew that at this pace, I could stay aerobic and leave something for the last 350m. Eventually, that is what happened. With 350m I was able to increase the pace and go through to win.

    Racing Equipment

    • Filippi F22 single scull with Aliante carbon wing rigger
    • Concept2 Skinny plain edge smoothies
    • Bont BOA rowing shoes
    • Citius Remex seat pad
    • DiBi racing suit
    • Oakley Sutro glasses
    • Garmin 945 Forerunner
    • Precision Hydration electrolytes

    Big Thanks

    Lot’s of people are always involved in successful campaigns, yet it simply wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my wife Angela. Angela not only supported my journey this year, she kept me healthy and incredibly strong with her knowledge of integrated nutrition and medicine. Thanks also to Giovanni Calabrese, and the team at Gavirate Rowing Club for being so welcoming all the time. To Luca and the team at the Australian Institute of Sport, that helped take our training and preparation to the next level. And finally, thanks to Urs Graf, for spotting all the areas for improvement. Urs helped us to understand what a fast moving boat feels like, and how to look after that speed.

    Now the road to the Silver Skiff starts in a week….

  • Training update – week 32 – 6 weeks to go

    Training update – week 32 – 6 weeks to go

    Had an interesting conversation with Dr Mark Campbell from Mosman Rowing club Sydney last week, when he said, “In the lead up to a major event, it’s the 90 90 rule. You need to be executing quality in 90% of the last 90-days leading up to the race.” With 42-days to go…and Mark’s comment in mind, I headed of to the Rotsee lake in Luzern Switzerland for a mini-training camp on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday.

    Had some challenging days at work, and with the lack of sleep and other life stressors, didn’t feel on top of my game on the Friday evening. Resting heart rate was elevated, and performance wasn’t that great. Running through a ‘systems’ check, landed on the lack of sleep as the main cause. Got an extra couple of hours shut eye after lunch on Saturday, and woke felling refreshed and energised. Amazing what sleep can do.

    Two and a half days on one of the best rowing venues in the world with a great coach. Very grateful. Racked up around 75km in the boat. With 2 high intensity sessions, one of which was to compare the Nelo R75 vs. the Filippi F22 at race pace.

    All of the sessions were done under the watchful eye of Urs. I’m a great believer in coaching. Whether in business, sport or life. A professional coach can spot areas for improvement that one can either over look or not be able to see. I spent a lot of time with Urs, focusing on the connection with the water, the movement around the front end of the stroke, and looking after the boat speed between strokes.

    Photos: B Chambers & C Verzone (2020)

    Urs did all the coaching from the river bank, as the Rotsee is a protected lake with no motor boats allowed. We used both the walkie talkies and a ‘check-in’ with Urs for feedback, every lap of the course.

    This week was a recovery week, so knowing that we had double sessions on the water planned, I rested on Monday and Tuesday, with the load building up towards the mini-camp. All in all 8 hours, 104 km, 597 TSS.