Abingdonian 2018

54 The Abingdonian Rowing When you are in the midst of winter training, the summer regattas and National Schools’ are a great motivator for everyone in the Boat Club, and that possible success always feels comfortably far away. As fourth years we started the season in three mixed VIII boats giving everyone a great opportunity to improve and show their potential. We entered Wycliffe Head and, shortly after the race, our coaches released the selected teams. Personally I was thrilled with the boat I had been selected for, but everyone was able to look at their crew and know they all had huge potential. Schools’ Head of the River was then fast approaching; we were conscious that many of our keen rivals, unlike us, would already have been in serious training since the first term so we all really focused on making maximum progress in the time we had. There was simply an atmosphere of pure excitement in the boathouse; for the fourth years it would be our first time going to Schools’ Head. Although the 6.8km on the London Thames was concerning, if not terrifying, our coaches had given a great way to approach the race: “focus on what we can do well.” This was possibly a very obvious point to make, however, it gave all the rowers a great clarity of mind. We needed not to overcomplicate our thoughts, but perform consistently in the essentials, which would pay dividends over the long race course. Overall, the Boat Club gave a fantastic performance at the Head, and we finished third. It was concluded by our Head of Rowing, Mr Earnshaw, telling us that, as a club, we had the most crews finishing in the top four of their categories. This successfully wrapped up our winter training, leaving our minds to turn to the stunning sights of the Bordeaux training camp where we would be heading in a few weeks time. There was huge momentum heading into the training camp and every fantasy of what the camp would be like was completely fulfilled (apart from the snoring I had to put up with). It was a new experience for the fourth years and, in terms of our training, it was completely idyllic. But the aspect of the camp that was a surprise for me was the way our squad changed just from living together for a week. There was more cohesion and harmony within the crews and between all the rowers. The camp demanded a fairly tough training schedule, however; this was only capitalised on because of the trust the squad had built up between each other. This led to complete focus during the sessions, so our improvement was vastly accelerated.