North Coast Academy of Sport Camp | Maclean 2018

The North Coast Academy of Sport recently conducted their second testing camp of 2018 for scholarship athletes based at Lower Clarence RC over the weekend of 9-11th November, lead by John Kincade (director of NCAS) with the assistance of RNSW Sport Development Officer, Alan Bennett.

These camps, running over a three-day period have a well tried and tested format now, with lactate testing on Friday afternoon for the more experienced athletes and the new athletes normally being tested on Saturday morning.

Testing is a submaximal ergo step test of six 4-minute increments with a 1-minute break, during which blood is taken. Testing is continued until the 4mmol/l La is reached and then stopped. The results from this testing is then used to set the training zones for each athlete. Athletes in these areas train at home in their clubs and often alone, so training to heart rate gives them an idea of the intensity required for each training session and is invaluable at any age.

Having recovered and after a suitable group warm up, all the athletes under the supervisions of NCAS network coach Kylie Duff, conducted a LABA session, consisting of 10 stations with 45sec on each with 15sec change between. This was followed by a “team challenge” exercise of shovelling and bagging sand and moving it from one side of the grass to the other side.

One important elements of these camps is to enable the athletes to improve by providing them with information. With this in mind the young rowers were treated to a presentation by Griffith University Nutrition and Dietetics students on the subject of “Nutrition for Rowers”. This was an interactive session with the athletes being asked questions such as how many grams of carbohydrate / protein found in certain food groups and how much they should be consuming per meal.

The first afternoon session was a technical on water session in single sculls, where scullers were put into two groups determined by their ability. The focus was on sequence of movement through the drive phase and on the recovery. While not an overly physical session it was mentally taxing.

Afternoon tea and recovery followed before another on water work session to end the day. This session included two step rate power stroke efforts, where a length of rope with additional resistance attached to it is dragged behind the boat.  The type and length of rope is critical to the amount of resistance created. This tough session and a row home in strong headwind certainly made for a quiet dinner table and an early night for all.

Conditions for the Sunday morning 5km time trial were certainly better than the previous day, with a slight tailwind to assist them. For some this was their first 5km time trial, for others it was one of many they have completed over the years. For the top juniors, their overall prognostics are comparable with the junior competitors at the NSWIS time trials.

There was some time to recover over breakfast before the last session of the camp. The top boys and girls formed quads with the younger athletes in doubles. The focus for this session was on how technique was maintained by the athletes now that they were in a faster moving boat. Plenty of rowing in 2’s and 3’s rotating through the crew before moving onto the whole crew moving together was critical to building up the correct sequence of movement.

The final effort was to line all crews up at the 1000m mark and with a handicap start and race to the finish line. It was a tense battle between the two quads with the boys just managing to get up in the last few strokes. As always, these camps are productive for athletes and coaches alike, with everyone coming away with some input that will have helped them to continue improving.

At Rowing NSW, we look forward to following these athletes through their season and wish them all the best.

Blood being taken during the break to determine lactate level	Team challenge – not hard to work out which team won…

Alan Bennett | Sport Development Officer