News & Events
Cygnet Weekly Update
15th February 2017
Cygnets,
Those of you on the river at the weekend don't need to be reminded by me of how cold that east wind was on both days, and yes the snow flurries did make the river look a little more picturesque but we weren't there for the view. 28k over two outings on Sunday constitutes a good mornings work and it was good to have an VIII out for the second outing. Thanks to Tom for coxing in what was only metaphorically the hot seat.
Next race is Hammersmith Head on Sunday 5th March at 9:30. From the earlier poll, I have the following 14 people interested in racing:
Jeremy, Gavin , Barry, John, Bart, Cristobal, Ian, Nick R, Guy, Piers , TomB, Gareth, Matt B, Robin.
So we either find a couple more rowers to make up a first and second VIII or we will enter one boat. Can you confirm your availability and willingness to race by putting "HH" on the 5th March on the spreadsheet so we can select the crews. Entries close at noon on 25th Feb.
This week:
Tuesday 7:15pm Cavendish School Circuits with Maxi
Wednesday 7:00pm Club run 5k easy,
Thursday: 7pm Squad ergo, 20 min rate 20 at 77% of 2k wattage
Saturday & Sunday Main Squad outings meet at club at 7:05, OTW by 7:30.
I will allocate boats to crews ahead of time so if you know that you will need to make adjustments to your boat please make sure this is done early so that all crews are push off at 7:30.
Novice outing will be at 9:45 both days, but we will organise an ergo session before the outing to get you properly warmed up!
Safety Note: We had a very narrow escape on Saturday with a very real chance of one of our boats capsizing and rowers ending up in a very cold and fast flowing river. Accidents aren't things that only happen to other clubs and I think the incident should be a real wake up call the club. Tim will include a safety and steering talk between the outings on Saturday but safety and good steering is a responsibility for all and should be part of our rowing DNA every time we go on the river. More to follow...
Coming up:
25/26 March Head of the River/Vets Head of the River - please make clear you willingness and availability to race well in advance to help with crew selection.
1st April Next Learn to Row course - Please support in promoting this course through your personal networks to make sure it is filled with Cygnet Henley Hopefuls.
22/23 April Sculling Camp at Hamhaugh Island- Great fun but also a unique opportunity for our novice rowers to get into a single scull and develop their boat and rowing skills in a fabulous and safe environment. Save the
That's all for now,
Jez
Cygnet Weekly Update
7th February 2017
Hi All,
Hopefully I'll be short and sweet this week...
Good work and long outings out on fast flowing Tideway at the weekend, it was good to see an VIII out for the second outing on Sunday, definite progress being made on technique and balance.
This week:
Tonight: 7:15pm Circuits with Maxi at Cavendish School
Wednesday 7:00pm Club Run 30' easy/ 30' hard. Non runners 7 x 5' squats/1' rest Rate 30
Thursday 7:00pm Squad ergo 5 x 1500m @5k pace -1s split
Saturday Main Squad outing meet at club at 7:05 for Tim's briefing OTW at 7:30 sharp, no faffing.
1st outing Water UT2 20k 8x 3 ' Rate 26-34
2nd outing Water tech 4-8k
Novices 9:15 at club 9:30 OTW
Sunday Main Squad outing meet at club at 7:05 for Tim's briefing OTW at 7:30 sharp,
1st outing Water tech 16k
2nd outing Water 12k 2 x 20' Bungee work r 22'
Novices 9:15 at club 9:30 OTW
I know it's an early, but the earlier we start the earlier we get away and we should be ahead of the Putney flotilla that arrives at 7:55 each Saturday and Sunday and get better conditions.
As ever, get you availability up to date on the spreadsheet.
Cheers
Jez
Cygnet Weekly Update
1st February 2017
Cygnets,
Quintin Head on Saturday was our first race of the year and it was heartening to see two Cygnet VIIIs competing in excellent conditions. We had three people making their debuts in Cygnet colours, Ian Schofield, Niall Smith and Bjarne Hustad and they all enjoyed the experience and excitement of racing. The results were Cygnet 1st VIII 107th overall in a time of 15:17 and Cygnet 2nd VIII were 178th in 16:32. Both boats reported having good rows down the course and looked good in the photos, but there could have been more pain in the boats to get the times down. So we need to work hard on and off the river to improve our relative positions for HoRR and VHoR. Huge thanks to Marj and Charlie for coxing the boats.
This week:
Tuesday 7:15 at Cavendish School Circuits with Maxi, carrying on the focus on core strength
Wednesday 7pm Club run - Club Run 40' easy. Non runners 4 x 4' squats/1' rest Rate 30
Thursday 7pm Squad ergo 5 x 1500m @5k pace -0.5s split, sign up with Sarah Powell for food afterwards, you're going to need to refuel after the ergo!!
Saturday Main squad outings, meet at club at 7:20, OTW by 7:45 for first outing, 2nd outing at 10:45 - Sunrise is getting earlier so we can start and finish our outings earlier
Novices: meet at club at 9:15, OTW at 9:45
Sunday Main squad outings, meet at club at 7:20, OTW by 7:45 for first outing, 2nd outing at 10:45 - Sunrise is getting earlier so we can start and finish our outings earlier
Novices: meet at club at 9:15, OTW at 9:45
We tried on Sunday including a Novice 4+ in the main squad outing but there was too much difference in speed between them and the main squad for Tim to shuttle back and forth between the crews so I think for now the Novice outings are best scheduled between the main squad's first and second outings.
Preparing for HoRR/VHoR and squad development
On Sunday the group of rowers who were doing both outings and coach Tim talked about plans for Head of the River weekend and the obvious fact that we were a small and select group who are doing all the weekend outings. It's something that I've put in previous news letters and I know people have other commitments and priorities that puts a limit on the outings they can make. But there is no getting away from it that those attending all Tim's session are getting the full programme of technical and physical development and will progress faster than those that don't or can't. So Tim wants to put the squad into three categories of rowers - fully committed, part committed, social. Fully committed means making all the sessions on and off the water, part committed means training every week but not all sessions, social means joining the squad as and when. Crew selection for races and outings will take from the committed group first, then the part committed then the social. In the recent poll 11 people said they were going to make all the weekend outings, but with only four of us on the second outing on Sunday, that's clearly not the case. We will put up a list in the changing rooms of the squad and which category they are in. This is not a fixed thing, if you can move between the categories in any direction depending on attendance. The aim of this is so people know where they stand with regards selection, that those putting the time and effort in get the recognition and most all more people make more outings and take full advantage of Tim's fantastic coaching and programme. Finally, the four of us who did the second outing on Sunday, we had a great session in single sculls racing each other back from Putney to the club.
Recruitment
In the same discussion on Sunday we talked about recruitment and how we can build the base of active rowers in the club. We have the fleet and coaching set up to support a substantially bigger squad which is good for the club in many ways both competitively, socially and financially. Most of our recruitment traditionally comes from our Learn to Row courses and the next one starts on the 1st April. We also should recruit experienced rowers who can get straight on the water and join the competitive squad and we have been less successful at this. We all thought we need to do more on this. Ideas include advertising locally and in rowing websites. I'm sure there is a lot more we can do, it needs to be the responsibility of every club member to help by using their own networks of work, family friends and by coming up with ideas on ways to attract guys to the club. So let's keep the ideas coming and turn them into actions and into new recruits, both for the LTR and of experienced rowers. More to follow, but to start with fire your ideas over to me, Nick and Charlie.
That's rather a long update, have a good week and enjoy your rowing!!!
Jez
