Vladislav Yakovlev, KAZ
Vladislav Yakovlev of Kazakhstan trains at Leander Club, GBR before the 2011 World Rowing Junior Championships

This arrangement came about several months ago when Rosie Mayglothling of FISA’s competitive commission raised the idea of organising a training camp for some development teams. The Leander Club, home of the Henley Royal Regatta and one of the most successful clubs in the world with 99 Olympic and World medallists as members, offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to rowing development teams.

Due to problems with travel arrangements and visas, in the end only Yakovlev and his coach, former Olympian Vladimir Belonogov, were able to take advantage of this opportunity in the week before the junior championships.

Sheila Stephens Desbans, FISA development manager commented, “For a junior athlete to have this experience of being able to train and be lodged at this famous club is really a great gift. From what I understand, Vladislav and Vladimir only fully understood the meaning of where they were staying when they actually arrived last Monday at Leander.  The facilities are world-class and it is providing a young athlete with a chance to prepare himself as best as possible for the junior championships. 

“We really appreciate the generosity of Leander Club for making this happen. The fact that they were willing to host several development nations for a week training camp leading into the championships was truly exceptional and we are just sad that due to circumstances beyond everyone’s control that more teams were not able to take advantage.”

Yakovlev raced recently at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Amsterdam and then moved on to Great Britain to prepare for the junior championships.

Mayglothling talked to Yakovlev, “Vladimir told me after a few days in the (Leander) club that the training conditions are perfect and they are able to do three sessions a day, something they cannot do back in the home training environment in Kazakhstan.”

Yakovlev was amazed by the number of rowing clubs in Great Britain as there is a total of three clubs in Kazakhstan but Yakovlev has experienced four just on the short stretch from the Leander Club.

The World Rowing Junior Championships begins on the 2012 Olympic regatta course at Dorney Lake, Eton on 3 August and runs until 7 August.