Variety the key for off-season training

Around the world off-season is influenced by local weather, local training cycles and local opportunities.

In December South Africa’s elite squad, including members of the Olympic Champion lightweight men’s four and up-and-coming athletes headed to a training location high above the clouds in Lesotho to take advantage of the altitude. At 2,050m above sea level the Katse Dam is 40km long and is part of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. This was the team’s first time going to Lesotho, a change from their previous altitude venue of choice in Bethlehem, South Africa.

It was almost by chance that South Africa’s high performance director, Roger Barrow found the venue. “I had been to the Mohle Dam in Lesotho which is at 2,100m above sea level but it was really hard to find accommodation. Then I found an old mining village on the Katse by the name of Motebang Lodge, 37km from the dam wall.”

Barrow’s first impression of the location sold it to him as a training camp location. “(It) has to be the beauty and vast mountains. There is so much space and no distractions. We were able to do all of our training (rowing, erg, gym work, running and mountain biking) and we had a very good chef which is important!”

What does the three week camp in Lesotho offer South Africa’s top rowers that their base in Roodeplaat doesn’t? Barrow explains that there are three main benefits. Firstly, being on camp means that the environment in which his athletes train and live can be controlled. Secondly, the fact that there are no distractions makes it easier to focus on the job at hand and finally Lesotho offers temperatures coolers than the 35 degrees Celsius at Roodeplaat in December.

Another highlight of the Katse Dam is the water quality. “You can drink straight out of the dam,” Barrow says. “Where we were rowing was a trout fishery so we ate a lot of fresh trout.”

While nations in the Southern Hemisphere may be looking to avoid the heat, their Northern Hemisphere counterparts are trying to find it.

One hundred and fifty kilometres from Lisbon, nestled in the Portuguese countryside is a venue that has gained considerable interest over recent years. The site at the Avizaqcua Team Centre is a training venue built for rowers by a rower.  When injury ended his rowing career, former Portuguese lightweight rower Luis Ahrens Teixeira sold his car to set up his dream business. Ten years on Herdade da Cortesia Hotel has become a second home to some of the world’s top rowers (Olaf Tufte of Norway and Lassi Karonen of Sweden trained here even before the hotel was built) and squads from Norway, Denmark, Great Britain and the Netherlands have confirmed camps through to 2016.

Winter temperatures at Aviz are similar to Seville in Southern Spain. Mornings can be cold, sometimes as low as zero degrees Celsius, but the temperature rises quickly as the day goes on. The water conditions are nothing less than idyllic. The dam consists of three separate stretches of water to row on (8km, 10km and 13km) which means that teams have a lot of space. The Dutch Federation also donated wiring  to create a 2km buoyed course.

Surrounded by nature, camps in Aviz tend not to follow typical camp ‘routine.’ “We don’t’ consider this as a training centre. The hotel is our house. The gym is open 24/7, there are no schedules for meal times which allows teams to have flexibility. I believe these are the best training conditions,” Teixeira says.

Great Britain’s lightweight men and women’s squad travelled to the Balearic Island of Majorca, not only leaving behind the British winter, but also their boats. This is the fourth time the team has travelled to the island on a road cycling camp.

“We normally go on this camp in November or February, but this season we are doing both,” stroke of the lightweight men’s four Chris Bartley explains. “It builds a strong aerobic base during the winter and we have found that the years we have a good bike camp we have a strong World Cup series. So we are seeing results on the water and erg.”

The camp, which lasts for 11 days, allows the team get about 1,000km of cycling into their legs with the longest single ride being 170km. This means that over the years Great Britain’s rowers have become quite proficient cyclists. Their safety and understanding of road cycling has also been enhanced by the presence of British Cycling’s professional bike mechanic, Sandy Gilchrist accompanying them on camp.

“We really embrace these camps. I have grown to really love bikes (Bartley has a collection of top of the range road bikes). I love the competitive element on the road and I have a new appreciation for what professional road cyclists actually do,” Bartley says.