What better way to stay motivated to attain your goals over this tough Lockdown period than to be treated to a Zoom call by the GB Junior Head Coach, Ade Roberts?! I'm sure that the other Lea High Performance Juniors can agree that his talk on what it takes to be an international rower was very informative and inspirational.
Some 30 coaches and juniors joined the conversation, where Ade highlighted the importance of having goals within the lockdown period, and how maintaining good nutrition is essential. He also stressed that, as athletes, we should have a life outside of training and schoolwork that includes rest and socialising with family and friends - that's not what I expected GB's head coach to say!
The minimum ergo requirements to be selected for a Worlds crew were also mentioned, which I'm almost certain everyone took note of. For the junior girls, 2k should be sub 7.10, 5k should be sub 19.00 mins; and for 30min r20, the total distance should be more than 7500m. There are a few girls within the High Performance squad who have met the minimum requirements for some of these, myself included, but we have yet to attain all three - looks like that's our new goal during lockdown!
After the talk, we were given the opportunity to ask questions - which ranged from how to gain weight and how to control heart rate during UT2 ergos, through to plans for the European Championships. My favourite was probably the one asked by Coach Harry Skinner, which was whether overtraining is okay - I have a sneaky suspicion that this question was aimed at me, as I have a tendency to do more than our given training plan. Unfortunately, it looks like I'm going to have to introduce more rest into my schedule as Ade emphasised how important recovery is for athletes.
I gained a lot of information from Ade's presentation, and I'm sure the Lea Juniors and coaches will join me in thanking him for taking the time to talk to us.
Tamara Tymczyszyn, Lea High Performance Junior squad