Manager’s Report – TERM 4, WEEK 6, 2015 –

TERM 4 IMPORTANT DATES Last week 14 November: Roseville Regatta A positive start to the regatta season for the Seniors, Inters 28 November: Girls’ High School Regatta and Juniors on Saturday in Penrith. It was really enjoyable seeing each crew working as a team both on and off the 28 November: Head of the Yarra (Selected Senior Crews Only) water. Together Everyone Achieves More. 5 December: Pymble Christmas Pymble had a lot of strong results right across each of our Regatta squads. As well as the neatest sets of oars at the regatta! 6 December: Palm Beach Fitness and Each crew’s results are listed later in this week’s edition of BBQ (all squads) Backsplash.

It was nice to see each squad cheering so loudly and proudly for your fellow squad members. The extra support for a Pymble crew racing down the course can make such a big difference. I encourage you all, if possible, to stay and to support your fellow Pymble Rowing Team members.

A special mention to the following girls; Gemma Campbell, Natasha Gordon, Lauren Guttman, Paige Jackson, Matilda Pennington, Alexandra Thompson, Phoebe Coles, Liz Ward, Kiara Woodhouse and Chelsea Cambridge. Well done on successfully completing your first ever race as part of the Pymble Rowing Team!

I would like to thank all girls and coaches who helped with loading the boats onto the trailer so efficiently after the races. Many hands made for light work. A particular thank you to our coaches and to our Boatman, Henry Cranney, who drove back to the boatshed to unload boats, oars and riggers in order to enable families to head straight home after their races and to reduce the imposition of a regatta day at Penrith. This also allowed the Learn to Row squad to complete their Sunday training row unaffected and to prepare thoroughly for their first regatta this weekend. Not many schools have a Boatman. By having Henry at regattas it helps with any last minute equipment changes, retrieving and organising lane numbers and ensuring that every Pymble boat is ready to race.

Supporting you daughter and her crew Thank you to those parents who assisted with barbecuing, cheering and supporting the Pymble Rowing Team on Saturday.

A reminder of a few points from the Pymble Rowing Handbook for the upcoming regatta: - Focus on your child’s efforts and performance – not the result - Remember that children learn best by example - Do not apply too much pressure – it is their sport to compete in – not yours

This week

The entire Pymble Rowing Team will be racing this Saturday at Iron Cove in the Roseville regatta. That means the first ever regatta for our Learn to Row squad!

You are all required to make your own way to and from Rowing regattas. Pick up and drop off is at our boatshed (Leichhardt Rowing Club). All girls are again required to be at the boatshed 90 minutes prior to your race, at the latest. You may leave after you have completed your races, though are encouraged to stay to support other Pymble crews.

The time of races for this Saturday will be released as a notification on the Pymble App like last week. Please make sure to download the App and to ‘allow’ Rowing notifications. Once the draw is released by Rowing NSW, you will receive the notification with a link to the draw.

Uniform

This week, all Pymble Rowing Team members must have the Pymble Racing Zootie. I thought it was a formidable sight on Saturday seeing our whole team wearing the Pymble uniform together and with pride.

The Pymble Racing Zootie must be worn by all coxswains and rowers at regattas. You can purchase this and all of the necessary Pymble Rowing uniform from the Clothing Shop.

Michael Jenkins Rowing Manager [email protected]

1st VIII before their first race

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Coaching Director’s Report

Loreto Normanhurst Regatta

Last Friday, I met with the entire Pymble Rowing Team to outline the plan for the regatta. In that meeting, the girls were given a plan for their race day and I also challenged them to know what they wanted to achieve, how they were going to achieve it and also why they wanted to achieve it.

I am pleased to report that every Pymble crew, no matter their level of experience, was able to get their pre-race plan executed very efficiently and effectively. All crews were on time to the start line and we had no equipment problems. The same can’t be said for every other school at the regatta.

For many Pymble rowers, this was their first taste of racing. I congratulate those girls for the way in which they competed and represented the College. I also congratulate those more experienced rowers in the team who helped to encourage and support the rowers who were racing for the first time. There was a positive, supportive and encouraging atmosphere around the Pymble boating area all day. That doesn’t happen by accident. Congratulations to all the girls and coaches who helped to foster that attitude.

Knowing what you want to achieve, how to achieve it and why you want to achieve it is an important theme that we will follow every regatta across the program. The goals each crew wants to achieve (the what) are usually performance-related and are factors that the crew can control. I.e. focus on the process, not necessarily the outcome alone. The how is the race plan, or strategies to achieve the goals and the why is the reasons for wanting to achieve the goals. Each individual girl and each crew will have reasons why they want to achieve their goals and these are the things that the girls should use to motivate themselves when the race gets tough. Early in the season, girls may not have a clear reason why they want to achieve their goals, but as the season progresses these reasons usually get stronger and stronger, ensuring that at the final regatta of the season, their resolve is very strong!

Finally, we have told the girls that the first regatta has always been about setting a benchmark from which we now work on improving upon. If a crew finished first, then we encourage them to ensure they improve their performance for the next regatta, so they win by a greater margin. A crew that finished 10 seconds behind the leaders, will aim to narrow the margin to first place in the next regatta. Small, but very deliberate improvements over the course of the season, will ensure every Pymble crew is the best improving crew over the season and that they will give their very best performance at the final regatta of the season – the Head of the River. This takes a courageous mindset and I encourage every Pymble rower and coxswain this week to find out how they can improve their performance in the next regatta, and show determination in training this week to ensure they achieve this in the Roseville College Regatta this Saturday.

Pymble Technical Philosophy

We have developed a technical philosophy for how we want to row and it is, “Row the longest stroke in the strongest position, row the most accelerated stroke, give the boat time to run on the recovery and do it all together”.

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Watching the races on the weekend, it was not a surprise that the crews that were in the lead, were doing these five things better than their opponents. Sometimes that was a Pymble crew, but in most cases, we can improve how we do these five things. Our technical focuses in the four remaining weeks of term will focus on these factors. This week will be a focus on rowing the longest stroke in the strongest position.

Learn to Row learning to race!

The LTR program is going along well at this stage and we have been practicing building up to the full race distance of 1km. This weekend will see the LTR girls compete for the first time for Pymble. I wish them well for their first regatta and look forward to seeing them put their training into action against the other schools! I also encourage the senior rowers who are buddies with the LTR squad to seek out their buddy this week and encourage them and wish them well.

Head of the River (the book!)

There is a good book that is about a crew in Melbourne preparing for the Head of the River, which is aptly titled, “Head of the River” by Pip Harry. The library has purchased a few copies and I encourage girls to read this book over the course of the season. It captures some of the emotions and the experiences that the girls are going through right now in their rowing season and is an enjoyable read. I am confident that the girls will enjoy reading it, but also will be able to relate to it which should give them confidence that the experiences they are having in rowing happen everywhere.

Simon Pennington Coaching Director

2nd VIII after their first race

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Captain of Boat’s Report

With the first regatta of the season done, across the board all Pymble crews displayed our technical and fitness improvement creating a bench mark to work off for the rest of the season. Technique really shone through especially when the windy conditions rolled in, this base allowed all our crews to race the best race possible under the circumstances. Keep in mind that anyone can manage success, but it’s how we manage the disappointments and difficulties that reflect our sportsmanship and resilience.

An impressive performance by all but a special shout out to the Inter firsts who whipped out a massive 17 second lead in their race!

After an inspiring pump up talk with ‘The Warrior’ during the week he brought to my attention to one of the keys to success. We all need to focus on making choices in training and in our social life that will make the 1% extra difference. All crews, Pymble, Queenwood, Normanhurst, Kinross etc, have similar fitness and technique foundations, it will be the choices we make in relation to nutrition, sleep and taking ownership of our rowing that will all add up and make us stand out as we cross the finish line.

With the Roseville Regatta coming up this weekend, it gives the opportunity for the LTR’s to experience racing for the first time, and be part of the race day TEAM! Go LTR!

Emma Stanley Captain of Boats

Brooke Faahan-Smith carrying more than coach Matt

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PRSG News

It was a wonderful first regatta for the girls last Saturday. It was great to see the girls row well and the smiles all round. Well done!

We have our Cocktail Party coming up this Saturday 14 November at Roseville Golf Club. We have had a great response so far. I would encourage our Learn to Row parents to attend so you can meet parents from across the other year groups in a relaxed setting.

Try Booking will close Tuesday at midnight so please use the link below to book your places. The Rowing Support Group looks forward to seeing everyone there.

PRSG Annual Cocktail Party 2015

If you have any queries please contact either myself or Christie on [email protected]

Carlos Charlin PRSG President

"Your body can withstand almost anything. It's your mind that you have to convince"

Year 10 1st Quad – Eliza Entwistle, Isabella Singarayar, India Thomson, Jacqueline Ferry and Daisy Spence

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Loreto Normanhurst Regatta – Results

Seniors

1st VIII 3rd (Heat), 2nd (Final) 2nd VIII 1st (Heat), 2nd (Final) 1st Four 2nd (Heat), 3rd (Final)

2nd Four 4th (Heat), 2nd (Final) 3rd Four 5th (Heat) Double (Day, Charlin) 6th

Single (Balcomb) 1st

Inters

1st Quad 1st

2nd Quad 2nd

3rd Quad 4th 4th Quad 4th 5th Quad 4th

Juniors

1st Quad 4th 2nd Quad 5th

3rd Quad 6th 4th Quad 4th

5th Quad 8th

Double (Fan, Thompson) 6th

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Weekend Schedule

All squads will be racing this weekend.

Same as last week, the link to the draw will be sent out via the Pymble App. Please make sure you have downloaded it and accepted push notifications for Rowing. Rowing NSW generally do not release the draw for the regattas until mid-week. As soon as it is released, you will receive the notification.

Please note: there will be no Sunday training for the Learn to Row squad as you will be racing on Saturday!

Parents and supporters, the best place to watch the action is at Rodd Point.

You will have a clear view of the finish line, as well as bathroom, BBQ and other facilities that will be hosted by Roseville College. It is possible to park at Rodd Point or alternatively park at the boatshed if you are dropping your daughter off and walking (approx. 20 minutes) around the bay to the supporter’s area.

Olivia Muffet

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The Pymble App

Please make sure that you download the Pymble App (Pymble Skoolbag) to your smartphone or device.

One of the many new features of the Pymble App is the ability to receive push notifications (instant alerts) and updates about the Rowing program.

The new Pymble App can be downloaded from the App Store (Apple devices), Play Store (Android devices) and Windows Store (Windows devices).

Throughout the season, the Rowing program will send out important notifications on the App such as:

- Regatta draws/cancellations

- Training or schedule changes

- Regatta results and news

For more information about the Pymble App, please contact Community Relations on 02 9855 7799 or email [email protected]

Jordan Dwyer

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Roseville Regatta this Weekend – Drop off and Pick up

Leichhardt Rowing Shed:

Where: https://www.google.com.au/maps/search/leichhardt+rowing+club

End of Season Celebration

The End of Season Celebration will be Saturday 5 March from 6.30pm at the Avondale Golf Club in Pymble. The night will be to celebrate the achievements and efforts of all the girls after the season concludes. Further details to come.

Got Any Photos/Videos?

If you have any photos you would like featured in Backsplash from training or regattas please email them to Michael Jenkins at [email protected]

Heidi Flood

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