Manager’s Report – TERM 4, WEEK 5, 2015 –

TERM 4 IMPORTANT DATES This Week “Fail to prepare and prepare to fail” 7 November: Regatta As a team, I encourage you all to have a think back over 14 November: Roseville Regatta the last 5 weeks and recall the improvements and changes 28 November: Girls’ High School you have all made. Regatta 28 November: Head of the Yarra I am confident that the weekly individual and crew technical (Selected Senior Crews Only) goals that you have been working with your coaches on, 5 December: Pymble Christmas have prepared you to row the best that you possibly can at Regatta the upcoming regattas. 6 December: Palm Beach Fitness and The mark of the Pymble Rowing Team’s success this Barbecue (all squads) season, as Simon and I have advised all squads, is the amount you improve from this first regatta to the final regatta, Head of the River. A 1st place doesn’t necessarily determine how successful you have been. Rather, the measure of success will be determined by how much you have improved your times, placings, technical abilities, confidence levels and enjoyment, from the start of your season to the end.

Sickness and Protecting Your Investment If you are going to miss a regatta or Rowing session, either on or off the water, it is essential that you let me know in advance. Please ask your parents to email me at the following email address; [email protected].

There are a large number of girls who have been ill in the past week or so, both within the Rowing community, and also in the school in general. Rowers invest a lot of time, effort and energy into their training, and it is hard when a rower falls ill, to see that investment wasted. You can’t always prevent illness, but there are some measures that can be taken to reduce the chances of becoming ill. Girls should do the following things;

- Eat healthily and stay hydrated. This keeps the body’s immune system operating properly. - Sleep properly (ideally 8 hours). Parents can help by taking mobile phones off girls at a set time each night (say 9.30pm or thereabouts). - Wash your hands regularly, especially at meal times and around the boatshed. The AIS do not let athletes into the dining hall without having used a hand sanitiser. We will be providing hand sanitiser at the Rowing Shed to encourage girls to use it. - Do not share water bottles or food. - Avoid close contact with other people who are sick - If you do fall ill, go to a doctor as soon as possible and get it treated. By doing the above things, you can help to protect your investment!

Uniform By Week 5 (this week), all Pymble Rowing Team members must have a Pymble Racing zootie. For those of you that have already purchased one, thank you. The Pymble Racing zootie must be worn by all coxswains and rowers at regattas. You can purchase all of the necessary Pymble Rowing uniform from the Clothing Shop. Simon has mentioned the exact clothing required in his column below.

Michael Jenkins Rowing Manager [email protected]

Intermediate 3rd Quad – Arabella Hamilton, Hannah Westhuizen, Charlotte Buckland, Mackenzie Penn

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Coaching Director’s Report

Selections Over the past few days, all squads have undergone selections in order to finalise the crews for the remainder of Term 4. It has been encouraging to see that the vast majority of rowers have made good improvements in their erg scores from Week 2. Those students who would like to be given some assistance with their erg performance, should see either myself or Michael Jenkins.

All rowers have been videoed and an email will arrive this week from me to each student’s school email address, with the video and their technique assessment sheet. Girls have been diligent in utilising the feedback to improve their rowing from the first round of selections, and I encourage them to continue to seek improvement in the last few weeks of term.

Race Preparation This weekend is the Loreto Normanhurst Regatta at SIRC for Seniors, Intermediates and Juniors. Crews have been preparing well in training, practicing various pieces of work that will assist them to be well-prepared for their first races. Racing is all about ensuring you give it your very best shot on the day. Being well-prepared is crucial for that to occur.

On Friday night, all rowers who are competing at SIRC should do the following;

- Pack their bag for Rowing, which should include racing zootie, red Pymble Rowing cap, water bottle, food for the day (see below) and anything else they will need. - Eat a dinner that is high in carbohydrates, such as pasta or rice. Try to avoid spicy or heavy meals.

On Saturday, all rowers and coxswains who are competing will need to arrive at SIRC wearing the correct Pymble uniform. This includes;

- Pymble racing zootie - Blue PE shorts - Blue and red Pymble PE polo t-shirt - White PE socks - Running shoes (not thongs) - Red Pymble Rowing cap - Pymble tracksuit, if it is cold.

We want to arrive at SIRC looking like a strong team and the best way to do that is wear correct uniform.

On race day, rowers should eat a healthy, light breakfast, such as a bowl of cereal and a yogurt. Or a piece of toast and a yoghurt. This should be eaten before you leave home. Rowers should aim to consume plenty of water throughout the day. Ideally, one water bottle per hour would be good.

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Learn to Row (LTR) Last Sunday, the LTR Squad completed their first 1000m racing piece, and did a great job of it! We are focusing heavily on teaching the crews the Pymble Rowing Team technical philosophy, which 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”.

The LTR Squad will be re-selecting the crews this week, and those crews will race on Saturday 14 November at Iron Cove in the Roseville College Regatta. We are looking forward to seeing how well they can execute the Pymble technical philosophy on that day!

It is exciting to see the progress being made across all of the squads and I am looking forward to an enjoyable and competitive racing season ahead!

Simon Pennington Coaching Director

Single Scull Time Trial for the Senior Squad on Saturday morning

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Captain of Boats Report

The first regatta of the season, only 5 days away, is a day full of excitement and anticipation. With much preparation and a months’ worth of water and land sessions under our belts, it’s a day to measure how our crews are going and enjoy the fun of race day!

Looking back on my first regatta for Pymble in LTR, I remember mixed feelings of anticipation and eagerness on our way to the start line. We arrived only to realise we had missed the start of our race. Remember that things don’t always go to plan. Each regatta is about learning from mistakes and focusing on how as a crew to improve for the next race, striving for our ultimate goal, Head of the River 2016!

On Saturday remember to;

1. Help out your coxes. They get nervous too! 2. Harness nerves into positive energy! 3. Remember the Pymble TEAM warm up! Tip of the week from our very own 1st VIII coach, Jeffrey Paterson: “Catch it, don’t snatch it”

Em Stanley Captain of Boats

Sally Chen and Rebecca Young

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Weekend Schedule

Seniors, Intermediates and Juniors It’s regatta time! The first regatta of the season for all crews in these squads, is Saturday 7 November. The Loreto Normanhurst Regatta is being held at Sydney International Regatta Centre (SIRC) in Penrith. Details about how to get there are in this week’s edition of Backsplash.

Please note: Once Rowing NSW release the schedules for this weekend’s regatta, we will send a Pymble App notification to all families, with a link to the draw. Remember to download the App and to click on the Rowing notifications. We will also send a follow up email to all squads with arrival times for Saturday.

Learn to Row Below is this Sunday’s schedule for the Learn to Row Squad.

Your first regatta is next Saturday, 14 November. That will mean you will have no training next Sunday, 15 November. More details are to come in next week’s edition of Backsplash!

Please ensure that you bring your Pymble Rowing uniform, Pymble hat, food, sunscreen and water-bottle for this Sunday, as usual.

LTR - Sunday

Arrival - 7.00am

Row - 7.00am to 9.00am

Breakfast – 9.00am to 10.00am

Row – 10.00am to 11.00am

Pickup – 11.00am

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PRSG News

We have the start of the regatta season this weekend at SIRC. The PRSG will be taking the barbecue trailer to the event, and we still have a few vacancies for barbecue support. If you are available to help on the barbecue, please sign up on the link below;

Pymble Rowers Support Group - Barbecue Sign-Up

By now, everyone should have received their invitation to the Rowing Parent Cocktail Evening on Saturday 14 November. This is always a fantastic event, and we would love to see all our parents there, especially our Learn to Row parents. This will be a good opportunity to meet the other parents from across the school community. Please contact Christie or myself on [email protected] if you have any queries about the evening. You can use the link below to access payment for the event;

PRSG Annual Cocktail Party 2015

Carlos Charlin PRSG President "Row it like you stole it" (But always listen to your coaches instructions!)

Junior Squad fitness session on Saturday morning with the ‘Sandhill Warrior’

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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]

Ella Cassin and Sophie Roe

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Loreto Normanhurst Regatta this Weekend - Getting There

Sydney International Regatta Centre (SIRC) https://goo.gl/maps/d8EZ1XaGhKC2

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]

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