
1 minute read
Boat Club Training Camp
Sebastian Marsoner – Captain SPSBC
This year’s Boat Club training camp was the first overseas school trip in over two years. The journey to Lisbon went smoothly, with entrance into Portugal only slightly hampered by Brexit, giving those of us with European passports time to sit in the airport cafe smugly congratulating one another on our membership of the great EU family of nations.
A short bus ride later, we arrived at the sunny Montemor-o-Velho lake ready for the first session of the week. With bundles of energy, we got to work.
As we got into the cyclical rhythm of eating, rowing, revising, eating, revising, rowing, eating and sleeping (for some), the wise purged their schedules of all inefficiencies while others who did not paid the price.
After five days of intense training, an afternoon off surfing gave most of us the chance to enjoy being pummelled by waves as the coaches (surf snobs) laughed and others munched on ice creams whilst chilling out on the beach. Although we returned more tired than we had arrived, being able to talk the talk of who had shredded the gnarliest waves of the day made it all worth it.
As the week came to a close, we all felt the need for speed – some close side by side racing between the crews readied us for the upcoming regatta season. After a final trip to the beach, and some interesting ice cream flavour combinations, we boarded the bus for a final time, this time, thankfully, with no Himalayan throat singing. Shoutout to the 16Bs who dealt valiantly with only having seven rowers and a big thank you to all the teachers and coaches (especially Mr Friend for risking his back as a willing sub for the 16B crew) for making the trip happen.
To sum up, Sifu Bwana! ❚


