Being a Coxswain. The Misconceptions.

I just recently came back fresh from a basic helmsman accreditation course to get myself certified (finally)! It doesn't seem like much to me because they were basically the same stuff that I have picked up before since I started paddling about 8 years ago.

The basic helmsman course aims to provide coxswains proper training for participants to pursue further accreditation in other courses that may very well lead to coaching certs especially in my case. However, I do realise the people that are getting themselves accredited come from all walks of life and all manner of teams. Surely an eye opener for me since I began coaching, I never really focused much on coxing because most of the teams I have coached, I have done the coxing myself. Only today I realised how many do not take this role seriously and see this as a waste of time. Some common misconceptions are:

Coxing is easier than paddling. Yeah I hear this all the time. When my paddlers dare to say this, I will ask them to drop the paddle and ask them if they are willing to take it up. Most say no. Because they tried it one day, they realised they suck at it and went back to their seats. Becoming a coxswain can be one of the most if not the most stressful jobs on the planet.In no other paddling sport do you as a coxswain have to bear the responsibility of 21 (including the drummer) lives in your hands, but you have to ensure the boat goes straight, watch out for other training or racing boats, motivate the team, understand wave dynamics, race strategy and the list goes on.. Go on and pick it up.. If u dare. 

The coxswain is the weakest paddler in the team. Then you obviously have not watched many races beyond the local races to even say this statement. At the international level, coxswains can be one of the most fittest paddlers and know much more about the boat run than anyone else in the boat. He has first hand knowledge of how and when to attack for a podium finish in a race. Even if he is weakest in body, he definitely won't be the weakest in intelligence. The only reason he became a coxswain was because he chose to.

Obviously at local levels, we don't really see much of a coxswain using his skill that much. But exceptions where races in China or Macau prove otherwise. Races where over 40 crew are part of their festivals and the coxswain is integral to the success of the team in races. Would you dare put a cox with 1 year experience doing that? Go figure.. Anyway here is a video to finish off this post. Nothing else comes close to 40 men paddling together. Till next time!

5 simple rules for heart rate monitor training

courtesy of self.com

Alot of people can be clueless when it comes to using a heart rate monitor to train either for paddling or other sports like running. I hope this post may enlighten you with a few rules to follow when you use your heart rate monitor. Having experienced wearing a polar RS300 for the past 5 months for runs and cycling sessions I decided to try it out this morning on a  kayaking session with a few of my NUS teammates on the water for the first time. I must say the results of heart rate training has made my training alot more productive with 5 simple rules: 

 1) Always know your objective before training.  Is this training for aerobic base training? Or intervals? Are you expected to go beyond aerobic threshold or anaerobic effort? If these terms seem foreign to you, then you should really look up some websites to provide some assistance to determine your objectives for your training. Going out with a heart rate monitor may look swanky, but if you're wearing it not knowing what it does, its as good as wearing sunglasses indoors. 

2) Make sure the transmitter strap feels comfortable. The last thing you need is for your transmitter to bob up and down because its too loose or you start feeling breatheless because its so tight around your chest. make the adjustments necessary to ensure a secure fit. If you feel its a little loose, always adjust it to fit snug enough to allow for moisture loosening the strap. I've never worn a bra before, but I sure as hell know that its not sexy when it making you hard to breathe..

3)For aerobic intensity training, maintain heart rate 70 -85%of your peak heart rate. You can google online on your to achieve your peak heart rate through various calculations. It is pretty simple how you can make your base aerobic training more effective just by maintaining levels at the 70-85% of your peak heart rate so that you can achieve the proper cardiovascular benefits of aerobic base training. This simple rule can be applied to any cardiovascular activity even running as part of your off season programme. 

2) For anaerobic threshold training, achieve heart rates at 85-90% of your heart rate.  As simple as it may sound, many make the mistake of training at too high at an intensity when they train within this region. Overzealousness, peer pressure and competition may prevent the athlete from maintaining these levels of heart rate; often over exerting the athlete and fatiguing too early within the prescribed sets. Keeping to these heart rate levels will ensure proper conditioning of lactate threshold levels (i.e. prevent your body from burning out too quickly) from intense exercise. 

3) Upload your progress on the provided software for close monitoring. What's the use of a heart rate monitor when you leave the information in your watch to rot? Upload it as quickly as possible into the product's online portal (in my case, polar link) and see your progress as it develops. You will be surprised at how fast your improvements can be tracked with time and see your improvements in real time. If you're keen, other gps products will allow you to track more information that can be useful in determining your pace or speed. 

Next up I will talk about how I use my gps for trainings! hope this may help the clueless to try out a heart rate monitor watch! 

To Crossfit or not to Crossfit?

Breakingmuscle.com

So when I hear about paddlers doing Crossfit as part of their training programme, I go " Wow! Crossfit, that must be tough! No wonder you're in such great shape". That said, no questions asked Crossfit is everything a workout needs to be; adrenalin pumping, testosterone boosting, and muscle bursting.( if that ever happens you should already be in hospital)

That said, as a main workout for paddling, sad to say, you're crossf**ked. 

As far as workout fads go, Crossfit is absolutely top of line, mindblowing and outstanding. As a successor after bodypump and MMA, this has got to be the latest craze "fitness fanatics" got their hands on. In terms of its actual effectiveness, it has a great variety of real exercises that produces power while maintaining intensities at extremely high levels. 

It must be said though: that in the paddling world, there are a few things wrong with Crossfit. 

1. It is not specific enough.  Many of you avid crossfitters/paddlers will say, how is it not specific when you have so many exercises lumped together in one workout? Well, that is exactly the point. As a paddler, wouldn't you want to be specific about the type of exercises you do to ensure that you measure your progress? Unfortunately, Mr Crossfit coach won't help you do that. He only knows one thing. Let's do everything; Olympic lifts, ring pulls, squats, sprint, some bodyweight stuff and voila! You got your workout! You go home all ragged and sore but you start  guessing why you did so many ring pulls when you're a long distance runner. Go figure.

2. It costs a bomb.  Let's imagine this. I have to fit a regular gym with machines, free weights and all the bits and pieces that make it a complete one. I charge $100 a month to you to use more than a half a million dollars worth of equipment in my gym. A Crossfit gym is like a regular gym with no machines, alot of kettle bells, ropes and what-nots. I charge you $200 a month for you to use $100,000 worth of equipment. What would you feel? And most crossfit gyms in Singapore still require a additional fee to take all the classes you want for a year. If you're someone with a bulging wallet with nothing better else to do with your money, then go ahead. I'd rather buy a TRX system that can do almost all the movements that I will learn at a Crossfit gym. Hell I could buy a squat rack if i wanted to! 

3. Kipping pull ups are NOT PULL UPs! God dammit. What did I do 30 sets of 10 free hang pull ups during my dragon boat training that is comparable to an idiot who thinks kipping pull ups are PULL UPs? A pull up goes up and down. That was how I was taught in secondary school, Polytechnic, University and most importantly the army! Crossfit likes to teach these people kipping pull ups and claim the god damn right that they can do 20-30 pull ups. Please tell me that your grandmother taught you that. It just seems that the numbers mean so much to Crossfitters and form and specificity do not complete their picture which brings me to: 

4. High level of injuries. The nature of the movements and the pure aggression in a group setting provides constant peer pressure to outperform yourself even through bad form. I've seen for myself the pure stupidity of people pushing through bad form for the sake of a number or a timing and all they get is an injured wrist that will take them out from training for a month or two. You will get injured, no doubt about that. That's because many of the powerlifting exercises are meant to be controlled power movements; not movements you can rush through for the sake of getting a muscle pump. You might as well break a fall from the 3rd storey building. That will save all the trouble of you doing it to yourself.  

5. You're just doing High Intensity Interval Training Dumbos! Crossfit is basically a combination of exercises put together to create a a simple high intensity interval training that is very useful for many sports. But doing that every other day? I have done 3 minute intervals of basically the same things for 8 exercises during a specific period in a season. I don't call it Crossfit. I just call it interval training. Keep it simple stupid. 

6.Periodisation. What's periodisation?If you have done competitive sports as a varsity or club athlete , you would understand that the athlete would need to progress through periods or phases to train at differing intensities and volumes to maximise performance in his strength training. Periodisation allows full control and more emphasis on the athletes performance and reduces the rate of injury as the athlete progresses. Crossfit unless done during the correct phase of training will only hamper the athletes performance. 

Its just tough to decide how effective Crossfit training is to paddling sports because of there are benefits in the way it is designed. But I am not keen for the fact they they fail to adhere to the principle of specificity of the exercise to increase the performance of the paddler. Eventually, to better your performance you should be looking to put more hours in the water not in the Crossfit gym screaming and yelling. 

Please don't call those kipping shit pull ups.. Just doesn't work for me..

Other than that Crossfit is Oklah. 

The Physics of Strength in Paddling

For the layman, many define strength from a standpoint of a personal fitness specialist (i.e. correct form). But what exactly is this "thing" called 'form'? What encompasses good "form" that makes the movement of a strength exercise (e.g. deadlift) correct or excellent? I have been pondering these questions for as long as I can remember and an alternative perspective from this book I'm reading now somehow enlightened me in this respect.(Picture of book at end of post!) Few actually look at movement from a physics perspective which is what I am about to discuss in this post. Physics haters be forewarned. Paddle geeks are welcome to continue:)


Most of us who have gone through a typical Physics lesson would remember the definition of Force which is defined as a result of mass multiplied by acceleration against gravity (i.e. F=M x A). An example in paddling would be how the greater the force, and the faster we apply it to our paddle, the faster the boat travels. As a muscle contracts especially when we exert force on our paddle, few people realise that we produce a rotational force called torque. Because of the unique way our bones and joints move through an arc, it is nearly impossible for a single joint to create movement in a straight line. 

However, the most effective way to produce pure force is in a straight line and this is especially true to lifting a weight. Producing force and keeping the distance as short as possible is the most effective way to move a load. 

So how does this apply to dragon boat or any of the paddling sports? 

The key to strength is moving the weight (i.e water)  in as close to a straight line as possible and to keep the the force of the load moving in the intended direction. If when paddling, you produce the force outside of its intended path, that force is dissipated and wasted. This dissipation of force can be seen in paddlers who use a lacklustre sideways paddling technique that moves the paddle through an arc in the water. Much "strength" is produced but ironically it results in less force. 

Moving the paddle in a straight line when our body is made of levers moving in arcs is really tricky indeed. Imagine your shoulders, arms and core working together to synchronise a movement to just keep the paddle vertical and travelling straight through the water. I think you get the drift by now. Great strength can therefore be harnessed by accessing and coordinating the body movements to work together to produce  force in a straight line. This enhances the notion of practising a particular movement and using proper technique as the keys to success. Watch this video to understand how straight line movement is a key factor to force. C Canoeists have to maintain this movement while managing the torque in their joints to produce the maximum amount of force through the water. 

I hope you guys understand why when your coaches constantly remind you to focus on technique how this actually improves your ability to produce force in a more effective manner. Enhancing your technique as a paddler will help to improve application of force for the same strength applied. So you think you are already pulling the water the hardest you can? Till my next post! 

Here's the book which helped me understand this a whole lot better. Thanks to NLB! 

Does Size Really Matter in Dragon Boat?

This question has been hanging over my head over years of my paddling experience. It has always been a common misconception that having a bigger body equates to being strong and extremely powerful especially in paddling. Then again, after years and years of observation and paddling competitively, I have often questioned the fact as to why this misconception has prevailed for as long as I can remember. Does it mean that these paddlers have an advantage over the smaller ones? 


I am glad that this myth has been busted based on recent developments in the dragon boat fraternity that have proven otherwise on many occasions both on the international as well as the local level. For those who may have been in the scene long enough, you should remember the days that the National Junior College canoeists and Singapore Canoe Federation constantly outperformed dragon boaters in their own playing field time and time again in the early days of dragon boat in Singapore. Apparently, in the late 90s and early 2000s, the canoeists who were far smaller in stature as compared to dragon boaters themselves could burn these 200 pounders in every dragon boat event imaginable. The 2012 Men's Prime Minister Challenge trophy has seen winners from the NUS team whose average weight of each paddler 10-20 kilos lighter than a paddler from NTU or SIM. What made them so different? 

Fortunately, the answer lies in their training methods and how some teams were slightly further ahead in this respect. Nimble and small as they are, canoeists and certain teams have made use of advanced training methods and their ability to train on their own to work on several factors. 

1) Technique vs Strength

Republic Polytechnic Canoe sprint athletes

Comparing a canoeist who can paddle for up to 7 days a week, weather notwithstanding as compared to a dragon boater who can only paddle on the weekends, the typical canoeists triples the amount of time he can work on his technique. He surpasses the dragon boater in mastering his technique in catching the water and moving his vessel across water in the most efficient manner. The dragon boater can only put his effective training in the gym, although top teams in Singapore do train on the weekends, however, training performance varies and can differ with changes in crew. Canoiests constantly cover an average of 15-20km on average per session  to train for 1000m races which are their staple. Dragon boaters train only an average of 5-10km on a typical session for a race that is 200m on the weekends. Go figure.. 

2) Strength Endurance vs Maximum Strength

Only in recent years, dragon boaters have learnt about strength endurance and the plateaus that high performance teams may face if the team does not take into consideration the endurance required to train the body to extend lactic tolerance levels for longer durations. Most dragon boaters believe that as long as they get bigger and stronger at one rep maximums, that will allow their muscles to last the race.  Far from the truth; training for bigger muscles promote growth of fast twitch muscles which are only capable to pull at maximum strength for a period of time as short as 5-10 seconds. Definitely too short for races as long as 500m or 1000m which can last as long as 2 minutes to 4 minutes respectively. Athletes who train specifically for strength endurance pieces are able to tolerate lactic acid levels way beyond the 30 second threshold (i.e. maintain intensity of stroke over a longer duration). 

3) Pure Strength vs Power

It seems that many do not understand that Strength and Power although related and used interchangeably are by definition very different. Coaches often seem to mix up the two for the benefit of the layman to hear and use their race sets for example 'Power in!!". However, it must be emphasized that the definition of Power is a function of Work done / time. In other words, the faster the paddler moves the paddle with a given intensity (i.e.90%) the more powerful he is. Take for example a paddler who can paddle with a force of 100KN  in 2 seconds vs a similar paddler who can produce the same amount of force in 1 second. The latter is deemed to be more powerful. 

These principles are still rather new to many dragon boaters due to the insistence of size as a prerequisite to performing well in a dragon boat team which is hardly an experience that paddlers in the philippines, myanmar, indonesia are facing. They seem to get so good at paddling only because they insist on their paddlers doing what they do best; paddling, be in in a canoe, kayak or dragon boat. I believe that size is a subset of strength but it is definitely not a prerequisite to being a better dragon boat athlete. IMHO, the most important factor to an athlete is his mental capacity to overcome challenges and a willingness to succeed.

I will end off with a video of my favourite dragon boat in the region; Team Indonesia. They are an embodiment of all things that I would really like to see in our future dragon boat teams. Small in stature but powerful in the water.  In the next blogpost, I hope I can get to show you snippets of my life as a coach and the team under my wings. Till then! 

How to do Muscle Ups Easily..

Everyone has this misconception that muscle ups are a show off type of pull ups but they work as an excellent platform to build very strong abs, triceps, chest and explosive puling power in your latissimus dorsi aka lats. I learnt how to do them over 2 months ago and I'm progressing to doing at least 10 in a row. Hope this video helps to get you guys motivated to try doing muscle ups as a way to go beyond just pull ups. Take it as a challenge. You will see the gains soon enough! Please like it if you want to see how I progressed to doing my first muscle up!

4 Drills to Make You A Better Paddler

4 drills to make you a better paddler

Many recreational paddlers have a big challenge of improving their stroke mechanics with the very little amount of training that they receive over the weekends. I have seen many novice paddlers get stuck with bad habits in their paddling skills due to the lack of time spent on developing their fundamentals. I hope that through this post, we can close up this gap in poor fundamentals and make you a better, more efficient paddler in your team. This post is by no means exhaustive in the list of ways that can make you a better paddler. These are just ways I have tried to ensure executing the best possible technique for myself.  

There are four (4) basic phases of paddling: 

1. “Catch” as you lean forward, rotate your body slightly toward your the bow of the boat and submerge ensuring no visible cavitation when your paddle enters the water. Make sure that the full blade catches water.

2. “Compression” is the phase where you lean back to pull water. Propulsion of the boat is based on countering that water resistance during this compression phase. The boat therefore, reaches its maximum propulsion force when 20 paddlers catch and pull at the same time.

3. “Recovery” is the phase where you pull the blade out of the water. This phase signals the completion of your first stroke and preparation for the next stroke.

4. “Reach” as you lean forward again to prepare for the “Catch” phase of your next stroke.

The following drills should make you more proficient in each of the phases of paddling and ensure strong fundamentals in your entire stroke. 

Catch drill - Silent Catch

Simple as it may sound, this drill requires you to paddle on your own either in the boat or by the side of the beach. Perform this drill with an understanding that a good catch is a quiet catch. Do only the front catch and perform it 10 times. Catch the water as cleanly and as silently as possible; no splashing and sloshing noises.  No need to pull the water. Just catch. Take note of the number of times you catch it silently out of 10 times. If its at least 9 out of 10, go on to higher repetitions. Your confidence in the silent catch drill will help ensure a strong fundamental in the proper way of catching the water for the next phase of the stroke. 

Compression - " one arm dumb bell row" 

Most people, especially recreational paddlers do not realise that they will tend to use their arms unconsciously to initiate the movement of the compression phase which will not be beneficial in the long run. A drill to counter this would be the "one arm dumb bell row". The name suggests the same exercise used in the gym replicated in the water. Taking a right paddler as a reference, the correct form should focus on using your shoulder to initiate the movement in the lower arm while having the upper t-grip in the left hand at eye level. Finish off the stroke at with the blade at mid-thigh level and recover for the next stroke. Do this 20 times. Feel your right shoulder starting the motion at each repetition. 

Recovery - Clean exit

The exit would be like a synonym of the entry. Clean in, Clean out. This drill is to be performed either as part of the stroke or at the end of the entire stroke.  You have to ensure that the paddle comes out of the water as "cleanly" as possible which means no splashing of the water away or into the boat. A clean exit reinforces good positive stroke technique while reducing drag at the end of the stroke via unnecessary movements. Repeat the drill 20 times to reinforce this skill.  Many seasoned paddlers will find this terribly difficult to execute because they may be used to splashing the water out for no good reason or just flicking the paddle which is a terrible waste of energy. 

Switch Sides

There is no better way for a paddler to improve in his stroke mechanics than to paddle on both sides as often as possible. This provides clear advantages for the team as well as for the paddler. 1) The paddler will gain more interest as it becomes an extension/challenge to the paddler to improve his technique on his weaker side. 2) The paddler will cognitively try to improve his stroke mechanics on his weaker side which will consciously lead to a better performance on his stronger side. Focus on the same catch, compression and recovery drills as mentioned above and improve as time goes by your stronger side will improve dramatically with the increased awareness of the weaknesses in the stroke.  

Well it may be true that some teams may emphasize stroke rate over mechanics of the stroke propulsion to deal with the resistance of the water. Yet, there is no substitute for basic execution, including timing and synchrony that makes up the a large part of competitive dragon boat racing.  Well that is another post from myself to help those who have trouble keeping up in their teams. In my next post, I would cover my experiences of training with a GPS and how it may help you as an athlete. 

Singapore River Regatta Post-Race Report Day 2

Well, another day of races, another report for all of you. Sunday's races were especially exciting taking into consideration that this time, almost all the races were 22 men crew boats and the timings were shorter. 200m races never fail to rouse the crowd in its awesome might of the speed of the boats and aggression of the paddlers. This post will focus mainly on the performances of OneStroke (aka Kaki Bukit Community Sports Club) and results of the Minor Final and Grand Final of the Singapore River Regatta 2012, organised by the Singapore Dragon Boat Association. 

OneStroke did fairly well in their maiden Singapore River Regatta race under their new coach with a style of paddling that is relatively new to their arsenal of paddling skills. They had a good shot for the men's semi finals but missed out by a mere few miliseconds to go for a second try in the repecharge after their well deserved second placing in the heats. A fantastic fairytale ending for the men's team from the powerhouse that is Nanyang Technological University (NTU) for sweeping all the top spots in the Premier Men's Open and Mixed Categories. Also my heartiest congratulations to National University of Singapore (NUS) for their well earned victory in the Minor Finals of the Premier Open Men's Category. 

0812 hrs
Event: National Premier Open Men Heat 3
Position: 2nd

OneStroke managed to pull off a credible second place having only trained a few times with a full crew. They followed the plan very carefully and applied their fundamentals as best they could. Strong starts albeit slower than expected but speed managed were quite strong noting their chafing from the boat glide. Can improve better on the starts to transition and needs a more distinctive last charge to finish off the set with a better timing.  Best set since I started coaching them so far. 

1418 hrs
Event: National Premier Mixed Heat 7
Position: 3rd

We did quite well in this particular heat despite the towering competition that was made up of the other tertiary teams. Head to head we could only manage to pull a short lead from the start to the 100m mark. Lack of conditioning overall as a team didn't bode well for the team when they lost the final 100m by at least half a boat length. Sprint races are meant to be close, if the team is not close enough, you're not strong enough. Full stop. Need to work on basic conditioning for the entire crew. Basic timing principles are not adhered to in this race which will need improving. Strength endurance lacking since we faded off pretty badly in the last 100m. 

1500 hrs

Event: People's Association Community Sports Clubs Mixed Heat 3
Position: 4th

This team lacks basic strength, conditioning and experience to handle the pressure of a race context. Looking forward to see this bunch paddle more as they have potential to be alot more composed and stronger. Observations include lack of reach, slow starts and basic lack of preparedness to race. So expect more technique work and strength training with this bunch of guys and girls. 


1230hrs
National Premier Open Men's Minor Finals
Champions: NUS

NUS came into this finals after a disappointing set from their semifinals having being beaten by their local rivals NTU by a clear 3 seconds (about half a boat length). This was already after a re-start called by the officials for NYP having crashed into NTU's lane in the final 100m of the race. NUS put up a strong fight against its strongest competitor Ministry of Home Affairs made up of mostly local and Nepalese Policemen capable of making waves in the water on their best days. NUS made it through after a strong start and finished 1st, just inching past MOHA although they had their top podium positionin their crosshairs in their final charge for the finish. 

1236hrs
National Premier Open Men's Grand Finals. 
Champions: NTU

NTU and SAFSA were favourites to win this Giant vs Goliath encounter. Many were pipping NTU for their outstanding all round performances in both their heats and semis. After a strong start by all the competitiors including Republic Polytechnic, the race was held tight by all 4 contenders holding off any signs of pulling away from the competition. The crowd went into a frenzy as they went head to head at the final charge with only final 20m to go. NTU ended the race within a whisker of SAFSA with RP just a mere half a second behind. NTU finished off with the top podium spot, followed by SAFSA and RP for 3rd place. That match up was one of those that was highly anticipated and heart stopping nonetheless. Congratulations again to NTU for their overall top quality performances. 

The year has ended off on a high as OneStroke moves into its next phase of its management and  new era of paddling. I only hope for more improvements to come as these guys take on newer challenges and take the chance to win races next time if we were to go down for river regatta again. I must say this time that the SRR  2012 was well organised despite a few hiccups along the way. Lanes were well marked and competitors thoroughly enjoyed themselves through an almost hiccup free 2 days of racing. All in all, dragon boat racing is still about enjoying yourself through the company of friends and family in an atmosphere of competition. I hope not to miss this feeling again as long as I can continue coaching or paddling in some way or other. Kudos to the management team who made SRR 2012 happen for OneStroke as well as for me. 

Signing off, 

Paddle Geek

Singapore River Regatta post-race report

It has been a wonderful weekend with old friends and coaching a new team. Elite and recreational teams battle it out against each other at the Singapore River Regatta, an annual event that most dragon boaters never fail to look forward to for its adrenaline pumping sprint races and jovial atmostphere that accompanies it which happens right in the middle of the CBD area. The races were a good test of how well prepared the teams were in sprints of 200m with most of the elite teams coming under 50 seconds. This post focuses on the results of the team I coach i.e. Kaki Bukit CSC aka OneStroke and their performances and how we can improve further in the many sets of races that we have taken part in. 



Day 1:
0824 hrs

Event: 12 crew Inter Business Houses & Clubs Open Heat 3

Timing: 1:01.84 min

Position: 1st

Report: Coming into this race, participants were highly anticipating a close fight between all the teams as they make up mainly of recreational paddlers. OneStroke performed better than expected with a victory on the first event, due mainly to very good composure at the race starts and maintenance phases. Strong emphasis on technique observed and strong maintenance throughout the set. They applied what they learnt in allowing the boat to glide for the next stroke and it was well balanced. Can see an effort in the last charge although there were minimal gains in speed overall at the end. Overall: Good set





1100 hrs

Event: 12 Crew Inter Business Houses and Clubs Open Quarterfinal 5

Timing: 1:02.42 min

Position: 4th

Report: This race would be the deciding factor to whether we would qualify for the semi-finals. Hard luck as it is, timings were poorer than the initial heats as they went down very very unprepared. Rushed through the practice start set. Slow race starts and transition was very poor. Lacked composure and timing throughout the set. Lesson learnt: Go down mentally focused and never let anything external affect that. If you let your race before the race gets started, you will start having oxygen debt in your lungs before you even start the race. Learn to relax especially when you hyperventilate before the race by breathing in deep breaths. 



1154 hrs

Event: 12 crew PA GRO Men


Timing: 1:03.56

Position: 2nd

Report: This race was to be a race to redeem the last race where they didn't meet the mark. Racers went down well prepared this time, knowing what to expect. Took their time to the race start point and executed the plan as best they could. Missed out on 1st place by a whisker but good effort overall. Technique and execution was well coordinated. Still having problems with last charge at the end. 

1606 hrs

Event: 12 Crew PA GRO Men Final

Timing: 1:02.89

Position: 4th

Report: This race was overall disappointing for all the paddlers. Paddlers felt stressed over the competition and lacked mental composure to finish off the race strong. Maintained good lift off at the starts, up to the 100m mark where they flopped once the whistle for the last charge was blown. Timing was caterpillar in nature from back to front and no one could get it back in time to push for the last charge; losing their initial speed from the starts. Need to work on consistency for all their sets. 

The saturday was a good start overall although there were many disappointing moments for the team. I don't blame them knowing that they tried their best to execute as much of the sets with a fundamentally new approach of racing. I felt that it was almost a 180 degree shift in paradigm in the way they were thinking and racing in their previous race in North East CDC where they faced a challenge of believing in stroke rating as opposed to letting the boat glide. The guys were learning that we can do a race with intensity as opposed to stroke rating. We will see if these improvements will be brought forward to Sunday's races. 

Next post, SRR race day 2! Cheers!