Dear Westdale Rowers,

First off, CONGRATULATIONS to ALL of you for a fantastic job during your first week on the water (yes, we’ve only been on the water for a week, and we’re already ahead of where we were this time last year!). I’m proud to say that Westdale is one of the few schools that has not yet capsized, and that all our crews have been picking up the on-water rowing technique quickly.

Now that we’ve had a chance to settle into the swing of things, there are a few important things to note:

1) Launch Times & On-Dock Rules
Athletes are expected to arrive at 5:15am, set up the coach boats/oars, check their crew boats on the stretchers (this is mandatory), attach your lights, sign-out in the WSS log book, and then be ON the docks by 5:30am. Crews should be pushing off no later than 5:35am. For the Men’s Team, I’ll be timing your crews. If you need more time, then you should discuss an earlier arrival time with your crew. Launch time is 5:30am.

Please remember that running on the docks is not permitted. Crews are allowed 1 min 30 seconds on the docks (an absolute maximum of 2 minutes), so please be efficient and work with your crew to get on and off as quickly as possible without running (it IS possible). The reason for this time limit is to prepare you for regattas, where officials will limit your dock time, and to ensure a smooth flow of boat launchings at LBC. No crew wants to wait around while another crew sits for five minutes on the dock and prevents others from launching. Let’s try hard to meet these time limits – I’m confident that all of our WSS crews can do this, so let’s do it. Excellence is a habit, and it starts with what you repeatedly do on a daily basis at your own club.

2) Chili Cookoff Fundraising Tally
I’m happy to announce that our Chili Cookoff Fundraiser has raised a WHOPPING grand total of $5136 in profits. This is an HUGE accomplishment, as it is $1397 higher than last year, and the funds can be used to purchase new ergs, cox boxes, and much needed rowing equipment upgrades. A BIG thank-you to all of the parents involved (especially our coordinators, Brock & Dina), and to all of you – the athletes – for assisting in running the event so smoothly. We couldn’t have done it without your volunteering and ticket selling. We really appreciate it!!!

3) Clothing Orders
A friendly reminder that athletes interested in purchasing “swag” orders (i.e.: for optional rowing clothes/crew kit items), your order forms and money are due tomorrow at practice (AM or PM). Order forms can be found here: Westdale Rowing Apparel 2015 (Order Forms)

Please print them & return them during Monday’s practice if you’d like to receive your swag before our first regatta (this is the date by which Regatta Sport needs our order numbers). Feel free to contact Alessandra if you have any troubles with the deadline or have any questions about the orders

4) Training Plan (This Week & Monthly Plan Update)
The finalized monthly training plan will be posted later this week, but this week’s training plan can be found below. You can expect poor wind conditions this week during both AM and PM practices, so please remember that you should be bringing running shoes & appropriate clothing to every practice in case of a dryland training day.

Trying to carry a boat in the wind, it’s like…

We’re already ahead in terms of “number of days on-water” in comparison to where we were last year, but we still have a lot to accomplish despite this advantage. Improvements can be made during dryland workouts too, so just remember that every day between now and CSSRAs is important – regardless of the wind conditions that greet us. You can make a difference by committing to each practice. This is our opportunity to really push ourselves as a team and work hard to reach our goals, both on-water and off. You know what you want, both personally and as a crew. Let’s work for that.

*This week’s boating lineups (i.e.: crew members) for the Sr. Women’s 8+ training days can be found here. 

Monday:
Water – (FOCUS=POSTURE): Warmup; C6 Row 60min; 2x6k r20; add C1 8x(10-10-10) (1/2 boat takes 10 hard strokes, other 1/2 takes 10 hard, all take 10 hard together) *low rates
Dryland Backup – Men on tank/weights first half of practice (60min), Women on run & stairs (60min); then switch.

Tuesday:
WATER – (FOCUS=SHIFTING RATES TOGETHER) Warmup; C4 row 90min; 2x”Bridge-Blockhouse-Lifts” (BBL), rates 18/20/22; 20/22/24 (rates “lift” at bridge and blockhouse; start in Valley each time).
Dryland Backup – 60min LDR followed by “House of Pain” using track near LBC.

Wednesday:
Water – (FOCUS = DISTANCE & HAND LEVELS) Warmup; C6 row 70min; 12-15k, steady state; add trip of (10-10-10) on square
Dryland Backup – Ergs (2km) & Core & Run

Thursday:
Water – (FOCUS=ACCELERATING TOGETHER ON THE DRIVE) Warmup; C2 row (2x8min; 22/26spm); C6 Tech Row
Dryland Backup – fartlek runs + 7 sets of stairs at highlevel bridge; stretching & core

Friday:
Water – (FOCUS=BODY SWING & SHIFTING TOGETHER) Warmup; C5 row 70′; 2xBridgeBlockhouse-Slip Pyramid (BBSP) (rates 18/20/22/24 both times; change rates at bridge, blockhouse, and entrance to slip)
Dryland Backup – 300 & 40′ run

Saturday:
Water – Intro to Race Day -Skills (Turning, Backing, Start Sequencing, Technical Row)
Dryland Backup – 45min run; Core Circuit 1; Flexibility Session

5) Men’s Team Boating Schedule for Primary/Secondary Boats *2x from Mike’s crews will join as required:
Monday AM – Sr. M4x, Sr. LWT M2x, Jr. LWT M2x (L/H)
Monday PM – Jr. LWT M2x (W/J), Erik 1x, Jocelyn 1x,
Tuesday AM – Sr. M4x, Sr. LWT M2x, Jr. LWT M2x (L/H)
Tuesday PM – Jr. LWT M2x (W/J), Erik 1x, Luke 1x, Jocelyn 1x,
Wednesday AM – Sr. M4x, Sr. LWT M2x, Jr. LWT M2x (L/H)
Wednesday PM – Jr. LWT M2x (W/J), Erik 1x, Jocelyn 1x,
Thursday AM – Sr. M4x, Sr. LWT M2x, Jr. LWT M2x (L/H)
Thursday PM – Jr. LWT M2x (W/J), Erik 1x, Luke 1x, Jocelyn 1x,
Friday AM – Luke 1x, Erik 1x, Sr. LWT M2x
Friday PM – Jr. LWT M4+, Erik 1x, Luke 1x, Jocelyn 1x
Saturday 5:45AM – Luke 1x, Erik 1x, Sr. M2x, Sr. LWT M4+
Saturday 9:30AM – Jr. LWT M2x (W/J)
Sunday 5:45AM – Sr. M2x
Sunday 9:30AM – TBD as required

Crew boats are as follows (a reminder):
Sr. M4x = Luke, Max, Kieran, Erik
Sr. LWT M2x = JJ, Cooper
Jr. LWT M2x (L/H) = Lucas, Harrison
Jr. LWT M2x (W/J) = Will, James
Jr. LWT 4+ = Arnaud (coxswain), Lucas, Harrison, James, Will
Sr. LWT 4+ = Arnaud (coxswain), Lucas, Harrison, Cooper, JJ
Sr. M2x = Kieran, Max
Singles = Erik 1x; Luke 1x; Jocelyn 1x

*If availabilities change, then this schedule will be ammended. I’ll explain the schedule in person tomorrow morning, so if you’re uncertain about something, then please ask me questions and I can explain it all at practice.

See you all in 5.5 hours,
Alessandra