Training Camp Lovere 2009: Emergency food aid has been dispatched to the quaint town of Lovere in Northern Italy where locals are recovering from 10 days of severe strain on food stocks. Despite the three meals provided to ICBC by the town, local supermarkets were struggling to keep shelves filled. The limited shopping time available to the rowers between siesta and the 6 hours of water training did little to ease the demand. Athletes have submitted claims to local authorities of being pointed at and discussed: “That’s another one of those English rowers who eat everything. We’ve sold out of brioche..! This has never happened before. They just eat everything”. Rationing has now commenced at Lovere since the departure of 70 rowers and coaches and 35 boats from ICBC who were hosted by rowing club Canottieri Sebino on the banks of Lake Iseo near Milan. The training camp marks the end of the head race season and the beginning of the summer regattas.
Following a night of weighing luggage on the lightweight’s scales at the boathouse flat it was an early 4:30 am start on Saturday March 28th. Despite checking-in on time at Stansted, IC-student Oli Mahony failed to appear at the gate for boarding. Sadly the only noticeable fall-out was the delay in take-off as Mahony’s baggage was removed from the aircraft. A text message later informed us he was on a later flight. Oli who..? There was further disaster for Rachael Davies who was flying directly from Olso and appeared for her flight to Milan at the wrong airport. Eventually everyone arrived but excited crews were met by rain which continued incessantly for the first three days of camp and intermittently throughout the week. Morale was low as rain-beaten squads tried to get to grips with the unstable and narrow pontoon which was causing large queues and friction between impatient and soggy rowers. Weeks of toughened hand calluses were being softened in a matter of minutes and after the first day all fresh kit had been worn. Damp lycra was strewn across makeshift washing lines and it wasn’t long before the familiar aroma of home pervaded the hostel.
Inclement weather or not; the row must go on. Women’s coach Brian Steele (not to be confused with Brain as much as WORD would like me to) accompanied an 8+ and two quads for a “technical” session. The water was unsettled from the offset due to high winds but by the far side of the lake Atlantic conditions dominated. The quads suffered badly while the 8+, although struggling, managed to graft through the waves. At the lowest mental point, with rain belting off our faces, waves crashing off our backs and our feet sitting in pools of water, Brian called from the launch: “Ok guys, there’s a bad patch coming up ahead in about 100 metres or so.” Quad stroke Rachael Davies was appreciative of the warning: “A BAD PATCH!? What the hell do you call this? I f*cking hate you Brian.” Desperate bailing out with flip-flops proved ineffective and both quads had to be dragged to shore and emptied. One of the boats rowed back while the other was carried along in the launch with the frozen athletes onboard longing for sunny London. Later receiving sympathy for the misfortune of the weather Captain Erica Thompson was oblivious to the near-death situation: “I actually really enjoyed it!”
In these desperate times we turned to food. Lunch and dinner were served at staff accommodation at Hotel Albergo Belvedere. The twenty minute walk from the student hostel to the hotel was long enough to have most squads delirious with hunger. Starving rowers traipsed across Lovere and filed into the restaurant eating everything in sight. Bread rolls were smothered in balsamic vinegar, oil and ketchup and savaged. There wasn’t enough Frizzante in the entire Lombardy region to wash down the plates upon plates of pasta and gnocchi that were served up. Leo Carrington at one point thought he may actually be full: “That gnocchi is pretty filling. Or maybe it was the ten bread rolls I had before it.” Free coffee and wine complemented the meals which we were later told was not free. Coincidentally it was about this time that we decided we didn’t want coffee or wine anymore. Lightweights and vegetarians were also catered for with plates of cheese and pizzas. Claims for vegetarian status had dramatically increased by the end of the week with many showing symptoms of twitching at the mere sight of pasta. To help out staff in gauging where most food should be directed Steve implemented a pig’s hat system whereby those eating the most could be quickly identified. This prestigious award was presented to Henry Goodier, Stef Menashe, John Davey, Chris Kroon, Dom Meyrick-Cole (through bribery) and Richard Winchester.
Word of ICBC’s ability to eat anything spread quickly throughout the town. Novice Poh-Choo Pang was out for a post-session stroll and came across a small cat which she started petting harmlessly. The owner, having heard the rumours all week, heroically sprinted to her cat’s defense and successfully tempted Poh-Choo inside with biscuits before she could devour the cat. The eccentric cat owner, speaking only Italian, kept Pang close for the remainder of the trip advising neighbours to keep their animals inside and to have almond biscuits at the ready in case of an ICBC invasion.
Although aching and blistered ICBC obliged town locals by providing a “row-by” as part of a celebration for some of Italy’s greatest adventurers, which culminated in a reception held on Friday evening. ICBC crews arrived en masse in support of Stevie T. who was called to the stage in the opening part of the presentations. “So Steve, here at Lovere we are very proud of our lake, what do you think of it so far?” “Eh, it’s very wet.” Steve was gracious in thanking everyone for their hospitality. “Will you be coming back again?” “Eh.., if you’ll have us.” The club were treated to another reception on Sunday morning at the Palace of the Province of Bergamo. The top table included Prof. Maurizio Gotti, (Head of International Affairs at Bergamo University), Angelo Zanotti (President of Canottieri Sebino), G. Mario Poiatti (Head of Sport in the Executive Body of Lovere's Municipality), Aristide Bonomelli (Official translator and aide to ICBC) and Steve Trapmore (unknown). Valerio Bettoni, President of Bergamo Province was also there as chairman of Bergamo’s CONI, a branch of the Italian Olympic Committee. ICBC were very appreciative of the warm welcome and had a thoroughly enjoyable day exploring Bergamo town and getting a brief respite from training.
There were many crew and boat changes over the week as coaches became familiar with the lake. A ferry service connecting all the lake-side towns caused huge undulating wash across the entire lake. From a distance the wash was a serene and silent ripple floating towards crews but at close quarters it caused havoc, especially during time-trial pieces. Cox Henry Fieldman was in awe at the natural elegance of the water: “That’s some beautiful f*cking wash guys, really beau-… F*ck My Life I’m swimming in this shit.” In the second outing the sun had failed to dry up the remaining wash in the bow-loaded cox seat and Fieldman was noticeably upset: “Ah man, my hole is wet”. With such a large ICBC contingent many of the crews were coxless and during the pieces some very creative calls were made, most of which are unrepeatable. In the closing days of camp the sun finally broken out and bowman Tom Bell was heard soothing his crew into a steady rhythm: “Sit up and feel the warm wind caress your bare backs.” Meanwhile in the women’s squad Christina Matteotti was utilising local sounds for motivation: “Hear the churchbells ring out for those catches.”
The ice-creamery at Bar Centrale were unfortunate enough to be located on the path to dinner and was swarmed every evening for dessert. The sugar rush had unusual effects on tired crews who spent the aftermath competing for the coveted title of “Most Spoons Dangled from Face”. The outlet had to shut on Monday in anticipation of a finale before crews shipped out for home on Tuesday morning.
The training camp was a huge success and there were immediate improvements from all squads. Four personal bests were achieved back in London in the Pizza Hut Challenge for Iain Palmer (24 slices), Erica Thompson (22 slices), Johnny Eisenbraken (27 slices) and the outright winner Oli Mahony (30 slices). Core stability training really came into play in the latter stages of the competition. Mahony went off hard and held his three slice lead throughout which proved a huge psychological blow for Eisenbraken. Mahony placed 5th in the GB lightweight trials in Belgium straight after training camp; a nice warm-up for the triumph at Pizza Hut. There was surprise from onlookers at the victory: “I can’t believe he ate 30 slices.” “I can’t believe he’s an elite athlete.” Well done to Hamuel Sandwich who also had a strong performance at trials after being head-hunted earlier in the year on the back of some good wins. The next major competition is BUCS (British University Championships) taking place in Nottingham on May 2-4. Intensive research is underway to elucidate who Durham are and a carefully drafted plan will be drawn-up detailing what we are going to do about it.
Christina Duffy