Club Committee
2004 - 2005 Manifestos
Alex Lee - Women's Captain
I am a post-graduate historian with twelve years of rowing experience. Having started coxing at school, I have trained and raced with successful boats at all levels, including the Ladies 1st May VIII 2001/2/3 and the CUW Lightweight VIII 2002, and winning events in over twenty five regattas. I am also an ARA qualified coach and umpire. I have previously held boat club leadership positions serving as Junior Vice-Captain at Worcester Rowing Club in 1999 and, most importantly, as Women's Captain at First and Third in 2002-3. It is the combination of rowing experience and that of my previous captaincy that I intend to build on to bring stability, success and continuity to women's rowing at First and Third.
THE PLAN
The ultimate objective of the Ladies' Boat Club must be to produce winning boats. The question is how this should be done. With only a limited amount of time to train on the Cam between races and given the technical and physiological obstructions provided by vacation time, the answer lies in a highly structured and well-organised training and coaching plan for the year. Each time a crew goes on the water, it needs to fulfil a direct role in producing a winning crew for that term and for the whole year. Thus, each outing must lead athletes to a higher level of fitness and technical ability .Time cannot and will not be wasted. I believe that this can be achieved in the following way:
- Selection and testing. This is an ongoing process: all people develop their technique and fitness at different rates, while the abrupt nature of the Cambridge rowing calendar demands that crews are put out to race at certain key points. At the beginning of each term, all oarswomen who want to will be invited to compete for a place in the 1st VIII and this will entail close co-operation with the Lower Boats Captains. No seat is 'safe' and no one will be able to demand a place without having undergone the selection procedure, which will rely on both aptitude and strength. A provisional VIII will be selected within the first two weeks. However, it is likely that many selection choices will be close and the fastest possible VIII at the start of term may not be the fastest possible at the end. To ensure that we put out the fastest possible 1st VIII every time an outing is scheduled, a series of tests will be conducted at most every two weeks, but at least every three weeks, bringing technical ability into close consideration and open to all who wish to participate. Testing will probably vary, but will certainly include the old favourites, such as 2k tests, 2min split tests etc, as well as the coaches' perspective on the technical development of each rower. Inevitably, this will involve a degree of change across a term, but should really affect no more than two seats at a time, and the variation will help to foster a clear club 'style' that allows everyone to grow accustomed to each others' rowing.
- Training plan and training camps. I shall seek advice from experienced coaches, such as lain and those who have trained CUW on how best to structure termly training plans. However, it is a physiological fact that in order to train efficiently, muscle must first be developed and only then trained to perform a specialised function. In Michaelmas, and for the first half of Lent, the training plan will probably incorporate a high level of land training that is endurance-based, while closer to the bumps the focus will shift towards more water-work. As far as outings are concerned, I am firmly convinced that outings achieve most where all athletes know exactly what they are doing and why. To aid this, I will circulate the training plan for the week, or for several weeks at a time, together with explanatory notes. Additionally, I would like to build on this year's foundations and arrange training camps away from Cambridge, before the beginning of Lent and Easter terms. A number of clubs on the Severn and Upper Thames would be willing to host camps and wider, less congested river conditions would do wonders for pre-term training.
- Coaching and Communication. First of all, my extended experience of Cambridge rowing will allow me to bring in a variety of coaches from both the Old Boys and Girls and the top CUW/CUBC rowers. Yet coaching is only valuable so far as it is focused: each coach will be asked to concentrate, wherever possible, on a single aspect of the stroke, giving rise to a more intensive approach to the technical objectives of each outing. Technical objectives for the week will also be sent to crews each week as an aid to focus and direction. At weekly crew meetings, we will review these objectives for the past six days and determine how effectively they have been achieved. This will allow training plans to be amended in line with progress and facilitate clarification where confusion has arisen.
- Fun. Fast crews generally have fun together. It would be great to encourage each boat to develop its own identity not only by organising the usual formal halls, but also by cross-training ( e.g. swimming, cycling etc. ) and more social events.
- Coxing. The chronic shortage of coxes is a perennial problem. Coxes, however, are always likely to give up where little attention is paid to them. As a cox, I know how gruelling the long winter months can be, sitting in the rain, desperately trying to stir a crew to enthusiasm, and I am keenly aware that a lack of rowing knowledge makes coxing boring and miserable. To combat this, I will have a coxing meeting at the beginning of each term. In Michaelmas, for example, this will deal with the fundamentals of coxing and advice on how best to keep warm. No cox will go on the water without having had some instruction. I envisage the weekly review sessions being particularly useful in inviting constructive comments on coxing progress.
OVERALL
Devoted to rowing, I have been heavily involved in this sport for the last 12 years, and as such have acquired ample experience of rowing in general as well as its peculiarities on the Cam. As a cox and an ex-captain, I am well acquainted with the need for clear leadership within a co-operative framework, as well as the details of Cambridge boat club management. I have already served a year as captain, and having thought about what went wrong and what went well, I have the inside knowledge of exactly what this job involves. My previous captaincy was in places traumatic and I am determined to make next year a year of stability and strength for women's rowing at First and Third. I am very encouraged by this year's improvements on the Ladies side of the club and it will be my objective to solidify this progress in the form of 3 terms of good committed rowing which will set us up for the future.
Proposed: Catherine Aiken
Seconded: Alla Doubrovina