Club Committee
2008-2009 Manifestos
I am a second year mathematician and I noviced in 2006 with the 1st Novice Women and since then have rowed in boats at every level. I’ve enjoyed being a WLBC this year and so would like to continue this and work with the rest of the Women’s boat club next year.
Lower Boats
In Michaelmas term, I will support the WLBCs during novice recruitment as I know that this can be stressful and time consuming. I will help them try to spot rowers with the potential to move straight into the upper boats squad in Lent term. For really keen novices we will set up a scheme whereby they can have extra training sessions with some of the senior rowers.
Having been part of the first 1st & 3rd Third Women’s VIII to get onto Lent Bumps, I am keen for this to happen again. By helping the WLBCs keep novice retention high and with some good coaching, I believe that this is perfectly achievable. Continuing this into May term, I would like to see the 3rd Women’s VIII going up again in May Bumps.
Upper Boats - Training
At the moment the best strategy seems to be to keep doing more of the same, as it seems to be working so far. Iain will continue as head coach for W1 and Jenny Lee will carry on coaching W2. Together we will put together a training plan for the whole squad for each term. I would like to use guest coaches, where possible, so that they can pick up on different technical points. All guest coaches will be given a session plan beforehand and be asked to give specific feedback.
We will continue with the pre-Lent and May’s training camps. Before Lent term this will mainly be used to integrate the ex-novices and senior rowers, with emphasis on everyone rowing together. After training week, those trialling for the 1st VIII will begin rowing as a squad. For May term, I plan to have everyone training together for a longer period. With Iain’s help and feedback from other coaches, I would like to have crews selected as early into the terms as possible. Once crews are set, I’ll assign each one a captain, who will help organise outings for that crew.
In Michaelmas term, depending on the number of rowers, we will train in a combination of VIIIs, IVs, pairs and singles. I intend to make full use of the new women’s pair and give everyone the chance to learn to scull during Lent and at the beginning of May term.
Upper Boats - Racing
The main aim for next year is to retain the Lent Headship. This year we have shown that even with a completely new crew this is possible, so hopefully, as not all of the Lent VIII are leaving, this will be easier. I hope to keep some consistency between W1 in Michaelmas and Lents, so that training for Bumps can happen as soon as possible, but this would not be to the exclusion of promising new rowers. In May term, I hope that W1 will continue to move up the bumps chart and that W2 will be aiming for blades in both terms.
I would like to see more people entering into the Small Boats Regatta at the start of May term. There are hardly any entries into the women’s novice races, so there could be a good chance at doing well and I think its fun to try something a bit different, especially as I think that small boats work is very beneficial for rowing.
I think I would be a good Women’s Captain because:
- I’m obsessively organised,
- I like sending (and receiving) emails,
- I work well with others and can encourage more people to continue rowing,
- I’m good at convincing people that ergs games are fun,
- But mainly because I love rowing!
Proposed by: Harriet Booker
Seconded by: Rachel Croft
