TRIALS, WATTSPLITS AND SWISS MATTERS April 25 2014
Eyes were on Caversham last weekend, where the GB Rowing Team competed in their final set of selection trials for the year. Unfortunately spectators weren’t allowed at the Redgrave-Pinsent Rowing Lake, to the annoyance of some after the crowd-pleasing 2012 trials at Dorney.
There are reviews of the event on the British Rowing website and BBC Sport, which mentions “cold but sunny conditions” but not the raging headwind and forecast for worse on Sunday, which saw the event squeezed to three races in a single day and many male heavyweight scullers taking more than eight minutes over the 2k course.
Helen Glover and Heather Stanning were reunited in competition for the first time since winning Great Britain’s first gold of the London 2012 Olympics, and they won in emphatic fashion.
Meanwhile, for the first time in nine years, neither Pete Reed nor Andy Triggs Hodge came away with victory in the men’s pairs. Mo Sbihi and Alex Gregory pushed Hodge and George Nash into second, while Reed pulled out through illness.
A few Molesey members took exception to their club captain Sbihi being pictured in a photo gallery named “Leander at Henley” and staged a black ops raid on the pink palace’s Facebook page.
Olympic bronze medallist Alan Campbell crossed the finish line third in the single sculls but was disqualified, having arrived late to the start then false-started.
Meanwhile Constantine Louloudis was able to raise a wry smile after capsizing in the B-final. After his Boat Race success a Standard reporter had mistaken his mention of a single scull as an aim for the Rio 2016 Olympics, rather than a route to selection for big boats.
In light of recent events, I've decided I WILL be targeting the 1x at Rio. Haters gonna hate @realtalkrowing
— ConstantineLouloudis (@clouloudis) April 19, 2014
Some interesting stats and discussion afterwards on the relative strength in depth of the men’s and women’s pairs. Women’s coach Paul Thompson boated his strongest combo while Jurgen Grobler split the talent, so is it any more than a statistical exercise?
GB trials; difference between top M2- and 6th of B Final - 32 seconds. W2-, 82 seconds.
— TheRowing Circular (@RowingCircular) April 21, 2014
@RowingCircular @fatsculler agreed. Quick calculations of percentage difference from 1st to 12th: M1x 9.6%, W1x 5.0%, M2- 7.5% W2- 17.2%
— Ben Rodford (@Ben_Rodford) April 21, 2014
Wattsplits?
Some statistical suggestions too in this Rowing Magazine article offering 10 tips to get your novices up to speed. When coaching newbies on the ergo, how about using watts rather than 500m splits?
“Watts are easily understood—more is better—and they are easier to compare. The difference between 1:59 and 1:57 splits doesn’t seem as significant as the gap between 203 and 218 watts.”
Sunny Sarnen
As we come to the end of the training camp season there are plenty of videos around, and some outstanding scenery in this montage of Westminster School’s trip to Sarnen in Switzerland.
We found that on RowHub, along with this challenge to find your rowing name. I’m Sloppy Swimmer, which is true but not really rowing-related.