Thursday 28 June 2012
Tuesday 19 June 2012
Henley Women's Regatta 2012
This weekend held the final Rowing World Cup of 2012, in Munich. The A finals were shown on the BBC on Sunday and once again the GB team put in a solid performance at the regatta. The last big show down before the Olympics! I was so chuffed for the women's pair who put in a stellar performance and comfortably beat New Zealand, last years World Champions. Also the women's eight had a fab last 500m to clinch the bronze medal.
The team have all been collecting their Olympic kit up in Loughborough over the past couple days. Rumour is they have around 70kgs of kit!
Ex housemate, friend and stroke of the GB women's 8+ Victoria Thornley (above right) has been very organised and despite only collecting it today; already unpacked and named all her kit (above left)!
So whilst the big shots were racing the world's best in Munich, back at home the remainder of the Leander girls were racing on home turf at Henley Women's Regatta. Hats off to the regatta organisers for keeping the regatta running so smoothly. Conditions were tricky due to the heavy rain in the run up to the regatta which caused a very fast stream. The race course runs against the stream, and with a very strong headwind to contend with as well there was no chance for record times this year!
Despite this everybody battled through the conditions as best they could and it was a successful weekend, cementing the regatta's 25th anniversary.
I raced the elite quad and elite double. The double was the last chance we had to race another double side by side before the European Championships in September (pending selection) and the quad was the first run out for a combination we will row in for Henley Royal Regatta next week. Our quad line up is Tina and me, and Rachel Gamble-Flint and Sarah Cowburn who raced a double at the U23 World Rowing Championships last year.
Because of how the draw worked out, Tina and I had four races on Sunday! Henley Women's Regatta (HWR) is only a 1500m course, considerably shorter than our usual 2km race length. However, rowing against a very fast stream and strong headwind meant that the times were closer to times we would expect from racing 2k, and on Saturday when the wind was at its strongest, much slower than normal 2k times! Our legs were very tired by the time we got to the last race, the doubles final.
Our semi finals were not too taxing in either boat, although we had poor starts in both of them and had a little ground to make up. Our finals were both harder races although we still won by healthy margins; 1 1/3 lengths in the 4x and 3 2/3 of a length in the 2x. It was great to assert our dominance in this regatta, and racing in the Elite category we met international crews in both events.
The women's four, made up of half Leander, half Imperial also won their event, Elite coxless fours.
Sir Steve Redgrave was there for the prizegiving...
Follow me on twitter at twitter.com/ericabodman to get more up to date, by the minute, snippets!
Some more photos from the regatta:
The team have all been collecting their Olympic kit up in Loughborough over the past couple days. Rumour is they have around 70kgs of kit!
Ex housemate, friend and stroke of the GB women's 8+ Victoria Thornley (above right) has been very organised and despite only collecting it today; already unpacked and named all her kit (above left)!
Henley Women's Regatta 2012
So whilst the big shots were racing the world's best in Munich, back at home the remainder of the Leander girls were racing on home turf at Henley Women's Regatta. Hats off to the regatta organisers for keeping the regatta running so smoothly. Conditions were tricky due to the heavy rain in the run up to the regatta which caused a very fast stream. The race course runs against the stream, and with a very strong headwind to contend with as well there was no chance for record times this year!
Despite this everybody battled through the conditions as best they could and it was a successful weekend, cementing the regatta's 25th anniversary.
I raced the elite quad and elite double. The double was the last chance we had to race another double side by side before the European Championships in September (pending selection) and the quad was the first run out for a combination we will row in for Henley Royal Regatta next week. Our quad line up is Tina and me, and Rachel Gamble-Flint and Sarah Cowburn who raced a double at the U23 World Rowing Championships last year.
 |
| This is a shot early on in the race of our Leander quad, on the right in the white boat, racing Vesper USA |
Our semi finals were not too taxing in either boat, although we had poor starts in both of them and had a little ground to make up. Our finals were both harder races although we still won by healthy margins; 1 1/3 lengths in the 4x and 3 2/3 of a length in the 2x. It was great to assert our dominance in this regatta, and racing in the Elite category we met international crews in both events.
The women's four, made up of half Leander, half Imperial also won their event, Elite coxless fours.
 |
| Leander Ladies having fun with the silverware. Leander's Henley Women's Regatta winners in the Elite categories From L-R: Rachel Gamble-Flint (4x), Monica Relph (4-), Tina Stiller (2x,4x) Erica Bodman (2x,4x), Sarah Cowburn (4x), Victoria Meyer-Laker (4-) |
Sir Steve Redgrave was there for the prizegiving...
And this is a shot of our double winning the final against Rowing Ireland. We are on the left. Photo taken from the umpires launch...
Now we will be concentrating on the quad for the next 10 days to get us up to speed for the big event: Henley Royal Regatta! This is a massive event in the social and rowing calendar, and a great opportunity for us in Olympic year to have a shot at winning whilst the Olympic crews are away preparing for the 2012 Games.
Follow me on twitter at twitter.com/ericabodman to get more up to date, by the minute, snippets!
Some more photos from the regatta:
 |
| Waiting to be checked by a marshall before the semi final of 4x |
 |
| Racing the final of the 4x |
 |
| Paddling to the start of the semi final, thank you to Buff and Headsweats! |
 |
| Off the start of the 2x Final |
 |
| Happy winners of Elite quad. L-R Tina Stiller, Erica Bodman, Rachel Gamble-Flint, Sarah Cowburn |
Tuesday 12 June 2012
Holland Beker 2012
Tina and I started off our racing season this weekend on the Bosbaan in Amsterdam, at the Holland Beker regatta. We had a day and a half of training on the lake before racing began, navigating the sea-like conditions; strong winds and rain. I began to wonder if we had signed up for coastal rowing by mistake! By the time racing began the wind had calmed a little, and although still strong it was a tail wind which I certainly feel is preferable. Faster time = less pain!
On the first day we hired yellow tourist bikes to get down to the lake for training. We struggled to get to grips with riding on the right hand side, back pedalling to brake and simultaneously read the map the right way up but despite a few hairy moments, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The Dutch were very considerate of us on the whole, I think the tourist bikes are painted yellow as a warning!
+web.jpg)
On Friday we went for two paddles in the morning and then had the afternoon off to relax. I found a lovely park near our hotel which I went for a walk through, giving me a chance to clear my head and go through the race calls. We had predominantly spent the season up till now with the order of the boat being me at stroke and Tina at bow. This meant that Tina was making the race calls, but to check that this was the correct order for us, long term, we decided to race the Holland Beker in one order Saturday, and reversed on Sunday. I was put at bow for the Saturday race, and being unused to making the calls I was a little worried about my ability to remember them in the heat of the race! The peace in the park provided the perfect opportunity to visualise the race in my head.
We had a straight final both days, Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday we had a five boat final, with The Czech Olympic double, the Antosova sisters (they are a long established boat who got bronze at the first world cup this year), a Swedish club double, a Swiss club double, and a Japanese club double. We found ourselves in a bit of a void during the race, way behind the Antosova sisters but a way ahead of the club boats too. We finished 16 secs behind the Czech and almost 10 seconds ahead of the Swiss. Results can be seen here.
On the Sunday we had mostly the same line up, but with the Dutch national double and instead of the Japanese club double we had an Indonesian club double. The Dutch double was newly qualified for the London 2012 Olympics only two and a half weeks earlier at the Olympic Qualifiying Regatta in Lucerne. We were hoping to provide the Dutch with some competition, as they are not as fast as the Czech girls. We had switched back to our preferred order in the boat for the Sunday race and were feeling confident.
The first couple strokes got us away nicely, and then out of the blue my right blade flew out of my hand! It must have clipped some water, and in my attempt to be loose on the handles I lost my grip on it. I kept moving, all the while fumbling for my right blade and hoping it wouldn't catch the water again and cause a boat stopping crab! Luckily I managed to get a hold of it again, I had missed two strokes but by keeping moving I was able to slot straight back into our rhythm. Tina was fantastic, kept completely silent and stress free, and let me gather myself again before slipping seamlessly back into our race plan. We lost half a length for this error but still made it to the 500m only 0.7seconds behind the Dutch.
We were four lanes away from the Dutch which made the battle a little more diluted than had we been in neighbouring lanes, but Tina kept an eye on their boat and we fought our way down the course, settling onto a good rhythm. At the 1km, half way mark, we were 0.9 seconds behind the Dutch and by 1500m (500m to go) we had reduced the gap to 0.65seconds. In our push for the line we drew them in to within half a length of us, but their sprint finish was much more impressive than ours, putting them 3.4 seconds ahead of us overall. We were thrilled with our performance, it was a personal best time for us in the double and the first bit of side by side racing we have done with a women's double! Our finish is one area which we have not really worked on yet and feel that a lot more speed can come from here. Results here
It was really exciting to be pushing a double who have just qualified for the Olympics so close to the line, and we did not even have our perfect race! We were also 4 seconds closer to the Czech on Sunday.
Here is a video of our race, courtesy of Tina's parents. Great footage from the moving grandstand. We are the yellow boat closest to the camera. If you can't see it here, follow the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2i0My6u4i0
We are now concentrating on a quad for the next three weeks, as we race the double and quad at Women's Henley this weekend, and the quad at Henley Royal Regatta two weeks later.
Support:
Finally the sun came out in Amsterdam, giving us a chance to use our Sun Sense products. Leander Club helped us towards the cost of the weekend and we both wore our 110% play harder compression leggings to help us recover better from the Saturday race, for Sunday. We raced in our Headsweats caps and warmed up in our Buff kit. Our Hunter wellies were not taken for fear they might walk off the landing stage of their own accord! However we used our Faith in Nature products all weekend.
On the first day we hired yellow tourist bikes to get down to the lake for training. We struggled to get to grips with riding on the right hand side, back pedalling to brake and simultaneously read the map the right way up but despite a few hairy moments, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The Dutch were very considerate of us on the whole, I think the tourist bikes are painted yellow as a warning!
+web.jpg)
We had a straight final both days, Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday we had a five boat final, with The Czech Olympic double, the Antosova sisters (they are a long established boat who got bronze at the first world cup this year), a Swedish club double, a Swiss club double, and a Japanese club double. We found ourselves in a bit of a void during the race, way behind the Antosova sisters but a way ahead of the club boats too. We finished 16 secs behind the Czech and almost 10 seconds ahead of the Swiss. Results can be seen here.
.jpg) |
| Bridge at 500m |
On the Sunday we had mostly the same line up, but with the Dutch national double and instead of the Japanese club double we had an Indonesian club double. The Dutch double was newly qualified for the London 2012 Olympics only two and a half weeks earlier at the Olympic Qualifiying Regatta in Lucerne. We were hoping to provide the Dutch with some competition, as they are not as fast as the Czech girls. We had switched back to our preferred order in the boat for the Sunday race and were feeling confident.
The first couple strokes got us away nicely, and then out of the blue my right blade flew out of my hand! It must have clipped some water, and in my attempt to be loose on the handles I lost my grip on it. I kept moving, all the while fumbling for my right blade and hoping it wouldn't catch the water again and cause a boat stopping crab! Luckily I managed to get a hold of it again, I had missed two strokes but by keeping moving I was able to slot straight back into our rhythm. Tina was fantastic, kept completely silent and stress free, and let me gather myself again before slipping seamlessly back into our race plan. We lost half a length for this error but still made it to the 500m only 0.7seconds behind the Dutch.
We were four lanes away from the Dutch which made the battle a little more diluted than had we been in neighbouring lanes, but Tina kept an eye on their boat and we fought our way down the course, settling onto a good rhythm. At the 1km, half way mark, we were 0.9 seconds behind the Dutch and by 1500m (500m to go) we had reduced the gap to 0.65seconds. In our push for the line we drew them in to within half a length of us, but their sprint finish was much more impressive than ours, putting them 3.4 seconds ahead of us overall. We were thrilled with our performance, it was a personal best time for us in the double and the first bit of side by side racing we have done with a women's double! Our finish is one area which we have not really worked on yet and feel that a lot more speed can come from here. Results here
+web.jpg) |
| Happy double post racing! |
It was really exciting to be pushing a double who have just qualified for the Olympics so close to the line, and we did not even have our perfect race! We were also 4 seconds closer to the Czech on Sunday.
Here is a video of our race, courtesy of Tina's parents. Great footage from the moving grandstand. We are the yellow boat closest to the camera. If you can't see it here, follow the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2i0My6u4i0
We are now concentrating on a quad for the next three weeks, as we race the double and quad at Women's Henley this weekend, and the quad at Henley Royal Regatta two weeks later.
Support:
Finally the sun came out in Amsterdam, giving us a chance to use our Sun Sense products. Leander Club helped us towards the cost of the weekend and we both wore our 110% play harder compression leggings to help us recover better from the Saturday race, for Sunday. We raced in our Headsweats caps and warmed up in our Buff kit. Our Hunter wellies were not taken for fear they might walk off the landing stage of their own accord! However we used our Faith in Nature products all weekend.
Wednesday 6 June 2012
Upcoming Racing
Tomorrow I fly to Amsterdam! I kick off the summer racing season with the Holland Beker regatta in Amsterdam racing the double with Tina Stiller.
We are racing both Saturday and Sunday, currently set to be straight finals both days with three entries on Saturday and six on Sunday. This is our first multi lane racing of the season, something which will only be repeated if we get selected for the European Championships in September.
Next week Tina and I will be joined in a quad by Sarah Cowburn and Rachel Gamble-Flint (the GB U23 double from 2011) and we will be racing at Henley Women's Regatta, and then two weeks later Henley Royal regatta. Tina and I will be doubling up with the quad and the double at Henley Women's, but only racing the quad at Henley Royal because there is no women's doubles event at Henley Royal.
This weekend in Amsterdam we will be facing some stiff international competition, rumoured to be the Czech national heavy and lightweight doubles and potentially a Swedish double. We will be trying out the two different combinations of racing, on Saturday I will be at bow in the boat and on Sunday I will be at stroke in the boat. I am really excited for the weekend, looking forward to getting side by side with some fast crews and testing ourselves against them.
I will let you know how it goes!
 |
| The Bosbaan in Amsterdam |
We are racing both Saturday and Sunday, currently set to be straight finals both days with three entries on Saturday and six on Sunday. This is our first multi lane racing of the season, something which will only be repeated if we get selected for the European Championships in September.
Next week Tina and I will be joined in a quad by Sarah Cowburn and Rachel Gamble-Flint (the GB U23 double from 2011) and we will be racing at Henley Women's Regatta, and then two weeks later Henley Royal regatta. Tina and I will be doubling up with the quad and the double at Henley Women's, but only racing the quad at Henley Royal because there is no women's doubles event at Henley Royal.
This weekend in Amsterdam we will be facing some stiff international competition, rumoured to be the Czech national heavy and lightweight doubles and potentially a Swedish double. We will be trying out the two different combinations of racing, on Saturday I will be at bow in the boat and on Sunday I will be at stroke in the boat. I am really excited for the weekend, looking forward to getting side by side with some fast crews and testing ourselves against them.
I will let you know how it goes!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)