The build up to Henley Royal Regatta.

The Henley Royal Regatta is run over 5 days and depending on your event you may have 5 races. Five tough races over five days over the longer distance of the Henley Royal Regatta course (2,112m) is a shock to most crews.

To gain the necessary experience for Henley, I will have my crews race at 4 to 5 selected regattas. The regattas will have been 2-3 weeks apart to allow mileage to be maintained. It is important to maintain mileage through the training phase leading to Henley, including strength conditioning done in the gym, aerobic work and anaerobic threshold work. Without maintaining this type of work, your crew will not have sufficient base fitness to properly utilise the speed work they will do in the final weeks preparing for Henley. In the training program it is necessary to include ‘over distance’ work on the program like 10 minute pieces to train the crew to cope with the slightly longer distance at Henley.

I like to monitor performance over set distances - 500m, 1,000m & 2,000m - both in training and competition throughout the build up. This helps me work out race profiles for each of my crews ie, fast starting or finishing, good middle 1,000, slow second 500m etc., and use this information that to fine tune the final preparation for Henley. It also helps me to make race plans for each individual crew rather than giving something generic out. I feel that individual tailoring is very important and I would like to stress that when making race plans it is important to set realistic goals to get the most out of your crew. Finally on this point, monitoring allows you to work out what gearing works well for your crew. In my opinion, the correct gearing is when your crew can maintain rate consistently through a race. Too hard and the rate will drop, too light and they will rate too high.

For the final two weeks leading into Henley mileage is reduced and work in the gym is stopped. The emphasis is on speed work. The majority of the program consists of anaerobic work over short distances. This brings on the quick movements needed and prepares athletes for Henley and I think two weeks is enough time to develop lactic acid tolerance bring on the final peak speeds that must be developed.

Having done all the training through winter, spring and into summer, raced at a number of regattas and completed the final preparations for Henley, I see crews making a lot of mistakes and as a coach, this is the final and equally important part of the training that you can give to your crews.

On the training side, I see a lot of crews moving down to Henley three weeks before the regatta and trying to cram in a lot of the work that should have been done through the season by doing three sessions a day is quite common. If your crew hasn’t been training this much now is not the time to start and you will get a better result from working with the base you have, keeping the crew relatively fresh than by overtraining them at this point.

The best time for each crew move down to Henley for the regatta is 3 days before their first race. Training down at Henley is not ideal because of the heavy boat traffic and bad water this creates. Plus there are uncountable distractions which is the other point I would like to make regarding simple mistakes.
To achieve the best performance possible it is critical to employ and high degree of professionalism. This factor alone can stop crews getting the best result that they can. As a coach I try and manage my athletes and encourage them not to go to enclosures straight after racing and chatting all afternoon with friends and family when they should be racing. Are you serious or not? Worse is going and drinking alcohol after racing. Alcohol dehydrates and inhibits recovery dramatically. Athletes need to be aware that they are going to be stopped by friends after racing but need to keep their goals in mind and act accordingly. There is a time and a place for everything and I have found that the best way to manage these distractions is to have a schedule that allows my crews to enjoy all aspect of the regatta including some time to socialise.

The priority after racing should be on recovery for the next race. Warm down on the water is the best or on rowing machine as a second choice. I would always suggest the on water because the ergo room at Henley is like a sweat box with poor ventilation. What ever is chosen it is important to re-hydrate while you do this and start getting some food back in the system. Electrolyte drinks are great and I suggest that this be followed by food containing a protein source shortly after. Protein drinks can be useful or drinks that contain a mix of protein and carbohydrates. These are easily digested allowing the body to start the recovery process more quickly and are less energy consuming than trying to digest more complex food sources. At meal time, simple foods are best with carbohydrates and protein. White meat is better here because it is easier to digest.

Making use of a masseuse if you have one available is a great recovery tool and I ensure that my crews have access to one at the Henley Royal Regatta. It is the main event each year and I think that there is no point going away thinking what if. Post race stretching is also vital and this is incorporated into the schedule also.

Finally, on the racing itself, a structured race plan is essential. I use the race profile that I gathered through the season on my crews to help make the race plan, using their strengths and trying to plan for their weaknesses. Ideally, I will have compiled race profiles on competitors that will allow me to do this accurately.

I also stress to my crews to think of trying to conserve energy where possible. A pre-determined margin over another crew will be determined as a comfort point. This is the margin they have over another crew that is perceived as controllable and allows the crew to focus more on rowing well and about trying to conserve energy. Talking to Drew Ginn at the Atlanta Olympics, he told me theirs was ½ second in the final where they won gold. They felt that if they had this margin over the opposition they would be sitting at that distance ahead because they felt that they could respond to any challenge made. This margin is fine for a crew of the calibre of the Oarsome Foursome, but most crews will need much more than this and the margin will include clear water. However, I would like to stress that there is no point taking 5 lengths in the races leading up to the final or semi-final etc (what ever the goal is), when you could conserve energy and produce less lactic acid by just taking 2 lengths.

I would like to wish all crews all the best for the 2005 Henley Royal Regatta. Watch out for the crews with blue, black and silver blades and may the best crew win.

Editorial by Bill Mason