RACICE REPORT MARK MEATES- MANAGER OF THE JUNIOR TEAM

Racice – Czech Republic Saturday 24^th July

Well the weather has been wet for the last couple of days, or more like drizzly, so it has been relatively cool. I think this has been a great help to settling in. We arrived on Thursday to 40+ C degrees in the shade, which as you might expect, was very uncomfortable.

The flights went very well without incident and overall everyone managed their sleeping pretty well. The plan was to try to stay awake from Auckland to Singapore. Consequently I think the team has caught up with many of the new movies going around, of which there was a good selection on the plane. There was a lot of window shopping at Singapore Airport during our stopover, not a lot was bought as the prices weren’t very attractive. Everyone had a good sleep on the leg from Singapore to Frankfurt. We had to unload the oars in Frankfurt as the Lufthansa plane we were taking could not fit them on board. We were very lucky and appreciative for the help of Shane Bowers, an ex-waikato rower now living in Prague. Shane and his friend had driven from Prague to Frankfurt the night before our arrival so they were there first thing to meet us and bring our oars to Racice (pronounced Ra-chi-saa). Gary went with them in their van. We had a small scare as one of the girls left their travel wallet on the plane but fortunately it was recovered without any trouble.The flight from Frankfurt to Prague was just under an hour. Upon our arrival in Prague we got a taste of how hot it could get. It was only 9:30 in the morning, but dressed as we were in our No. 1’s, it was already uncomfortably hot. One of the boys, not to be outdone by the girls, left his passport on the plane, again it was quickly recovered by the airline staff.

There was a bus on hand to take us to Racice and once aboard it did not take long for everyone to get their shorts on. It was about an hour’s drive to the course here at Racice.It would be fair to describe the landscape as drab. We pulled into the course at Racice and our Hotel, Hotel Skif is at about the 250 m mark from the finish. It is a comfortable hotel with 24 two bedroom units, each with their own bathroom and fridge. Two floors of 12 rooms, 6 down each side. We take up 20 of the 24 rooms. When I lay down on my bed I was reminded of living in Japan and sleeping on the floor on futons. The beds are hard but at least they’ll straighten out any kinks in the back.One side of the Hotel faces to course and gets all the afternoon sun and so is very hot, we had 8 rooms on that side so the manager, coaches, coxswains and the men’s double drew the short straws. Another reason we are grateful for the cooler weather in the last two days. The other rooms were dished out in a very scientific manner, a quick game of “paper, scissors, rock” with winners getting first choice.We pretty much arrived at lunch time and went straight to the kitchen where we had a good meal. It is not flashy food but quite edible and just what we want nutrition wise. We have our own area in the dining room which also includes our own salad bar.

The rowing course is actually a sports centre, when we arrived the Czech national kayaking and canoe team were having trials here, and as such has a full time staff. They are very helpful and accommodating. Everything has gone very smoothly so far.

Once lunch was out of the way we set about identifying our boats and riggers on the Fillipi trailer, getting them off and putting them together. There was a spare shed that was handy and were able to escape from the sun, using it to put the boats together. It actually went pretty smoothly given room was limited and there was a lot of packaging to deal with. I would describe it as a good team effort. As we could not row till late in the day due to the trials taking place there was no hurry and we spent it making sure the boats were well set up for the first row. It is not easy setting up a brand new boat but the coaches were brilliant and very well organised. Gary arrived with the oars about 4:00 pm.All crews but the women’s four and men’s double were able to get a row in before dinner. For a first cut it was not too bad but really it was just a chance to get a look at the boats and iron a few kinks out of the travel weary bodies. The women’s 4- and men’s 2x had their row after dinner but which time we knew all the boats were going to need a few adjustments but at least the coaches knew were they were going.

Our rental car turned up just after 8:00 pm and I took a three of the boys for a drive to find a supermarket. I wanted to buy soap and shampoo for the rooms and some fruit for everyone to snack on. Upon our return about 9:00 it was very quiet about the place as everyone was basically ready for bed. We went to bed surrounded by some very spectacular lightning flashes.

The next morning saw everyone up bright and early about 6:15. It had rained overnight and the temperature had dropped markedly. A light breakfast was the first stop of the day and then a decent workout was planned. I think that brought everyone back to earth and everyone realised we were back on the job rowing. The course was still set up for kayaking so we were basically using the two outside lanes to get around. The boats underwent a bit more adjustment as the coaches fine tuned things.The course here at Racice is just 2000m long but is more than suitable for the training sessions the crews are now doing.  It is very sheltered and the water has always been good so far. The basic mode of transport around the lake is bicycle and we planned to hire one each for all  the management team. These duly arrived half way through the morning row. Now we are all covering lots of Kms racing up and down the side of the lake. James and Janey have quite complicated communications set up as well, the others use megaphones.

After lunch I took the car and went in search of a supermarket with a better fruit selection. I was directed to a town called Litomerice (Li-toe-mare-ri-saa) which was about 30 kms away.

Quite a nice town with a very quaint town square and I suspect not bad shopping. I purchased a fan for the men’s double and the coxswains to compensate them for being on the “hot” side of the Hotel.

I did eventually find a relatively new and quite large Interspar Supermarket, unfortunately the fruit selection was not that flash. I got slightly lost on the return journey but realised quickly enough to recover without incident.Saturday was still cool and the light drizzle continued. Most of the boats had been finely adjusted and were starting to sit in the water nicely. It was pleasing to see the coaches working together to discuss and make the changes. Saturday was also the second day of biking and it was noticeable by the coaches complaining of sore bottoms. Not surprising they needed a refreshment with the coaches meeting in the evening at a local Pub nearby.

The athletes were still showing signs of the travel in the morning row. The days start with a small brekkie at 6:30 followed by a row at 7:00, usually 16 or 20 kms. A well deserved full breakfast follows at 9:00. Lunch is at 12:00 and is followed by a light snack at 2:30. The afternoon rows take place from 3:00 with each crew choosing their own time, however everyone is usually off the water by 5:15. Dinner follows from 6:00 pm. Not surprisingly everyone is pretty much ready for bed by 9:00 pm. With the weather remaining cool sleeping has been much easier last night and Saturday night was no different. Consequently with two good sleeps under their belts the athletes all had good rows this, Sunday, morning, and for the first time looked like they were over the travel. All crews were happy with the way they went when they completed the morning row. One down side of the good rest everyone is getting is that the energy levels are up and consequently the noise level is significantly up as well. This is even more pronounced because the only significant area to sit and relax in is the hallway between rooms, which is now full of noisy rowers and there is nowhere for the older members of the Team, me, to escape to.We have just spent a couple of hours sitting around our computers watching the U23 World Champs on the internet. Two silver medals probably not as good as expectations going in but I think it brought home to everyone here just how tough these rowing world championships are.Well it’s about time to go for another row.

We have finished our Sunday rows, nearly time for dinner. All crews had a slightly shorter row this afternoon as they have got a 2000m piece tomorrow morning. They all enjoyed an opportunity to practice some starts and really give the boats a push over some shorter pieces.They don’t seem quite as tired as normal as we head for tea. Hopefully they can put some good rows together in the morning.

Getting to the Course

You can take the train from Prague to the rowing course. The closest train station is Hněvice which is a regional railway station 2 km from Račice and on the Prague-Děčín main line. It is about a 20-30 minute walk from the station to the course. There is a fast train, takes 45 min and a slow train takes 85 minutes. To get here at a reasonable hour to watch racing there are really only 2 options. The first and best leaves Prague at 6:50, arrives at Hněvice at 7:35 and a 25 mnute walk will get you here at about 8:00. A little early but will let you get good seats. The next fast train is 2 hours later.