I'd like to start this blog post with this: Camp Bob was AWESOME! It was definitely a new experience, and definitely worth it. The three-a-days got tiring, but all things considering, it was a time I will never forget. 13 girls in one room. 3 practices and 4 meals a day. A countless number of blisters, sunburns and tans. An experience of a lifetime. This is Camp Bob.
It all started with a 5:00pm arrival to Summerton, South Carolina. We arrived, picked our bed, and unpacked. It was the day that Ohio University made history by making it to the second round of the NCAA basketball tournament, so rigging the boats would have to wait. The team compromised with Coach and watched part of the first race, then rigged. It's amazing how efficiently a team of 25 girls can get things done when they want to be somewhere else.
Practice started the very next morning. Everyone met by the boats at 7:30am. According to Coach, "if you are early you are on time. If you are on time you are late. And if you're late, you're really late." We all met up in a timely fashion for the first practice, water bottle in hand, listening for our line ups. I was in the 4 for my first practice. It was so relieving to be back on the water.
As the days passed, boat lineups continued to change, while Coach was trying to put together the fastest boats possible; for possible spring season boats, but specifically for Thursday practice. Thursday morning the 4s were to race Bowdoin, Northwestern and Lawrence. Both fours did awesome. I'm not 100% about the 1st 4s results, but the 4 that I was in placed 1st out of 3 boats in the second and fourth sprints, and 2nd out of 3 to Northwestern in the first and third races.
Thursday was definitely an eventful day. Most team members raced in either the morning sprints or afternoon sprints, while a handful of members raced in both. To prepare, Sunday and Monday's practices were mainly for technique, Tuesday was technique and power, and Wednesday we were given the day off to visit Charleston, SC- to enjoy the sites, and to take a much needed rest. Friday, the last day of practice was a little different. We were told the night before to expect a very technique based morning practice. However, for the middle practice, we were told to expect the hardest practice yet. It ended up consisting of 1k sprints. It was a hard practice, but personally I think Thursday trumped it. The third practice, we were told was going to be a fun practice. I had in mind leap frog, or some other fun rowing drill. Instead, we were given the practice off, and de-rigged instead! It was the best news after a tiring week of rowing.
All in all, Camp Bob was a fun and eventful week of rowing. In between practices, rowers napped, read books, made bracelets, tanned on the dock, and anything else they could think of to keep them preoccupied for the few hours of break available. We also had a few team bonding events like tye-dying and karaoke night at Tater Creek Bar and Grill. The locals there loved us!
Well, I'd have to say that just about sums up Camp Bob. I know I left out about 10,000 things, but if I mentioned everything that happened, you would be reading for a few hours. After our performance at camp, I feel that this is going to be our season. Wish OUWC luck at their 5 races this season! Today, I leave you with some pictures of Camp Bob! Enjoy!
Camp Bob Pictures on Flickr!
*Click on the above link, which will take you to my Flickr photostream. On the right hand side will be an album entitled "Camp Bob 2010." Click on that. You can either browse through the photos there, or click the link "slideshow" which you can find in the top right corner of the page.
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