Weekly News and Updates: July 30- August 5, 2007

July 30, 2007

First, great work on the weekend Stormriders. You guys amazed me with your fantastic improvement from last season. You went under 2:20! We knocked almost 10 seconds off from last year's festival! You should all be very proud of yourselves. Making the B-Final was something I didn't expect. Way to go.


Second, I'd like to congratulate our newest team training out of Lachine, the Action Sport Physio group. After just 4 on-water practices, the team made huge improvements in each race. We won, hands down, the H-Final in both the 500m and 250m races. Excellent work and I hope to see you all back at the club sometime soon. You're a team with great potential.

Everyone, please see the "Photos" section for more pictures from this weekend. I will post some tonight and the rest will be up soon. Thanks to those who have e-mailed me pictures. If anyone else has some they'd like me to post, please send them along.

Reminder, the first practice back for the Stormriders and Lifesavers is this Wednesday at 7pm. Action Sport, just let me know and we'll get you on the water soon.

Cheers.

Weekly News and Updates: July 23-29, 2007

Thursday July 26, 2007

Just a few words today: First, Lifesavers, Sham has asked that tonight's practice be canceled and we start up fresh next Wednesday night. I hope you all received the e-mail I sent out yesterday. We are canceling due to attendance. A lot of people are away, racing at the festival this weekend and thus practicing with the Stormriders, or have to work. I was hoping we wouldn't lose any more practices, but it is unfair for those who make the trek into Lachine and then aren't able to practice. I hope everyone understands.

Our schedule for August will have us go out 6 times- plenty of time to get things going well for Vaudreuil and Sherbrooke. I hope everyone is motivated for the next month. Please e-mail me with any questions, concerns or comments.

If anyone would like to still go out tonight, Lachine has a recreation level boat at 7pm and a competitive level boat at 8pm that always have free spots. You're all more than welcome to join up with them for a practice.

Stormriders: Your practice tonight is the following:

- technique 10-15 minutes
- 3 x 300m at 500m race pace
- starts

Monday July 23, 2007

Alright everyone, we're down to the final week before the festival. And what does that mean? We need you ALL to come out to practice!

I would like to get everyone who is racing at the festival (those from Lifesavers and those from Stormriders) to please come out at 7pm both Tuesday and Thursday for practice. For those of you who aren't racing at the festival, please come at 8pm and we'll do a practice.

If you guys have any questions or concerns, please e-mail me.

Also, for those of you who signed up for the extra practices in August, I will have the final information for you regarding the practices by tomorrow night. Please remind me to let you know what we will be doing.

Finally, I have room in a boat on Wednesday night from 7-8pm if anyone would like to do an extra practice. I have 10 people confirmed in the boat and could take as many as 10 more people. The practice is free of charge and the weather looks great this week. Come on out if you feel like it.

See you all tomorrow.

Weekly News and Updates: July 16-22, 2007

July 18, 2007

Lifesavers Practice #16: A Review

Last night was probably the best practice we've had this season in terms of technique. I was really impressed with the way you all paddled.

The workout was tough but we pushed through to the end, finishing with the last piece as the best of the night.

Let's go for a big turnout on Thursday night. We will be down a few people because they are coming out early with the boat that is competing at the festival next weekend.

Reminder: If you haven't already e-mailed me to let me know that you are continuing on into August, please do as soon as possible.

Stormriders Practice #11: A Review

Excellent work last night. I must say I was impressed with how motivated everyone was to go hard (I'm referring to all the grunting and screaming!) I look forward to seeing the same thing tomorrow night!

If you are not participating in the festival you are still welcome to practice on Thursday but it would be ideal if you went out in my 8pm boat instead of 7pm. I hope that works for the few people who aren't racing. We will be doing the same practice at 8pm as we would at 7pm.

Reminder: If you haven't already e-mailed me to let me know that you are continuing on into August, please do as soon as possible.

Sorry for the delayed post today folks. I finally got a chance to watch the Tour de France on TV!

Please check the "On-Water" section for tonight's practices.

Weekly News and Updates: July 9-15, 2007

Lifesavers Practice #14: A Review

Excellent work last night everyone. I'm pleased we were able to do some quality technical work and then put in a hard practice to finish things off.

Last night's turnout was good, but we still need to get more people out to practice. I hope to get our guest strokes out to practice soon.

Please look for information in the coming days about the August training and racing schedule.

Stormriders Practice #10: A Review

Are you guys sore today? I sure hope so. I'm glad we were able to take advantage of the guest strokes during such a hard practice.

All in all, the effort was there last night and I was pleased to see that. Technically, we have some improvements to make at that high of an intensity. When the fatigue hits, technique is what counts the most.

Good work and see you all Tuesday. Please remember the practices will now be Tuesday AND Thursday up until the festival. Please look for information in the coming days about the August training and racing schedule.

Lifesavers and Stormriders: Please find your practice in the "On-Water" section.

See you all tonight. Let's go for a big turnout, the festival is in just a few weeks!

Weekly News and Updates: July 2-8, 2007

Lifesavers Practice #12: A Review

Excellent work last night everyone. I was happy to see that the technique hasn't been lost over the weeks. After a quick refresh, everyone was back into it as I had hoped.

The turnout was a significant improvement over last week (12 last night; 3 the week before) but we still need to get more people out to practice. Remember, consistency is the key.

Some people have expressed interest in racing both Sherbrooke and Vaudreuil or one of the two. Last night we had 9 people sign up. If you are interested in either of these races or continuing to train throughout most of August, please let me know as soon as possible.

See you all tomorrow.

Stormriders Practice #9: A Review

Practice #9? That's all we've done?! You guys are paddling very well for a group that has been out so few times!

I was very impressed with the work ethic last night. Everyone pushed hard to the end. That wasn't an easy practice. I am confident that with a full boat we will be faster than last year despite having fewer practices.

Keep up the good work. See you all next week.

Please consult the "On-Water Training" section for tonight's practices.

Lifesavers: Let's go for a big turnout tonight. We've got to get things moving!

Stormriders: Time to get down to business. The festival is in just three and a half weeks!