The following report was provided by CANI Sprint Squad member Zoe Thompson on her experiences during a training camp at Castle Island earlier this month
We went for a two day training camp to Enniskillen on the 26th & 27th October. We all met at Shaw’s bridge and loaded all our boats onto the trailer before setting off with Adam, Chloe, Georgia & I (Zoe). Two mum’s also came Kirsty (Chloe’s mum) & Heidi (my mum).
We headed to Castle Island & met Trevor from Erne Paddlers who put a bridge across to help us carry our gear onto the island. We all choose our own dorms with the girls’ dorm quickly turning into a beauty parlour! We headed off to get food supplies before beginning our afternoon training session.
We all hopped into our boats with Matt joining us on the water & had a distance session for an hour. Following this session & after warming up with hot chocolate we headed into the meeting room to work on our core, balance & co-ordination using exercise balls & footballs. We then headed out in the dark to the polo pitches to practice our balancing drills. This was great fun & we learnt a lot about our technique but it resulted in us all having a few swims. The polo pitch was totally enclosed so it was a great safe environment to learn in. We all headed to the showers to warm up whilst the mum’s prepared dinner!
We spent the night on the island which was great fun. We played cards, ate popcorn & sweets before heading into our dorms to sit on the beds chatting.
Tuesday was a horrible wet day but this did not get us out of training. The first session was with Matt on the water & we looked at our paddling technique whist covering some distance. After lunch we practiced our sprint sessions doing 50m, 100m & 150m time trials.
We packed up & headed home & Matt treated us all to a McDonalds for tea. On behalf of all the squad I would like to thank Matt & Trevor for making this trip happen. We learnt so much & had great fun together. I would also like to thank my mum & Kirsty for all the cooking & having hot chocolate ready for us coming off the water.
