A short course with Leonard de Mol van Otterloo Leonard de Mol van Otterloo is a leading Amsterdam-based Mind-training coach who has been bringing his own concept of Mindfulness to bear on sports training, particularly for rowers. During the summer, Leonard visited Bergerac twice, and we had some interesting discussions about how his particular approach to…
Charlotte Taylor Booth’s input has clearly been making an impact at Reading University Boat Club, where she has been assistant to head coach Chris Bartley since September 2017. The task they had set her was to develop the hitherto dormant sculling side of the club’s racing programme. Following good results on home waters at the…
The latter part of 2017 certainly had its ups and downs in my own rowing calendar. An unnecessary and highly frustrating organisational mishap was followed by a narrow and highly satisfying win; and then, to wrap up the year, a result which was just about OK but should have been better. There were lessons…
Exciting news: Charlotte Taylor Booth is coming to Bergerac for six weeks from 22nd July to be lead coach for the ChezB training programme. Charlotte is a rowing phenomenon. Now one of the fastest lightweight scullers in the world, she rose through the ranks in a remarkably short time…
Henley Regatta has only just started, but already the dramas are unfolding. One is the debut appearance of Montclair, a state school from New Jersey which has been making waves in the US rowing world by beating the daylights out of a succession of privileged (and quite possibly smug) private-school crews in super-expensive boats. Nothing…
For 10 hectic days last month I was down on the River Lot, 50 km south of Bergerac. This is the famously smooth, slow-flowing water on which so many of the world’s top rowers have honed their skills. First stop was the La Base camp at Temple-sur-Lot, where crews from the French national squads and…
Bad news, to put it mildly, reached me yesterday from London. It seems that the London Oratory School has announced that it is shutting down its rowing programme. This will apparently involve winding up the LOSBC, laying off its staff, selling its assets, and using the proceeds to offset the school’s budget deficit. The school…
