We have
swapped one exotic European training location for another. And with that we
swapped 40 degree heat for 30 degrees, pebble stone, umbrella covered beaches
with lakes and cycling tracks, potato and spinach staples with PIZZA…(only
occasionally). Our last few days in Budva, Montenegro included training games
against a Montenegrin junior men’s team. These were some very intense games and
very different to playing women…let’s just say we made no friends J
We are now
based in the lakes region of northern Italy, just outside the beautiful town of
Varese. It is very popular with
cyclists as there are many mountain climbs - we can see the snow capped Alps of
Switzerland in the distance. This area also appealed to the Australian
Institute of Sport, as they have recently completed their European base, the
AIS European Training Centre (ETC).
It is currently at full capacity housing the Australian rowing team, so
the water polo team is sharing a nearby hotel with the Australian Canoe/Kayak
team. We all use the gym
facilities at the AIS ETC, as well as the recovery centre (we’re we do spa and
plunge pool), the dining hall and meeting rooms.
We have just
commenced our third week of very hard training, and I have been copping some
flack that a lot of the photos I am posting are more conducive to holidaymakers
than Olympic preparations. Well
our physiologist has been travelling with us, and hence we have to wear heart
rate monitors to each session. We hook these into special crop-tops where a
battery is secured to our backs so the coaches have a live feed of this
information. Last session I
recorded 12 minutes at above 95% of my max heart rate…you’ll have to take my
word for it, but at least above is a “training” photo.
My team
mates Sophie Smith, Bronwen Knox and I featured in the Westside News recently
(I’m the shorty in the centre) -
Another
feature in the press, in Wednesday’s The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) was our
captain, Kate Gynther in the “Road to London” series. I’m not sure if the newspaper knows, but they didn’t capture
Kate in the photo, but those are my mean eyes!!
At training
last week we were welcomed by quite a few Australian television news
crews. Some of the girls were
thrilled to be interviewed by Peter Stefanovic…mainly to have a connection to
Carl, but Peter was great. Below
is a link to the ABC feature on the Stingers…and some footage of hard training
for those sceptics out there J ABC News footage here
Until next
time
Arrivederci
Jane
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