EMERGENSEA DUO How will this physiological and psychological data be used after the row to benefit future ultraendurance rowers? Females are not just small males and therefore should not necessarily be trained as such. We hope not only to promote equal participation amongst males and females but to also alter the way they are trained both physically and mentally for these ultra-events. Furthermore this event can draw parallels to being in space; the isolation, the calf muscle wastage, the communication with friends and families. Could females be better suited to being astronauts too?! What training will you be undertaking and will you be performing the same exercises as part of your research/experiment and data?
ISSUE #6 | TWAC 2021 Where will your on the water and on land training base based? We are delighted that our boat Persistence, or Percy as we are calling her, is now in Exeter and she will be stored at Exmouth Marina who are supporting us for our on water training. We are hoping to launch her at the beginning of March and commence training with our ocean rowing coach, Duncan Roy. We plan on rowing round the coast to Plymouth boatyard and marina who are also supporting us. Our land based training has been challenging to fit in between our shifts. Due to lockdown, training is having to take place at home on a rather retro indoor rower donated by Charlie’s parents. What training courses have you completed so far?
The training is really quite varied. We are currently doing mobility sessions daily and working with the Exeter Chiefs strength and conditioning coach James Parkes in order to try and prevent injury. Charlie is naturally more flexible and Adam has yet to touch his toes! At this stage we are trying to iron out any imbalances so we have good form for our strength and rowing training. We are fortunate to be supported by Airofit who have designed a bespoke respiratory muscle endurance training programme for us both too. We are also about to start an ocean rowing training program with Gus Barton who has rowed across the Atlantic and round Great Britain. This will give us an individualised approach to our training as we head towards the December start date. We will both have different nutritional requirements so appropriate nutrition is essential to our training and race. We are working with two nutritional partners: Torq Fitness is providing a personalised performance nutrition fuelling system based on the current evidence base and FoodFit are providing us with nutritionally balanced meals with personalised macros to help us reach our fitness goals and fuel us day to day.
Charlie has completed a number of RYA courses such as Sea Survival, Navigation and VHS Radio sponsored by the amazing team at SeaSports Southwest. Adam will be undertaking them as soon as we are out of lockdown. Adam also undertook an Ocean Medicine course with World Extreme Medicine as part of his MSc so is prepared for any unwanted shark or marlin attacks! What boat will you be using for this row? We will be rowing in a Rannoch 25, they have an excellent history in providing boats for this challenge and many other ocean crossings and are extremely reliable. Percy is 24 foot in length and has a cabin at the bow and stern. There are two open air rowing positions in the middle of the boat. Once we set off there is no escape, we eat, sleep and row on Percy. The only time we won’t be on the boat is when we are in the water under her - cleaning the hull of any sea life to keep our speed up or we may have capsized in bad weather!
© Emergensea Duo
© Emergensea Duo
© Emergensea Duo
Recovery is also really important and we are supported by Nurokor who have provided us with personalised bioelectrical devices which aid in rehabilitation and increasing muscle strength. It feels like a little massage after a training session and helps us get back to training the next day without aching!
48 | The Wave Rowing
@TheWaveRowing
