In the final week of the Easter Holidays, the HMSG rowers packed their bags with enough kit to sink a ship and boarded a plane to Seville for their annual training camp. It was a week designed to push the girls physically and mentally, readying them for the Regatta season ahead. To their credit the girls stepped up to the mark; they worked hard, took on board points they needed to work on and all appreciated just how privileged they were to be training on a World Championship course.

Seville offered us the perfect training conditions, excellent facilities, a 10km stretch of water to train on and warm sunny weather. With the canal running straight through the centre of the city it also gave us the opportunity to take in the sights of a truly beautiful city.

We weren’t alone on the water, being accompanied by Cardiff University’s women’s squad and also the Estonian Paralympic team looking to qualify for this year’s Paralympics in London. Training was tough, with a combination of water work, circuits and core exercises. Over 100km were clocked on the water over the week along with the blisters to prove it. Every day the girls had a set schedule enabling them time to train, complete school work and catch up on sleep.

The whole week was a success both on the water and off. Seville was a definite highlight of the season so far with crews now ready to take on the challenges of the Regattas ahead of us.