Sunburn Camp Wrapup

I spent the past few days coaching at San Diego Canoe/Kayak Team's annual Sunburn Camp.  This

SDCKT clubhouse

was a great chance to spend four days working with some of the best young athletes in the US, and for me to be mentored by a couple of the very best coaches in the world.  Add to that incredible support from the SDCKT parents, pretty decent (60s) for the end of December, and darn cold weather at home - this was a great trip.  With 35 athletes (28 kayak and 7 canoe, I think) and 5-6 coaches, we had a very manageable group.  We had athletes from 7 different areas - Seattle(WA), Gig Harbor(WA), Hawaii, Petaluma(CA), Minnesota, Oklahoma and of course, San Diego.  Athletes ranged in ability from less than a year in boats up to Junior World Team members. It was really good to see the bonding between athletes from different teams, regions, and ages.  New friends made, and friendships renewed.  Unlike sports with numerous athletes in their home region, most of the camp athletes travel nationally to attend regattas, so these friends get together a few times a year at most.
I was part of the staff led by Chris Barlow. Chris ran the show and is the head coach of the SDCKT club.  Heather Fenske and I assisted on the kayak side, with Jon Sousley and Rachel Marcuson coaching canoe.

[sorry about the lack of photos.  Unfortunately, when you coach you tend to be a 'do' rather than 'watch/shoot']

Day one:

Dynamic stretching session

We started off with 38 degree sunshine, a good group meeting, a good dynamic stretching and warmup session, and then into testing. Almost all camps use some variant of 2K paddle with a turn, 1200m run, and max out on pull-ups.  Equipment can vary, water conditions or the distance may not be exactly the same, but the differences are slight.  What you can count on is that athletes who run well, paddle well and pull well will rise to the top every time they do the tests.  The key is to gauge the individual performance relative to those top athletes.  If she did 10 and you did 8 last camp, and she did 14 this time, hopefully you are doing 12 or 13!  That's locking in improvement.
Lunch, More running, lifting and paddleboard, followed by team boats or singles for the afternoon to work on technique.  Parents did a fantastic job on food.  We had homemade tortillas, beans, eggs and salsa at breakfast the first morning, with enough leftovers for lunch and other meals.  Homemade chili for dinner, chicken, salads, fruits, vegetables and all sorts of healthy things that young athletes *will* eat.  It's nice not to have food smothered in cheeze, breaded, fried, or worse yet, rationed so
that the last person to eat is scraping the pan.  We scraped pans, but to get the last bites of goodness!  Coaches set 'lights out' for 10:00pm, but the athletes turned them out at about 8:45.  I'd say they were tired.

Day two:

Pushups just above the surf with Cris Dobro

A little different plan for this morning.  We did another round of team boats and singles - boys in singles, girls in team boats today, and then packed up for a trip to La Jolla Shores for strength training with Cris Dobrosielski.  Cris is the author of "Going the Distance", a very good book on fitness and injury avoidance for serious athletes.  He's also a very positive, engaging coach, and led the athletes through running on beach sand, several dynamic stretch routines, and a couple of great in water (61F)
exercises including some very damp pushups!  Lunch followed at the beach, and then back to camp to load the trailer for a trip to Chula Vista Olympic Training Center on Day three.  More Team boats and singles, dinner, ice cream and bed.  Again, I don't think any of the athletes saw 10:00pm.

Day three:

Jerzy

Breakfast at 7:00, vans loaded and heading to Chula Vista OTC by 8:30, and technique coaching by Jerzy Dziadkowiec, who was the US Team coach for many years, and currently coaches the Czech national team (Olympic Bronze, current World Champions).  Jerzy had positive tips for every single
Lunch was at the OTC cafe.  Excellent food, a very wide menu each day, well prepared and well received.  And if you are in residence, you've got access to dietitians who can help tune your meals to exactly what you need to excel in sport.

On water with Jerzy

kayak paddler.  He was so positive and humble - one of the very best coaches in the world, and he spent his day working with a bunch of young athletes.  I felt very privileged to be on the coach boat with Jerzy and Chris Barlow for the morning.

Charles Luckman talking starts. Jerzy sitting in.

The afternoon session was with Charles Luckman, starter for the London Olympics, and PanAm Chair.  Charles has seen more starts than most, and did a great start clinic from the dock.  Starts are an area that can cost meters, which quickly turns into seconds lost.  One of the points made by Charles was that you can - and there are reasons why you would - start on the 'wrong' (right) side.  Practicing this was absolutely foreign to almost all paddlers, but it's something I'm sure they'll work
on!

Start practice

Exact replica of the London BMX track

After reloading the trailer, we made a visit to the OTC store for shirts and other Olympic memorabilia, and then back to Fiesta Island for a bbq with the SDCKT members.  Several of the coaches took this opportunity to slip out for adult conversation and beverages, but that was a short trip and then back to the venue well before 'lights out'.

Day four:

Spaulding mainsion, Pt Loma University

Olympic Day.  The coaches divided everyone into teams (red, white, blue), and then ran through a series of events for the day with points accumulated by team.  These ranged from a repeat of 2K, 1200m, and pullups (everyone improved), to a blind draw C-4 race, trivia challenge, and SUP relay.
We took an hour over lunchtime and did a tour of Point Loma University, which has to have one of the most scenic campuses in the world. Point Loma offers 4 scholarships to paddlers, so it's definitely a spot to consider!

Athletic complex, Point Loma University

The last event was a team cheer, judged on originality, sportsmanship, and participation.   By luck of the draw, the White Team had a Hawaiian member who led them in a Haka - traditional Maori 'cheer?' that all of the coaches agreed was the winner and moved them well up in the standings.  In the end though, it wasn't enough to overcome a solid win by the Reds.  Points were very close through the entire day - never more than 20 separating first from last, (max of around 500).  And no slackers - everyone laid it out every single event.  Not bad for 35 teenagers!

So what would I change?  Very little, actually.  It's a trivial thing, but the biggest complaint *I* had was that the showers were time valved, set for the Boy Scouts, and good for about 10 seconds of water. That combined with 40 degree temps meant pretty cold showers. Oh yeah, and I'm too friggin' old to sleep on a plywood slab bunk.  I'll have to bring an ThermaRest instead of that foam pad next time.

So Sunburn is a wrap for 2014.  The weather held, Athletes had a great time.  Coaches did too!  A huge thanks to the parents and volunteers who made this work.  My personal thanks to the Chris and Gerry Barlow, and the SDCKT coaches who made me part of the family.  It was a great trip and I look forward to going back.