After Arthur CAILLOUX-OTT, we present another student passionate about his sport: Eliot SADY LEWDEN. Eliot, a first year student at The Lycée Saint-Paul, practices rowing. The opportunity to discover this sports specialty through his interview.
SP: How long have you been rowing? What is your background?
E. SL: This is my third year. I used to play basketball but I had to stop. So I started rowing with a friend and mom. The first year I was rowing and hand but I had to stop the hand to devote myself entirely to rowing and my studies.
SP: In which club do you practice this sport?
E. SL: I am at the Rowing Club of Angoulême based in L'Houmeau. I like this club where I practice one part for competition, another part for leisure. There are about 200 registered but we are not all together in training.
SP: Can you talk a bit about your sport? How do you practice it?
E. SL: I am classified in the category "Juniors" 1 boys", mixed with the "Juniors 2". There are several types of boats: "couple" boats and "couple" boats point".
I like to practice the "SKIFF": I am alone in the boat (short boat) with two oars. In "state-of-the-art" boats, you can be two, four or eight (with or without a helmsman), each has an oar (or "shovel").
SP: What do you like most about this practice?
E. SL: I really like the "sport" side and team. One must think about oneself (be in one's optimal form) to function together. I also appreciate surpassing oneself (a race lasts 20 to 26 minutes) because, even when we have more strength, we continue to fight to go to the end: "we deposit the brain" (Editor's note: for forget the pain) and move forward.
What is also good is that we are a small club. We all know each other very well, so there is an emulation between we who are important to progress.
SP: How many times do you train per week? How many hours?
E. SL: Training depends on Competitions. You can have up to seven outings (with 1 day break), normally there are six. There are two types of training:
– indoor rower (from 40 minutes to an hour)
– training on the water (about 1h30 with pause).
During the lockdowns I did CrossFit and rowing.
SP: How are the competitions organized?
E. SL: There are several types: sprints, basics, river heads. Every year there is a river competition. You can do 15 to 16 kilometers (sometimes more than 20 in the race).
We have area championships for short boats and others for long boats. You must be qualified to access the "France Championship". Similarly, it takes a lot of days of competition to enter the league.
SP: How do you organize yourself when you go to competition in France or abroad?
E. SL: I work as hard as possible on my classes before leaving to focus exclusively on my competitions. Moreover, three hours before I am focused only on my race, I do not eat or drink anything, I am only on my mental and physical preparation.