Health and Safety
Person in charge
The nominated responsible person for training and events. Their responsibilities are:
- To assess the state of the River/Sea and Weather prior to launching and satisfy themselves that the Cox and the Crew are capable of rowing in the prevailing or expected conditions.
- To ensure that suitable safety and first aid equipment is carried at all times.
- To check the state of the safety equipment, first aid kit and Boat and to rectify as necessary.
- To ensure that the Cox wears a life jacket.
- To ensure that movement of rowers from boat to boat or boat to shore is carried out in a safe and efficient manner.
Members of the crew
All crew members are responsible for their own health and safety, together with that of their colleagues and members of the public and other water users that they may have dealings with.
- If any crew member finds a faulty piece of equipment it should be reported to the person in charge immediately.
- Under no circumstances should faulty equipment be used or equipment provided be wilfully misused.
- All crew members have a duty to report to the person in charge any incident, operational practise or operational environment that they believe constitutes a health and safety risk.
- All crew members have a duty to inform the person in charge about any doubts they have about their fitness or health prior to launching.
- All crew members have a duty to follow the instructions of the person in charge in the event of an incident or accident.
- All crew members have a responsibility to ensure they are appropriately dressed for the conditions.
This challenge is as much about the mental attitude and strength we have as it is about the physical side. We are training hard physically so that our bodies can cope with the demands we are going to put them through.
But, more importantly, we are developing our mental strength. How we are going to get back on those oars, 4 days in, having spent more time on them than off?! How are we going to push ourselves to keep going at the same intensity, when all we want to do is sleep?! Just 2 hours off and 4 hours rowing coming up, it's pretty hardcore but we know what we have to do to prepare.
We have formed a partnership with Worcester University School of Sport and Exercise Psychology Department, and this could prove to be our most important training aid
It's all in the head and we are training it hard!
Nutrition
During the race the team will be using up energy, which will need to be replaced at regular intervals. Ensuring that we have the right mix of food at the right time will be essential. Optimal hydration will also be vitally important as progressive dehydration has been shown to affect all aspects of performance – both physiological, and mental including concentration and skill levels.
The 3 types of food we will need to consume are, in simple terms:
-
Carbohydrate;
-
Protein; and
-
Fat
The amount of food (calorie intake) needed will vary from team member to team member depending upon body weight and may vary from 3500 to 5000 calories a day. The team will consume a lot of the necessary daily intake by snacking rather than main meals; such snacks will include nuts, seeds, raisins and bananas. However we will also require larger meals during rest periods such as pasta and cereals etc.
Hydration
In order to effectively re-hydrate the team will need to replace sweat lost whilst rowing by drinking during the session together with ensuring that at least one and a half times the amount of fluid lost are consumed immediately after each session and prior to the next one.
It will also be necessary to replace the salt lost by sweating. This can be done by consuming sports drinks and, if necessary, adding salt to a meal if sweat losses are very high.