Man Camp

As opposed to 'camp men'.

Which is a different, and infinitely more unpredictable, kettle of fish.

Sam Simpson reported for the PacRim Facebook page on the recent MAG training camp at the AIS. All signs point to good, except for Mitchell Morgans' untimely injury, and a slight struggle for Tyson Bull. Mind you, it ventures into TMI territory when he mentions Jack Rickards!

Hey everyone just thought I’d write a quick little blog on what happened at our training camp in Canberra.

Everyone got down there on the Sunday about midday with the exception of Declan who was running a little bit late for his flight but that happens to everyone at some stage. I know I’ve missed a flight before because of traffic!

Early in the afternoon the "rookies” (which is what us senior guys call the juniors who were there for the camp) were all playing table tennis in the rec room and some of us were there watching.

I looked up and who did I see walking down the residence but the dreaded ASADA people - I knew straight away they were there for us!

So after the rigmarole of sorting out who was getting tested and getting guardians for the juniors, most of us went off to the room for testing. All went smoothly for testing except for Jack, who it seemed no matter how much water he drank just wasn’t ready!

After all of that was done, we went to the camp meeting where we got the plan for the week and also made sure everyone was there and knew what we had on during the week. A quick dinner and some time spent in front of the TV watching the Winter Olympics, we then hit the hay and got ready for the busy week of training which lay ahead.

Monday was the first day of actual camp and the juniors started half an hour before us so that there was a little more space for warm-up.

Unfortunately that morning, Mitchell fell on pommel and injured his hand. Suzanne took him off for X-Rays - it was broken! So that was it for him for the training camp. We all wish Mitchell the best recovery and hope that he’ll be back in the gym in no time.

Afternoon training was pretty straight forward. Everyone got in, tried out all the equipment and got prepared for showing their skills/connections/routine

s for later in the week. Skin folds were also done for the seniors with mixed results - some people were happy and some of us have a little work to do in the coming weeks!

Tuesday was much the same with training. Tyson had to take it easy because of some back issues but seemed to come back fine by the end of the week. The juniors had their skin folds done on that day with much the same results as us seniors.

Wednesday was our sleep in except for those of us who had our planning meetings first up at 8am (the Queenslanders). A pretty relaxed day in general with everyone having their meeting with Vlad about our strategies for the next 12 months. Afternoon training was much the same as the last couple of days, just everyone showing skills and combo’s.

Thursday and Friday went much the same way as Monday and Tuesday, the same training regime.

On Friday night, the seniors went out for dinner and a bit of a catch up outside of the AIS.

Saturday was the final day of camp and a bit of a shorter training session as everyone had to get everything sorted for checking out and getting back home.

All in all the camp was successful with everyone showing the progress they’ve made and also what progress we are all planning to make in preparation for Pacific Rim, Commonwealths and also World Championships.

I think that if we can make all of the plans we have, then we are in good stead for the upcoming comps this year.

Sam Simpson