Bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, or some other such variant, the squad reassembled in Gatwick Airport on 2nd January, ready to jet off to more exotic climes. The destination was Banyoles, Spain, home to the 1992 Olympic Regatta. Eager to get down to training as soon as possible, the squad went on a run round the lake to stretch out their aeroplane-cramped muscles. After that, it was down to business.
The next few days were made up of intense training and seat-racing, finding the all-important combinations and rankings that would aid the coaches in their selection decisions. On Tuesday afternoon, after the culmination of the races, the squad enjoyed some welcome time-off, visiting the beautiful city of Girona, and making good use of the opportunity to sample the local churros and hot chocolate.
In the days after, crews started to take shape, with some excellent technical progress made in the eights. The climax of this was an exciting 2km race between three eights on the last day, putting newfound technique and race strategies to the test.
The whole squad thoroughly enjoyed their time in Spain, taking back the makings of some strong crews across the board and a real sense of excitement about the coming term. The only downside was having to leave such beautiful weather behind, and re-embrace the slightly more inclement January Ely conditions!