PNBHS NEWS

Water Polo

 
Picture of Ella Mitchell
Water Polo
by Ella Mitchell - Tuesday, 29 August 2017, 4:19 PM
 

Recently Year 12 student Hamish eagle had the opportunity to join the Auckland based Sea Wolf Water Polo Club for a trip to Serbia and Montenegro. Below is a report from Hamish: 

The main purpose of this trip was to attend the Number One Training Kamp held by ex-Olympic players and top coaches from around the world.

The sightseeing was amazing - we went and saw some historical buildings and were immersed in the Serbian culture.  It really makes you realise how young New Zealand is.   Water Polo in Europe is like Rugby in New Zealand, taken up from a very young age and developed into a major sport.

The moment we stepped off the plane into Belgrade, we were smashed by a dry heat of 35 degrees - a massive change from the weather of New Zealand.  During our time in Belgrade, our highest in temperature was a whopping 39 degrees.  We spent 10 days in Belgrade sight-seeing and training with various Serbian water polo clubs.  This was all leading up to the Number One Training Kamp.  The training camp was held in Vrnjacka Banja, a small town with a population of around 11,000.  During the camp, we had three 2-hour trainings a day, two of which were in the pool.  Our training day started with a 7:30 wake-up and breakfast at 8:00 am.  Then we would walk to the pool for our first training of the day at 8:30 am.  After walking back to the hotel, we entered into a psychology session where we would do breathing exercises and go over techniques to stay calm in situations where we might feel disheartened.   We would have lunch consisting of cabbage followed by french fries and different types of meat.   Afterwards, we would have a mandatory nap for a couple of hours, relaxing and letting our bodies recover.  At 4:00 pm, we would have a 2-hour gym session, which consisted of fitness and strength training.  After the gym session, we would walk to the pool for another 2-hour training session.  Dinner quickly followed, offering the same type of food as lunch.  With lights out by 11:00 pm, we spent the last of the evening chilling out and recuperating.  We repeated the set schedule every day for eight days.

After the training camp in Serbia, we went to Montenegro for a week.  While there, we did a day-trip to Dubrovnik, Croatia, where parts of ‘The Game of Thrones’ are filmed.  After this,  we had time to relax and enjoy the weather for the week.

We were only doing one training a day and we had the privilege of sharing the pool with the U17 New Zealand team in which Cam Pomana was in Montenegro with.  It was really good to catch up and see a familiar face while overseas.

On our way back home to New Zealand, we stopped off in China and went to see The Great Wall during our 14-hour stopover.

The trip has given me a strong base which will help the PNBHS Premier A team next year so that we can exceed past expectations. #PNBHSpeople