For this years Easter training I decided to stay in the region instead of heading to some (probably) warmer place. The Easter weekend until Tuesday I trained in Zurich and tried to get in as much water time as possible. The weather was unstable, but at some time the sun came through and I managed to get some good sessions, even without a drysuit.

Then on Wednesday I made my way to Constance to train with Alexander Stertzik and the Schwarz’s at the DKV training camp in Allensbach. It turned out to be the best call possible concerning the perfect weather we had the following days.

For the lunch break we even paddled in shorts to the fish restaurant on the island Reichenau. The air was at 20°C at that time, but we had to be very sure not to fall as the water had only about 10°C.

During another session we paddled around the island in beautiful conditions.

We will be paddling through the exact same channel during our race around the island on may 29th (yes, the day after the LostMills distance race) which will be part of the Sup Tour Schweiz.

We took advantage of the different types of boards and paddles to do some testing and measurements for a better knowledge on how the shape of boards and paddles influences the behavior in different conditions.

We did video analysis of both standard technique and starts and sprints, which was a great way of looking at different techniques and possibilities for personal improvement. All in all we paddled a lot and tried not to get to exhausted for the final day of our little camp.

On Saturday we went to Eglisau for the last training race of the winter season. The 14k up and down the river were intense as usual and young Ole Schwarz managed to open a gap on me 2k before the finish and I had to let him go. He will sure be an athlete to watch this season. Full results:

So now I am looking forward for the first race in Lignano, a 24k on both the Mediterranean and the lagoon on April 23rd. Below you can see my finishing strokes of the race in Eglisau.