British Judoka for 2008 Olympics

The elite athletes of the British Judo Association trained at CLS for the European Championship in April, taking the first step towards the 1st qualification for the Olympics 2008 in Beijing.

It was the first camp for the 17 athletes and their coaches at Club La Santa and on their last evening, Manager and Group Leader David Sanders summarizes their seven day stay in three words “It was fantastic”.
The team spent the week at Club La Santa to train hard in order to prepare the athletes for the upcoming European Championships in April, which is also the first qualification round for the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing.

The Training sessions were mainly held on the Judo Mats in the Sports Hall where the three Judo Coaches Marc Earl, Billy Cusack and Kate Howey did the Judo specific technique training. Howey, a successful Olympian herself, appreciates the Club La Santa facilities very much: “Everything is so close together, we have short ways from the Judo mats to the gym and everywhere else, perfect conditions for us!” The team used quite a few locations for their trainings. They have not only been to the sports hall, but also took the mats outside and held sessions just next to the hall on the basketball court, where other guests stopped for a little while to watch the athletes sprint, jump and carry each other on the Judo mats.

The outdoor weights next to the Bike Centre were used during their weight training sessions and if it wasn't such a hard work, the athletes might have enjoyed the view on the stadium with the football pitch or the tennis courts, where other athletes trained with very pleasant weather conditions these days.

There was not much time off for the athletes. After having breakfast at the Club Restaurant “Atlantico”, the first Judo session started at 9.15am as one of three trainings a day. The camp was strength and conditioning based and additionally to fighting and weight lifting, the coaches organized an internal triathlon challenge for the 17 Judoka, which was enjoyed by the team, but still exhausting. Their time off was mainly spent with recovering from their daily workout. Evening activities such as resting in their apartments, enjoying treatments from their physiotherapist Julia or relaxing in the CLS Wellness Centre were just the perfect end of their hard days.
A little distraction from the daily workouts was then the Canoeing tour they made in the Club La Santa Lagoon and also a reward for a week of intense and demanding practice.

We wish the British National Judo Team all the best for the European Championship and the other future events. We hope to see you again later this year for another training camp at Club La Santa.