National Team Training - November 2005

I coached the Pakistan Rowing Team for 10 days. This band of two dozen athletes are drawn from the Army, Navy, WAPDA and Colleges and made some impressive improvements. I also gave a coaches clinic for aspiring and current coaches. Zaheer Ahmad was crucial to getting things to run smoothly. Rizwan was the man behind the scenes who got all the events organized.

The National Stadium in Islamabad. The whole Sports Complex is very impressive and includes nice athletic facilities for track and field, swimming, weightlifting etc. In this picture some policemen are watching a soccer match in progress.
A pair on Rawal Lake.
One of my first debriefs with the rowers.
The first erg test for 2K left a lot of athletes gasping for breath. They had just returned from a break for Eid for about a week or ten days and were very out of shape. One of the Navy rowers in the foregound.
Erg testing in the little room. There were three functioning ergs to use.
A pair heads out on the lake.
"Coach" is a well decorated Navy rower.
Boats launching from the dock. The boat anchored in the background is used for sight seeing by VIP's.
The athletes are exposed to stairs. Asad in the red and blue striped shirt was almost always the first one up.
The media room where I gave lectures to the coaches and athletes. Rizwan had arranged for pther lectures besides the ones I gave so that the coaching session could go on while I was on the water instructing the rowers.
The podium was very cool.
Rizwan giving a lecture on the history of rowing in Pakistan..
Asad Khan, a lightweight from the north had very good conditioning and was great on stairs. Good leg strength.
Zohaib Zia Hashmi, a young lightweight rower from WAPDA with good technical form and willing to work hard. He was also the computer "whiz" and one of the fastest lightweights on the team.
"Pehlwan" or Wrestler was very set in his ways and technical changes were hard to make. He did some very interesting theories on nutrition!
Nehmat Karim from Army, one of the better lightweights on the team.Although he is not very tall, he has an excellent attitude.
Chief Muhammad Akram from Navy, a legend in his own right with numerous international medals. He is still one of the fastest lightweights around and a very nice person.
Muzammal Hussein, a lightweight from Army. Works hard and always with a cheerful attitude.
Naseer Ahmed, a heavyweight.
Sabir Khan from Army. He is always trying hard but changes come slowly. Good hard worker.
Muhammad Farooq, a very lively heavyweight. Still has to loosen up his body and get a long stroke. Has a good attitude.
Majeed Ahmed from Army. Has nice technique but keeps himself within limits. He can be even faster.
Muhamad Riaz from Army Lightweights.
Faisal, who has done a stint coaching the Afghanistan team is good at understanding the technical principles.
Muhammad Nazir also known as "Speaker" from Navy. Good athlete.
Shajjar Abbas from Navy. Rows long strokes and has a great catch. Can gain some strength and conditioning though which would make him very fast.