Photo left to right: Back row - Hannah Cox, Paul Pruzina, Will Rigg, Joe Woodley, Harrison McCartney, Allan Bogle
Middle row - Sarah Jones, Julie Emmerson, Helen Ockenden, Megan Carter-Davies, Fiona Bunn
Front row - Jackie Newton, Mark Nixon, Sasha Chepelin, Dane Blomquist

Some of the most promising juniors from Great Britain and Northern Ireland are training in Switzerland, this week, in areas relevant for JWOC 2016. Based at St. Moritz, that is at 1800m above sea level, this camp is of utmost importance to the athletes who are gaining understanding of the kind of training they will need to implement in the coming year in order to be successful at JWOC 2016. They are also getting valuable experience of training at altitude.

The team arrived late on Sunday night and so took a fairly easy day on Monday with some easy running in the morning, followed by a drills session and a swim in the lake and then a short orienteering exercise in the afternoon. Tuesday was devoted to relay and middle training, Wednesday to long and today the team trained for sprint. The morning saw them carry out two sessions on sprint maps and then take to the athletics track in the afternoon to experience a short but intense track session at altitude.

Photo: Joe Woodley and Will Rigg Sprint training today

Tomorrow the emphasis is back to long and then, on Saturday, the team are joining the Swedish junior team, who are at the same accommodation, for more relay training.

Technical Talent Coach, Mark Nixon, said "The athletes have arrived at this camp with exactly the right attitude and are taking every opportunity to learn, improve their technical skills and get ready for 2016. Most days have seen them do two sessions: one in the morning and a second late in the afternoon. We have been able to allow 'down-time' after lunch and then spend the evenings evaluating the day's training."

Performance Manager, Jackie Newton said "This camp is providing a valuable opportunity for athletes who are showing promise for JWOC 2016 and is offering so much more than training in relevant terrain; it is also allowing  them to consider the physical and psychological elements that will come into play at next year's JWOC and, on top of that, the athletes are becoming a close-knit team and learning how to look after themselves and each other, experiencing the Swiss cuisine and understanding the balance of hard work and recovery on a long training camp such as this."

The coaching team includes Mark and Jackie along with Allan Bogle, Talent Development Coach for Northern Ireland, and Bashir Hussain, UKA endurance coach, bringing together expertise in technical, physical and altitude training.

The team return to the UK on Sunday.