OLYMPIC rowers are being put through their paces by Royal Marines at Commando Training Centre (CTC) Lympstone.
Members of the mens GB rowing squad hoping to qualify for Rio 2016, including London's three silver medallists, spent two days receiving inspirational training from the Commando instructors.
The rowers were taken out of their comfort zone and tested both mentally and physically with a strong emphasis on teamwork – essential for both rowers and Royal Marines.
The main objectives included removing the rowers from their usual environment into one which required mental and physical resilience and adaptability and to "provide a unique and powerful stimulus for learning lessons that can be debriefed and brought into working practise on the road to Rio after the exercise".
The training included the notorious endurance course on Woodbury Common where for four hours carrying full packs, the rowers were route-marched from CTC, took on obstacles including the underwater tunnel known as the sheep dip, finishing off the with marines infamous mud run through waist-deep mud left behind by the receding tide of the River Exe.
