Italian Youth Foil Sailing / WASZP youth at Technogym to fly to the 'X-Camp' meeting in Talamone
by Elena Giolai 7 Mar 00:46 NZDT
At Technogym - the Italian Wellness Company known all over the world - physical tests for the U19 helmsmen of the foil Waszp Italian class, ready to fly at the X-Camp in Talamone just before Easter © Elena Giolai
The 2024 season of the Italian youth Waszp class has begun under the banner of physical preparation thanks to the Waszp X-Camp organised at the Technogym Village in Cesena.
The participation of the Under-19s, who follow the X Lab AICWA (Associazione Italiana Classe Waszp Asd) project, was made possible thanks to Technogym's partnership with the Italian Sailing Federation. It was the first time that a non-Olympic class had the privilege of accessing this experiment directly in one of the temples of development and promotion of physical training. The idea is to create a specific preparation model for the foil boat type; an idea born from the meeting with Technogym's Daniele Amato, shared with the entire Federvela, in particular with President Francesco Ettorre and Federal Councillor Domenico Foschini.
"As the federal contact person for youth sailing, I have tried to show the way, so that the setting up of a new class such as the foil Waszp class, could from the very beginning follow a serious path, with method, thinking about all those aspects that can make the young Waszp sailor, an athlete, respecting his physical development and not without forgetting the fun and sporting growth" commented Foschini.
President of the Italian Waszp Class Marco Francalancia: "In this first event, the boys were tested for athletic preparation to see their initial level, from which a specific course could be planned. On the first day, physical tests were carried out, while on the second day a training test was carried out to show how the programme could be developed. The next step will be to create an athletic preparation programme for all the boys following the Waszp youth programme, which can be run remotely, independently, without necessarily having a personal athletic trainer. An app will then be used to monitor the course so that the boys can be followed and accompanied in their growth, which will then become increasingly individual, depending on their progress. This will also accompany us in the next rallies, because we will begin to offer, in addition to the water outings, physical preparation sessions, which we had not done so far".
For everyone it was a fantastic experience, which gave the charge and the awareness that the youth project of the Waszp class is gradually taking more and more shape, in a systematic way.
Just before Easter the class activity will continue in Talamone for the first in-water technical meeting (Waszp X-Camp), while the first regatta with the youth group will be the Italia Cup at the end of April in Taranto. A month later, at the end of May, there will be the second Italia Cup in Bellano (Lake Como), while in June it will be time for Foiling Week.
In August it will be the turn of the Waszp World Games in Norway, while at the end of August there will be the FIV under-19 Italian Youth Championships in Genoa. The Italian Open Class Championship will instead be at the end of September on Lake Garda (CVArco).