The World Championships in shore Angling for Ladies, which this year takes place in Spain, starts on 16 November. Natasha Seremenho is representing Portugal for the fifth time (previously winning gold in 2017 and silver in 2019, both times in South Africa). There are six ladies on the Portuguese team, and they compete both individually and for the team.
This type of fishing involves casting around 100–150m out to sea. The further you can cast, the better your chances of catching more fish. The competition takes place over five days, with two days of training before. Each day is normally around six hours on the beach and can involve walking several kilometres with all your equipment. It is a lot more physical than you first might realise.
For that reason, Natasha has been training with me for the last six months to increase her strength and fitness. As you know, I am a keen golfer and train to play better golf, and the similarities between the two sports and what you need to work on in the gym are very similar. During this time, we have worked on getting stronger and more explosive. It is not just about getting a stronger core but also about building strength in the legs and the upper body.
The motion involved in casting is a push-pull movement, so we have incorporated this into Natasha’s training plan. We have used a lot of the medicine ball explosive moves that I use in my golf training, as these are similar to the movements used when casting. Anything we can do to help increase the length Natasha can cast can help in her pursuit of a second gold.
It has been great working with Natasha and gaining a much greater insight into her sport. In addition to all the training, Natasha spends around 50 hours making all the rigs she needs to take with her to cover all the different outcomes. That takes some dedication.
There is always so much that goes on behind the scenes in any sport and shore angling is no different.
If you want to know more about the world championships, you can go to www.fips-m.org
Ann de Jongh is a health and wellbeing coach