Sabaudia, Italy
Camp details
Ages
Junior/Masters
Format
5-day residential
Accommodation
Hotel Gioiello
Airport
Rome Fiumicino International
Country
Italy
Whats included
- All equipment provided
- Full board accommodation
- Airport transfers
- Expert coaching
- Video analysis
- Evening workshops
Where Rowing Feels Like Family
Just one hour south of Roma, Sabaudia is one of Gillian’s favourite rowing locations in the world (and she has enjoyed many!). On camp, we will stay together in the family-run ‘Hotel Gioiello’ where the atmosphere is warm and friendly. ‘Mama Nina’ is a familiar face around the hotel, ensuring rowers are made to feel like part of her family. The hotel offers great food, with pasta regularly on the menu, and comfortable accommodation.
The hotel is an easy 15-minute walk to the lake, taking in the relaxed atmosphere of Sabaudia town. Walking to the lake, rowers will pass cafés, pizzerias and the local market (every Thursday) before reaching the stunning Lago di Paola (or Lake Sabaudia). Rowing on this lake is simply gorgeous and will be an unforgettable week whatever level of experience you arrive on camp with!
Camp overview
Our immersive 5-day rowing camp combines high-quality coaching, technical development, and a supportive training environment — perfect for athletes looking to improve their stroke and speed by understanding more about the movement pattern. During the week
Guests arrive, settle into accommodation and meet the coaching team. After a welcome briefing and boat allocation, we finish the day with a low-key row to familiarise athletes with the water and to ease everyone in to the week ahead
Across the next three days, rowers take part in a full schedule of on-water sessions, technical input, and structured training.
* 2-3 rowing sessions each day depending on individual approach
* Focused technical guidance from coaches including boat set up input
* Targeted work sessions weaving in technical model
* Recovery and mobility sessions to support performance
* Workshops covering nutrition, race preparation, and effective training habits
The final day brings together everything learned during the week. Rowers refine their race plans, complete their final training rows, and take part in performance-focused pieces. The camp concludes with closing feedback, future recommendations, and a celebratory wrap-up.
Sabaudia: La Dolce Vita, On the Water
Whatever stage you’re at in your rowing, Sabaudia has a way of meeting you there. Camps here are built around structured, coached sessions on the water balanced with genuine downtime — the kind of week where the training is serious, but nothing about the atmosphere is stiff. Both junior and masters camps run here, each shaped around the group on the ground that week.
Your Base: Hotel Gioiello
This is where the week actually happens – not just a place to sleep, but the base everyone returns to between sessions, over meals, and at the end of each day. It’s a short, easy stretch from the lake, close enough that the whole camp settles into a rhythm of walking down together and back again, day after day.
On the Water
Lake Sabaudia, also known as Lago di Paola, sits entirely within Circeo National Park, and its conditions are about as good as rowing gets. A coastal dune shelters it from the north-west, and the Circeo promontory blocks the wind from the south-west, leaving the water calm for the vast majority of the year. It’s exactly why so many international teams choose Sabaudia for training, and why the lake has hosted numerous Italian championships and, in 2020, its first major international event, the World Rowing Cup.
Evenings & Beyond
Evenings on camp shift gears; team-building activities, technique workshops, and the odd competitive games night all make an appearance across the week. It’s where the group actually becomes a group, and where a lot of the week’s best memories end up being made.