Continue reading »]]> I found out I was nominated for the 2011 South Gloucestershire Sportsman of the Year award. I have never been nominated for such an award before and it is immensely flattering to be recognised for something like this.

Unfortunately due to relocating to Swansea, and my training commitments I will be unable to attend the event, but I hope that everyone has a great time at the event!

[UPDATE] – I recently found out that I won(!) the award for ’2011 South Gloucestershire Sportsman of the Year’ – thank you so much for this award I really appreciate it

Continue reading »]]>
It has been a while since I posted a full update. Since then my training has really been taken to a new level, the intensity has just been upped every session in the pool and on land. I am now doing about 20 hours a week in the pool, with 5 hours of weights and 3 hours of circuits/stability work. The training has really pushed me out of

my comfort zone, but I definitely feel like I am going in the right direction and hope all of this hard work will pay off next year.

I will be racing for the first time since moving to Swansea in December at the Welsh winter meet. This will be a great first indicator of how things are going. I will not be resting for this competition, so that will have an affect on the times I expect, it will be good to get a few races under my belt. I shall be contending the 100 & 200 Breaststroke as well as the 100 Fly and 200 IM to add a bit of variety. Shortly after that competition I will be heading home for Christmas before flying out to California on the 27th for a 3 week training camp. I am really looking forward to the opportunity of going away over the winter period and getting some (even harder) training done. It is always good to get a change of scenery and some fresh stimulation. At the end of our stay in California we will be flying to Texas to compete in the Grand Prix meet there before flying home. Racing in America is always super tough because they have such depth of ability, that will provide some invaluable racing experience and I am really looking forward to testing myself out there. I will aim to do another update post Christmas when I am in America training and Racing. Until then, I hope everyone has a great festive season

Continue reading »]]> So, there is less than 1 year to go until the London 2012 Olympics, and even less time until the Olympic trials in March next year. I started training again this week, after taking a break over the summer. It was really good to get away after the highs and lows of last season and recharge myself ready for the year ahead. The first session back is always a bit of a shock to the system, but it is great to be back in the water. It’s strange how something usually so familiar can feel so foreign, but I am sure after a few sessions it will be like I never left the pool (I hope anyway!). The full squad is not back yet, so I’m looking forward to seeing everyone once they come back from their holidays. Your squad is like a second family, you spend so much time and go through so much together that is always really weird when you don’t see them everyday, so to have them back will be good. Hard training starts now ready for next year, and all I can say is that I am excited about the year to come.

Continue reading »]]> I know it’s cliché, but sat and read Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘If’ the other day, so thought I would post it on my website.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Continue reading »]]> So my competitive season for 2010-2011 had finished, and unfortunately I did not qualify for the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai. This is the first time since 2007 that I have not qualified for a team, and is a very disappointing outcome to and otherwise very successful year.

This season has been one of change. Not only did I change programmes and coaches for the first time in seven years, but I have changed so much as a swimmer and as a person. Whilst I am ultimately really disappointed with my times and results in the race pool this season, nearly everything else has been a positive experience. Working with a new coach gave me a totally different perspective on swimming, and I have learnt so much in the short time we have worked together. This has enabled me to grow not only as a swimmer, but as a person, and I feel that I am almost completely different to the person I was a year ago. I would not change this year for anything as it has had such a positive impact on me. I can whole heartedly say, for the first time in a couple of years, that I am loving swimming again, even if my times are not where I would like them to be.

Last week at the National Championships, I had hoped to improve on my performances from March in the British Championships. However, that was not the case, and I am still struggling to work out why. I had been training really well, and had put in a lot of hard work this season. Mentally and physically I felt awesome going in to the 200 Brs final last week, but the time was very disappointing. It seems to be a case of everything went right apart from the time!

This season also draws to a close my time working Zoë Baker. We both had a long discussion, and decided that to be in with the best possible chance for qualifying next year for the 2012 Olympics, the current programme would not provide that. It is with mutual understanding that we are parting ways, and it is only because of the circumstantial factors that neither of us can change which has led to this tough decision. As I have said above, this year has been almost an entirely positive experience for me and that is in large part down to Zoë.

So, I am currently finishing off my season training hard, and getting into shape ready for next year.

Continue reading »]]> In the upcoming school half term, on Thursday 2nd June 10.00-12.30 at the University of Bath, I will be running a World Class Breaststroke Technique Clinic along side Zoe Baker.

This differs from our last clinic we did together earlier this year.

Instead of a having a training focus like the last one, this clinic is an intensive 2 hour technique clinic, which also includes working on turns. The clinic will also feature demonstrations of the drills and techniques to aid with the learning process.

Places are limited so register your interest NOW.

Continue reading »]]> So tomorrow I head up to Manchester ahead of the 2011 British Gas Championships which also double as the first set of World Championship Trials, the competition runs from 5th-12th March. My taper has gone really well, and with the noticeable absence of my notorious taper blues which is refreshing. Tapers are always hard to judge though, so the main thing to take from it will be a feeling of confidence in the work I have put in this season and a successful preparation so far. I will be racing the 100m and 200m Breaststroke, I have also entered the 50m Breaststroke but think I am likely to withdraw from this event, in order to focus on the 200 later in the week. The 100m Brs Heats are on the 5th with the Semi-Finals later that day and the Final following the next day, the 6th. The 200m Breaststroke is toward the end of the week with the Heats and Semi-Finals on the 9th and the Final on the 10th. Results for the competition can be found HERE.

I am approaching these trials with excitement, and if Im honest, a little trepidation. This is my first national level competition ever without my former coach, and my first major test since moving programmes. The main feeling going in though is definitely excitement, I have enjoyed swimming so much these last few months and I have put in lots of hard work. I cant wait to go and race and test out my new training programme. At the end of the day this is what I swim for, the racing, I am so competitive and LOVE being in a race. The mens Breaststroke is so competitive in this country with 4 or 5 truly world class swimmers on the scene at the moment, so expect some fireworks in the finals. I hope I can raise my game and be up at the business end of the final, but we will have to wait and see how it all pans out. I have been really pleased with my results in races so far this season, and with my performances in training, so I hope my results next week will reflect this. Here’s hoping for a successful week!

I will be tweeting throughout the week, so you can keep up to date with whats happening in Manchester either on twitter directly or by the twitter feed on my web page. Further information about the event can be found on British Swimming’s dedicated web page HERE. You can even watch video highlights of all the action on the British Swimming page HERE.