I flew out to Budapest on Monday 9th August for the European LC Championships. I was racing on the Wednesday in the 200 Breaststroke. I did not know what to expect from this competition as I was not rested at all coming in it and usually do not swim well unrested. The week did not get off to the best start, as on the first day I fell down a flight of stairs, hurting my hand, hip and ankle. I needed to receive physio on my hip for the duration of the week, whilst my hand and ankle were uncomfortable when I swam.
In the heats of the 200 Breaststroke I recorded a 2.15.72 and finished 5th in my heat. The swim did not go quite as expected, the fastest swimmer in my heat who was in the lane next to mine withdrew, and the person on the other side did not swim very well. This is a learning experience as I was in the centre of the pool and could not see anyone, and whilst other people should not affect the way you swim when you’re racing sometimes they can. I need to learn not to be distracted or influenced by how the other swimmers are racing. The time was my fastest ever heat swim, which is a really big positive, as is the way I swam and paced the race. I finished 21st and missed the cut for the semi finals by 1 second. This was very disappointing but as I was not rested I tried to take the positives from it. Hopefully this bodes well for the Commonwealth Games in October.
I flew home on Friday, and got straight back in to training on Saturday morning in order to prepare myself of the Commonwealth Games.
Latest Comments