Sunday 15 November 2009

Hi. My training in and out of the pool has been going well. Two weeks ago, on a Saturday morning, I went to Brentwood as Essex Sport Legacy had set up a day to promote urban games. This day included basketball, graffite, bmx biking, beatboxing and street dancing. It was good to see and I am enjoying doing my Ambassador duties.

On the Saturday evening, I had an in-house gala at Ipswich. I was supposed to race in the 100m Backstroke and the 200m Freestyle, but I had not been feeling very well and decided to pull out of the 200m Freestyle. This meant I could focus on just one race. Technically, I swam the race average, but I was within a second of my personal best so I was happy, considering I had not been feeling very well.

The next day, I had the 100m Freestyle to race. I also look forward to racing this but also always put pressure on myself as this is the race that I prefer. I swam fairly well in it and recorded a time that was exactly half a second away from breaking the minute barrier. I was pleased with this performance as I knew the pool condititions were not the best and that I could perform better if I did not feel ill.

I am really looking forward to the Senior National next weekend as I feel excellent in all departments at the moment and love the atmosphere up in Sheffield when I swim. I always feel the adrenaline at Sheffield and I feel like I do the best I possibly can when I compete there.

I have also recently found out that I am safe on the British Swimming Development programm till December 2010. So the pressure has been lifted off of me when I compete in Swansea, but I am still looking to deliver some fantastic times that will kick me on into next years busy schedule.

Sunday 4 October 2009

JOURNEY TO THE PODIUM - 'ADOPT AN ARTIST SCHEME'.


Some of the Team Essex Ambassadors have been linked up with an artist to create an art work that marks their Journey to the Podium or at least the 2012 games. On Friday last week, I met my artist, (Paul Heard), who is an animator. We had a really long chat about my sport and my commitment and he has come up with some fantastic ideas on what we are going to produce. This is a really exciting project for me and I am looking forward to the final results. Watch this space for updates on our progress.

Sunday 27 September 2009

Hiya.
I have been training really hard in the pool and down the gym recently. I competed at a low profile competition at my club and only swam reasonably good.
I have a while before my next big competition that will once again take place in Sheffield, so I have been keeping my head down and training hard. I am looking forward to putting myself to the test and seeing how my hard work in training will pay off.

Tuesday 8 September 2009

Hi.

I travelled to Cardiff by train last Thursday with the East Region Swimming team to compete at my third UK School Games. I was really excited as this is my favourite competition every year.

In 2007, I won 2 silver medals and last year I won 2 golds. This year I was entered in 3 events, so I was really looking forward to this.

On the Thursday, we had the opening ceremony at Cardiff Bay. A young and talented breakdancer and a chior performed before the loud music, lasers and fireworks kicked us into being very hungry athletes.

I trained on Friday morning with the rest of the team to prepare for my 2 races that I would be competing in, in the afternoon.

I raced in the 50m Freestyle and 100m Back, and just finished outside my PB's. I was a bit disappointed but defended my title in the 50m Freestyle as I stood on top of the podium like last year. I also acheived a bronze medal
in the 100m Backstroke. It was brilliant top be on the podium and could not wait to race in the 100m Freestyle on the next day.
I was back at Swansea the next day to race in my favourite event. I was really fired up and wanted to touch the wall in under 1 minute for the first time in a 50m pool. That unfortuantly did not happen. I had swam a great first half of the race but failed to bring the race home as quick. I did win another bronze but I was gutted about the time, but now I have to move on and learn from my great and tough experiences. Can not wait for the UK School Games next year, when they will take place in Sunderland.

Wednesday 26 August 2009




Hi.



Travelled back from my summer holiday in Cyprus on Thursday night. The weather was lovely and I had a great time.I had to train out there as I have the UK School Games once again at the start of September. I did some lengths every morning in the nice hotel pool.I also had the chance to use a 50m swimming pool in Coral Bay. It was brilliant and I had the whole pool to myself for most of the time. I felt really good in the water but the heat was really draining. The humidity was around 95%.

I have nearly two weeks training back at Ipswich before my big competition and I can't wait.I also enjoyed Cyprus outside of the pool as I went paragliding and scuba diving. The scuba diving was the best thing that I have ever done.I have learnt and performed basic and challenging skills whilst I was scuba diving. I saw some amazing creatures and I would love to do it again. Please see photos.

Tuesday 4 August 2009

Hi.
I competed in Sheffield at The British Longcourse Championships from last Wednesday to Sunday. I was really excited as Ponds Forge Sheffield is my favourite place to swim. Unfortuantly i failed to swim under the magic minute mark again in my 100m Freestyle, but hit a personal best in the 100m Breastroke. I was just outside my personal best's during the week and on Sunday, i was four seconds out on my 400m Freestyle but made the final. I was pleased about this and went four seconds quicker, but was still half a second out. It was not the best week but i will now get back into training and build myself up for the UK School Games.

Sunday 26 July 2009

I am currently training hard in the pool and building myself up at my local gym as i am competing next week in Sheffield at the National Youth Championships. I will be racing from Tuesday till Sunday at my favourite swimming facilities and hope to produce some more great swims and personal best times.

I will be racing once a day plus any finals that I progress through to in the evenings. I am really looking forward to racing on another big stage and hopefully I can prove myself.