Asda Athletes

This has been an amazing year for me not only did I represent GB at the European junior finals in Belgium I also brought home a silver and bronze National medal.

I thought I would share my sucess with the people of Wisbech so that they could see some of my Medals and Trophies.

Having finished my A levels, training has become a full time prospect with me training 25 plus hours a week. My goal is looking towards the Commonwealths in 2014 and Rio in 2016.

This is a picture of me fundraising last week for funds to help with my future prospect in swimming!

Asda Wisbech wished me good luck for the future!

On Monday 26th March, Asda Wisbech launched Community Life in our store. A fresh path for Asda to take within the local community. Community life is all about helping the local community and making a big impact where it really counts. The store invited me to cut the ribbon and officially launch community life.

The launch of community life also sees the launch of ‘chosen by you – given by us’ This is where you, the local community nominate local causes, charities or groups in which you believe deserve a £200 donation from Asda. Once the three nominations have been chosen then its time to vote! Each customer will receive a green token when they go through the checkout to allow them to place their vote on who they believe deserves it most.

On the 1st of july, i was selected to represent GB at the european junior championships in belgium antwepp. This was such a previlege for me as it was my first international experience, and i was very excited for the meet.

We flew out on the 1st of july before the meet actually started on the 4th to get used to the conditions and meet our team mates, to create a good team bond. On the 4th of july i competed in the 100 back, this was a big experiance for me and i did an ok time, where i was just off my PB, but i did a mistake on my turn which cost me abit of time. Next for me was the 200 back my best event, but it wasnt such a good race for me. I went off to quick and struggled on the way back, and was off my pb by 1 second. But after the race I lernt a lot about my swim and could use all the experiance gained to good use in future meets and races. My last race was the 50 back, which i did a new PB in the heats and made the semi final . This was such an experiance for me and i went the same time i did in the heats and came 14th overal.

Overal these european championship was just the starting block for my swimming career and all the experiance gained will put me in good sted for the future.

This was the last meet of a long, grewling season and I was really looking forward to it. These championships was just a week after my european junior championship experiance, so i could use all the experianced gained there to good use in these championships. I was in the 17-18 age group and as i am 17 i can do this age band all again next year.

Day 1: My first race was the 100 back and in the heat i went a new PB straight away to make the semi final seeded 1st.i also had the 200 breaststroke where i went a 4 second pb and just missed out on a semi final place. In the 100 back semi i had a bit of a problem as off the start i slipped on the blocks but manages to swim through alot of the swimmers and came 6th overal to make the final.

Day 2: i went into the 200IM not expecting much but i went a new PB in the heats by a second to reach the semi final in tonight session, along with the 100 final. The 200IM semi was first which i went 0.1 quicker than i did in the heats and made the final 5th fastest. Now it was the 100 back, luckily i didnt slip this time but i managed to use all my experiance gained at europeans to come 3rd in a new PB of 56.6. This time was a sencond quicker than i did at europeans which shows i learnt alot for those championships. After my race my coach said to me that it was the best swim he has seen me do in my swimming career.

Day 3: this was the start of my 200back which went so horribley wrong at europeans and in the heat I cruised in ti easily make the final 1st fastest. In the finals session i had 200back semi first where i went 2 seconds faster than i did in the heats and finished fastest to go into the final by 2 seconds. In the 200IM final i swam a good race but i got DQ’d.

Day 4: In the morning i had the 100butterfly event and in the heat i went a new pb by a second to make the semi. This was a good swim by me as going into the event i was ranked 31st and i went up 17 places to make the semi. In the finals session i had the 100 fly semi first where i went another 1 second pb to reach a new personal best of 56.4. Then i had the 200 back final which was a great race and just finished second but i did lose to the european junior champion, and to race him so close as i did i wouldnt of imagined after the disapointment of the european junior time.

Day 5: always the hardest day and i had the hardest event, the 400IM. This event hurts so much and on the last day of a meet its hurt 10x as much. In the heats i didnt swim that well, i was a bit sluggish from last nights efforts. But as someone pulled out of the final, i had another chance to put that right. In the final i went 4 seconds quicker then i did in the heat so overal was a good swim and i came 9th in the race.

Overal this was a good meet with new pbs in 5 of the 6 events and special after euriopean it was a good week, and put me in good sted for the start of next season.

I have just returned from competing at the 2012 Olympic Swimming Trials, the venue is brilliant with a superb atmosphere. I had four swims in total 400IM, 100Back, 200Back and 200IM. For both my backstroke events I managed to get through to the semi-finals both of which were televised live on BBC TV. I performed really well gaining personal best times and I was fortunate to be selected for the Junior GB Team for the European Championships being held in July in Antwerp. My goals now are to medal at the Championships and challenge the established GB athletes for a place next year in the World Championships. Keep checking my blog for updates.