Manchester International Open Meet 2015

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted! but since my last post, I’ve been on holiday (twice), it’s the start of the new season, a new head coach, new focus, GCSE’s and life just getting more manic!

I’ve just completed a busy weekend of racing at the Manchester International Open. It was fantastic to swim and be in the same company as LiamTancock, Fran Halsall, Roberto Pavoni, Hannah Miley, Molly Renshaw and loads more swimming stars.

We arrived in Manchester on the Friday afternoon, checked in at the hotel had a walk around the massive Trafford Centre followed by a good meal and a great night's’ sleep.

Saturday saw a mixed bag of results, my 1500m free was off a little but I had good personal best times on both the 200 freestyle and 200 backstroke. Had a great night relaxing with my family,

another brilliant meal and a good laugh back at the room later on :)

Sunday morning saw a big hearty breakfast and a trip to the pool for the middle session. Again, I had personal best times on 200 IM, and 100 backstroke. I managed to take gold (in my age group)

for the 400 freestyle and also got Fran Halsall’s autograph along with an Arena swimming hat too!

So, even with a cough and a cold, I had a good weekend of swimming which will be a starting point to build upon for the rest of the season.

See you next time J

English Schools & Regional Open Water Championships...i'm back!

Hi everyone, it’s been a while….I’ve had a rough couple of months in terms of achieving the times I needed for English National championship invite. My focus was always on the 1500m selection for English Nationals but I could never get near a long course time. My short course time (17.03) was a great result for me but it never happened for me in a long course pool (17.41).

My 400m (4.26.81) time was a nice surprise for me but again, bittersweet, I ended up missing the cut for that invite by about 2.8secs. I was disappointed to say the least. I also qualified with 2 times in the Midlands Championships but with our scheme of work and training, things didn't really hit that sweet spot and It’s taken me a while to bounce back to be honest but I've continued to train hard and amongst school stuff, I've had two things to focus on…

Sunderland Aquatic Centre

This weekend sees the English Schools Swimming Association(ESSA) 65th Inter-Divisional Championships where I’ll be part of a squad representing the East Midlands at the Sunderland Aquatic Centre.

I'll stay in a hotel with my squad for a night, be kitted out with the ESSA teamwear and take part in some media work too. I'll only be swimming the 400m free but I'm gonna go for it!

The following weekend, I’ll be competing in the Midlands OpenWater Championships. Last year I competed in the 1500m but this year I’m doubling up to do the 3000m. My Dad and I went to Bosworth Water Park last weekend so I could get the feel for open water again as it’s been a year…it was nice to swim with the fish, weeds and smelly water again…not!

Bosworth Water Park (that's me pointing at my Dad....it's chilly!)

Thanks for reading, I hope it's gonna be a good couple of weeks!

Success in the 1500m and 400m Freestyle!

The Leicestershire ASA County Championships started a couple of weeks ago. I've swam OK with a couple of medals as a bonus. I got a silver and 2nd place for my 1500m freestyle (sc) with a time of 17.03.96 which was about 40 seconds under the Midlands qualifying time and puts me 2nd in the County, 7th in the Midlands and around 16th in the Country. It was my best swim to date and felt great all the way. I'd got a good race plan and most importantly stuck to it :)

The picture below is of me with the 3rd place bronze I got for the 400m freestyle (lc) with a time of 4.30.53 which just managed to get me a Midland qualifying time.

Bronze for the 400m Freestyle at Loughborough Uni Pool of Dreams

I'll be swimming again this weekend in the Counties so i'm looking forward to more positive results :)