3k Open Water Midlands Championships 2015

Fantastic result for me on Sunday at Bosworth Water and the Midlands Open Water Championships. It was my first time swimming 3000m and because of a change in the course, it sounds like we probably swam 3500m in the end :)

I was really pleased to see my name in 3rd place and had to look twice at my time of 42.56.02 though. I'd sort of expected a time of around 35 mins as i'd swam 2k in training and came in on 23.00.

It was sort of confirmed that the course was indeed longer than stated and many had the same opinion but to be honest, i'm not bothered as we all swam the same course and I came 3rd in my age group and 10th out of the 71 men and women that took part.

I really ought to see about a triathlon now!

Midlands Open Water Championships 2015

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 :)