My Olympic journey starts here.
Returning to training after a three-week break marked the beginning of the final stage of our four-year Olympic cycle, which is equally scary and exciting.
It’s important to have a clear divide between seasons, especially after such a high pressure event like the World Championships. Reflecting on achievements and taking the time out for complete rest and relaxation, both physically and mentally, is vital in preparing for the season ahead. My next major goal is the Olympic trials in March.
During my first couple of weeks off I did some charity work and some community work, which is always enjoyable. For me, it’s essential to give something back to the community whose support means so much, and it was great to have the time to do that.
I also took a few days away in Ireland with my girlfriend Claire, the Event Manager for British Swimming. Next year will be an exciting and busy time for both of us as I’ll be aiming to get in the Olympic team and Claire will be organising trial events for swimming and the other aquatic sports. We picked out a couple of nice hotels and took a road trip between the locations. Although we didn’t go to Ireland for a beach holiday, we did manage to find a beach to spend lunch one day. We were extremely lucky to find it in the one 10 minute spell the sun came out during the whole trip!
My grandad was from Ireland and we still have a lot of family over there, who we were able to visit. Having not seen some of them for about 15 years, it was brilliant to catch up. We also visited Killarney and Wexford before heading back to Dublin for some traditional Irish culture. This culture obviously had to include a tour of the famous Guinness brewery, where we were able to pour (and taste) our own pints of the black stuff. I hadn’t tried it before because during the season we don’t normally drink, so it was especially fun. We followed this with a trip to watch the Riverdance and felt like we’d been fully initiated to the Irish way by the time we flew home!
It was great to spend time with Claire and unwind before our busy year ahead. We’ve both come back relaxed, focused and ready to tackle the next 12 months.
Now my mind is firmly set on the British Gas Swimming Championships in March and getting in the best shape possible. But at the moment we’re not actually doing much swimming. Instead it’s all about cross training, such as rock climbing, kick boxing, running and circuits, to help rebuild our strength after having time off. We’re also doing pilates and gymnastics for core strength. All of this will help our swimming when we start increasing the sessions in the pool, which will happen over the next few weeks.
In September we’ll be heading to Tenerife for some warm weather training. Our strength and power will be back by then, so it will be a case of doing lots of swimming to get back into great shape and peak fitness. The camp should springboard our preparation ahead of the trials.
Now is the time to invest 100% effort, blood, sweat and tears, hold nothing back and enjoy the ride!
Your support means everything to me and I hope you enjoy following my journey.
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