Team GB qualification the bright spot of mixed fortunes

Qualification week was always set to be a highly emotional, stress-packed time, and so it turned out..

Olympic trials are often the hardest competition any athlete will take part in. So much is at stake because failure means redemption isn’t possible for at least another four years.

Feeling that you can’t put your personal shortcomings right for at least another four years is one thing, but missing out on representing your country at the greatest sporting event in the world is altogether another.  For winners and qualifiers it’s the greatest week of their lives, but for everybody else it can be soul-destroying. 

My Olympic trials were filled with mixed emotions.  While I frustratingly didn’t perform to the standard I know I can – and have – performed, I still qualified for what will be my third and most important Olympic games.

For some reason it just didn’t happen for me.  I went into the week with great confidence and sailed through the heats and semi-final with little problem, even managing to ease back in both rounds.  By the time the final came around, I was looking to win and feeling able to win it.  But win it I didn’t, with fourth place the outcome. 

Although in finishing fourth I qualified for a place in the relay team, which was my qualification contingency plan.  The primary objective for the week was to qualify for Team GB at the London Olympic Games and that is ultimately what I achieved. 

Pic courtesy of GBSwimstars

To say I’m relieved is an understatement.  The pressure of making the team is now off.  With two Olympic Games under my belt, I’ve been in this position before and know that the next six months are full of opportunity and enjoyment. It’s why as athletes we do what we do, to work hard but also enjoy what it brings.

This isn’t to say I’ll be taking my foot off the gas.  If anything, not earning the individual spot has made me more determined to make the relay team the best it possibly can be. We currently have a really talented relay team and I believe with strong support we can be right up there competing.  One thing is for sure: capacity crowds of 17,500 in the new National Aquatic Centre will make our job much easier.  If the support of the crowd and of the nation gives us just a fraction of a second extra, it could make all the difference.  I genuinely believe the crowd can do this!

This year all the usual pressures have been magnified tenfold.  Going to an Olympic games is an outstanding achievement in its own right, but to qualify for an Olympic Games in your home country is literally a once in a lifetime opportunity.  To be at your physical peak at a time when your country hosts the most prestigious sporting event in the world, that simply doesn’t happen for most athletes.  

Everyone in Team GB now has the responsibility to do our country proud, to wear the colours of the Union Jack with integrity and perform to the best of our abilities.

Thanks should be given to everyone who helped put on a world-class event for the Olympic trials.  I hope all the volunteers now feel apart of our journey because without them we wouldn’t have this amazing opportunity.  Hats off to you all, the unsung stars of the show.

Thanks too to everyone who has followed and supported me – not just in the past 6 months but throughout my career.  Without your help and support I wouldn’t have reached where I am today.

The journey is only just hotting up and I hope you’ll stick with me for the ride. London here I come!