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    24 May

  1. Palma de Mallorca….

    After attending the ASSE Awards evening I travelled home to prepare myself for a training camp in Mallorca for 2 weeks with British Swimming. I was coached by Louise Graham Head Coach from Preston, the 2 weeks consisted of a heavy gym programme and lots of speed work in the pool. We enjoyed a relaxing mid weekend, where we had a great team meal at a local Pizzeria, the on the Sunday we walked around the marina and went on the beach. On the following Wednesday we got visited by British Gas, and interviews were conducted followed by a evening of entertainment, where we had 8 teams, who all had 80 tasks to complete in 45 minutes, I was in team 7 and we respectively came second by 5 points! Good team effort! 

    Posted at 1:24 pm

  2. Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellance Awards….

    On Saturday 12th of May myself and my boyfriend Gareth attended the graduation ceremony for my Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence, where I had also been nominated for Disability Apprentice of Year. The evening was brilliant and it was great to see everyone receive their certificates. I missed out on Apprenticeship of year however the award was won by Tom Baxter a fellow swim competitor and a reward well earnt by himself- congratulations to Tom! 

    Posted at 1:22 pm

  3. HSBC Presentation

    On the 8th of May I ventured to Canary Wharf in London to deliver a presentation with HBSC about my lifestyle as an athlete and my selection for the Paralympics, it was a fantastic opportunity to be given and I enjoyed sharing my experiences, dreams and training with all those who attended the event. Other speakers included Brett Taylor and Rose McArthur. 

    Posted at 1:21 pm

  4. Selection for Paralympic Games 2012

    Following the two trails the list of selected athletes for the games was released on Tuesday 10th April. It was with all the excitement in world that I saw my name on the list, I felt relieved and honoured to have been given the provisional chance to represent my country at the biggest games yet! Whilst I was excited I also realised the commitment and training that was to come. We will be confirmed as official athletes on the 6th June

    Posted at 1:20 pm

  5. Paralympic Trials

    The first Paralympic trials we held in early March at the Olympic pool in Stratford, it was a tough 7 day competition, and I swam in the 100m,50m,400m freestyle and the 100m back and 200m IM, all my swims were respectable however just outside my personal bests; I had hoped to have swum faster and gained a qualifying time, however took the experience of racing and what could be improved leading into my second trials. Unfortunately, 2 weeks before the second trials I gained a hand injury whilst training and ended up in A&E, and this followed by a week out of training and returning home to recover. I was pretty useless without my only hand! I have learnt to look after my only hand better since the accident! However I faced the second trials held in Sheffield with confidence and gave my best efforts in the same events as the first trials and succeeded in producing personal bests in some of my events; unfortunately I narrowly missed the qualification time for the games.

    Posted at 1:19 pm

  6. Porchester College

    On the 23rd of March I visited Porchester Secondary School and delivered a presentation to the pupils explaining about the commitments of an elite athlete and answering any questions they had as they were soon to sit an examination in Physical Education. It was a pleasure to visit the school and wish them all good luck in their exams.

    Posted at 1:18 pm

  7. Medina College

    On the 21st of March I jumped on the Hovercraft and headed over to the isle of white to visit Medina College where I helped children design flags that included themselves creating flags that represented themselves taking part in sport or ideas that involve team work. We then planted the flags within the school and took photo’s. During my time at Medina College I also spoke with Year 11 girls and explained the hardship of combining an athlete lifestyle with a normal social life and hopefully provided inspiration to everyone at Medina College. It was a fantastic day and I would be delighted to return.  

    Posted at 1:17 pm
    8. 08 Feb

  8. Crofton Hammond Infants School

    Today i visited Crofton Hammond Infants School, where i met some absolutely delightful young children! They had prepared some excellent questions to ask myself and i was shocked at how much they all knew about swimming and many of them had reached good levels already in their swimming lessons. Whilst in class they made flags out of old text books, and painted a picture of themselves either doing a brave action or helping a friend… there were some very talented flags produced! It was fantastic to see children of only 6 having some understanding of the Olympic and Paralympic Games as when i was their age i can’t remember knowing what the Olympics were! It was a pleasure visiting the school and i hope one day to go back and visit… :)

    Posted at 2:20 pm
    9. 31 Jan

  9. Zonals South Region

    Over the past weekend i raced at Millfield in Somerset and swum in the 100m Breaststroke, 50m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke, 100m Freestyle and 200m IM. It was successful weekend of racing i produced times just off my personal bests and allowed myself to see where about in training i am leading into the trials (3rd-10th March). Overall i came away with 4 silver and 1 bronze medal!  Well done to everyone who raced! 

    Posted at 12:49 pm

  10. South Africa… :)

    On the 7th of January i flew out to Durban with the British Swimming squad and had an intensive two week training camp in preparation for the fast approaching qualifying trails. It was a fantastic two weeks, where we stayed at the Beverley Hills Hotel in Umhlanga and trained at the Crawford Private School in La Lucia! The experience was brilliant and by far the best camp i have been on yet, training was tough but enjoyable as the sun was shinning down on us! And in our free time at the weekend we enjoyed a team meal out at Butcher Brothers and then also managed to look around some African markets…. the flights were long but the movies were entertaining and i was sad to say good bye to South Africa after the two weeks!  

    Posted at 12:44 pm
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