Auckland Paratriathlon World Championships….

On the 19th of September I flew to NewZealand with my aunt and uncle to train solidly for 5 weeks prior to the championships. Training was tough, as I got coached by Sam Warriner a renowned triathlete in NewZealand; after the first few sessions I began to feel more confident in my running, and started to gain a few bike handling skills. My bike sponsored by Cycles UK, completed 200km whilst I was training out there, more than I have ever ridden in my life. NewZealand was an awesome place to prepare myself, with Rotorua having unlimited roads to ride, endless forests to run through, and a 50m pool to have a splash in! Once in Auckland, time went faster and before I knew it, the Aquathlon had come round. Unfortunately the para aquathlon swim distance got shortened to 300m from 1000m, however I still managed a 30second lead over my competitors, then my 5K run went really well and I came 2nd behind world champion Faye McCllend. This was a good marker to show how my training had gone, the plan was too now relax and rest my legs ready for the big day on Monday! Everything was going perfect until Saturday night when I got food poisoning, it meant Sunday was spent recovering in bed and I managed to eat some toast prior to the triathlon- but it wasn’t much. However, I hadn’t travelled all that way too not race so I put the race face on and challenged the rest of world. My swim went well, 4.26 this time 40 seconds ahead of everyone else, all my transitions were awesome, however on the bike I felt fatigued, I had no energy to use, I was just going brought the motions… But continued and once I crossed the line, I had come 5th; I was slightly disappointed as if I had been 100% well, I might have achieved better, but I went home smiling! Thanks to Cycles UK for sponsoring me with a bike to race at the World Championships… It was greatly appreciated. 

Races….

First race was my 400m Freestyle. It went really well, I hit my Personal Best in the morning heat and qualified into the final in 7^th Place. The race was tough but having a home crowd behind you made all the difference. Walking out to 17,000 people cheering you on is priceless! The evening of the 400m final I came 6^th so I was pleased to have moved up another position and felt that 6^th in world was a bad evenings work! I was super happy even though it was a really tough race!

50m Freestyle was always going to be a tough race to qualify for the final, and sadly I missed out on the final.

My next main focus was the 100m Freestyle. This race I had many personal goals I wanted to achieve; firstly I wanted to make the final, something I didn’t achieve in Beijing! Next was to beat the time of 1.06 minutes as I wanted to hit 1.05 really badly! And the morning of the 100m strangely I felt content and a few little nerves but I think my body knew what it had to do! I remember turning and thinking I can do this and when I touched and saw I’d come 4^th and managed to sneak under the 1.06 barrier it felt like I’d won the goal! I can remember looking up and seeing my parents and it was just such an awesome feeling! But then I had to focus and get ready to come back in the evening for the final! Again walking out in front on 17,000 people was awesome, I made sure I’d waved and smiled! The race was everything and more than what I wanted… I would have loved to have gone under the 66 seconds again.. but I enjoyed making the 100m freestyle final- and couldn’t have given any more!

Travelling Down to London

The journey down to London was exciting as we were catching a train from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston, and we had the first 3 FIRST CLASS carriages to ourselves… luxury! The time sailed by on the train we got to head up to the drivers area and see him control the train- which was cool to watch. Once at Euston we jumped onto a bus which transported us the village and like usual it was raining in London! But as we finally turned the corner and saw the stadium it was a fantastic feeling! It really sunk in then that I was going to the Paralympic Games 2012!

Holding Camp

The journey up to Manchester was exciting as this was where I final holding camp and preparations would take place leading into the Paralympic Games. The atmosphere was exciting and training went perfectly, we had lots of down time to relax and recover from training. We collected final kit and did any last minute media training. Otherwise we watched movies, played games, made videos and enjoyed the fact that hard phase of training was over and we were finally tapering into the games.

London DofE award…

Last Tuesday i traveled up to London to meet a close friend Emily to collect her Duke of Edinburgh award. The award was presented by Prince Edward at St James Palace, and the palace was amazing to be inside, both the pictures and the decouration of the rooms were unbelievable. After collecting her award we ventured into London and looked around the V&A museum, had coffee’s at a little Italian cafe, browsed around Harrods in Knightsbridge and did a little shopping in the area. It was a lovely day and i’d like to say well done to Emily for her hard work, the award was well deserved! :) 

Park Community School

Yesterday i visited Park Community School in Havant. Where i gave an assembly to Year 7 and 8 pupil’s about the Paralympic’s and some of my experiences. The watched intently as i delivered a power point and asked some challenging questions at the end! I was lovely to have been invited along and i hope they took some inspiration from the presentation and use it when competing in Sport themselves.

Manchester Female Relay Camp

From the 20th-22nd of June i ventured up to Manchester along with some other girls on the GB Paralympic team spend a few days together and work as a team. It was a brilliant few days, we trained hard in and out the pool and i swam some good hard sessions. We also had dinner in the evening at a nice Italian and a Japanese restaurant; in the Japanese restaurant it was my first time experiencing a chef cooking the food in front of my eyes and displaying loads of cool tricks he could do the the food and utensils! 

Cardiff International Meet

On the 15-18th of June i traveled up to Cardiff and competed over 3 days in 100, 50, 400m fr, 200IM, 100 and 50 fly. The races were extremely painful however i hit the times my coach had predicted i would hit- so overall it was a good weekend of racing even if the weather wasn’t at its best! Some other swimmers from Portsmouth Northsea also competed so well done to them! :)

St Georges School

On the 14th June, i hopped across to the Isle of White and met the Children of St Georges School, i delivered 3 assembly’s to Key Stage 3,4 and 5, and the children were extremely well behaved and i got asked some really good questions regarding my lifestyle as an athlete. Thank you for inviting me to visit!