posted Jul 29, 2010

its on bbc 4 till 6. I think we have a few good chances of medals, it's swimming, anything can happen <okay>

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posted Jul 30, 2010

I believe we should win more medals and have more finalists than Rome 09 without the USA and Ossies there, but going untapered or rested will make it a challange. Plenty of Young Guns and Experience will make it a good team mix.
Ladies will in my opinion will medal the men 2;1

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posted Jul 30, 2010

We have many chances, I would watch out for:

Fran Halsall-50&100m Free and probs both fly.
Becky Adlington-400&800m free
Jo Jackson-If she is back fit she is amazing.
Gemma Spofforth-Backstroke
Lizzie Simmonds-Backstroke
Ellen Gandy-200m Fly
Hannah miley-Medley
Achieng Bushell-50m Breast
All the relays.

Liam Tancock-50&100m Back
James goddard-200m Back & 200m Medley
Chris walker-Hebborn-200m Back
Rob Pavoni-400m medley
Joe roebuck-400m medley
Michael rock-100&200m Fly
Relays, Maybe not the medley relay.

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posted Aug 2, 2010

Will be interesting. One word of caution on our medal chances is that I have read that many of our swimmers have said they are aiming to peak for the Commonwealth Games & not the Europeans. In some cases I found this attitude surprising as whilst the Aussies are very strong in many events the field at the Euros will be stronger. Surely the swimmers should be aiming to peak against & test themselves against the best leading up to 2012.

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posted Aug 2, 2010

EUROPEAN RAKINGS FOR 2010.
100 fly 1st Fran,7th Ellen, 8th Jemma
200 fly 1st Ellen, 3rd Jemma.
50 free 3rd Fran
100 free 3rd Fran
200 free 6th Becky,8th Jazz, 10th Jo
400 free, 4th Becky, 5th Jazz, 8th Jo
100 back 1st Lizzie, 2nd Spoff
200 back 1st Lizzie, 3rd Spoff
200 im 4th Hannah, 8th Aimee.
400 im 2nd Hannah, 6th Aimee
4 x 100 free relay 1st
4 x 200 relay 3rd
4x 100 med relay 1st

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posted Aug 2, 2010

I notice this is on the BBC website which is good news.

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posted Aug 3, 2010

Good list JW.

It would have been interesting to see how Tancock would do in the men's 100 free. Seems to be under-rated.

Not sure men have any relay chances. Outside chance with the 4 x 200 perhaps?

Really hope Elen Gandy can put on a good show.

Will be interesting to see how many can succeed without being rested.

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posted Aug 3, 2010

Personally, I quite like the timing of the Commonwealths and Europeans. 2 years into the Olympic cycle is long enough away from London to provide an opportunity for the likes of Ellen Gandy, Sasha Matthews, Aimee Willmott, Roberto Pavoni and Ajulu-Bushell to taste a lower intensity 2012 simulator without the white hot competition of the worlds or Olympics.
With a good performance this year there is still time to emerge in time for the big one. If memory serves, Adlington, Simmonds, Miley, Halsall all did not truly emerge into world class until an equivalent stage in the previous cycle or even later.

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posted Aug 3, 2010

The meet is on Eurosport as well.

Really looking forward to it and seeing how well the GB swimmers do.

JW ~ agree with your list

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posted Aug 4, 2010

Re: european rankings

Ajulu-Bushell would rank 2nd in 50 &100 breast(behind Efimova).
Halsall 2nd in 50 & 100 Free as Kromowidjojo won't be there.

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posted Aug 4, 2010

Disppointing results in the Open swimming or to be expected?

Sounds like Davies is having a bad year.

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posted Aug 7, 2010

bbc4? surely bbci?

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posted Aug 7, 2010

I think we will medal in the womens 4x100m, Germany look to have gold, Then Silver & Bronze looks to be a fight between GB & Sweden.
Germany team will likely be Schreiber,Samulski,Lippok and Vitting/Brandt, No steffen, Sweden will likely be Sjostrom,Alshammar,Lillhage and Fagundez, We will be Halsall,Smith,Ellis,Wyld/Sylvester.
PB:SB (Last 2 years)
Swe-SB-54.73, 54.77, 54.96, 55.53
PB-54.73, 53.58, 54.64, 54.98
All will be unlikely to swim PB speed, Sjostrom omitted.

GB-SB-54.52, 54.86, 55.76, 56.16
PB-52.87, 54.86, 55.76, 55.40

I will add 13 year old Amelia Maughan has just swam 56.09 at A small meet, Superstar in the making.

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posted Aug 7, 2010

I'll be following Tom Daley as he defends his title in the Diving. He competes in both individual and synchro, plus the new team event. 4 of his 6 dives are new having been learnt since the World Championships, so it will probably take time for his scores to reach the 540 he achived regularly last year.

Go Tom!

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posted Aug 7, 2010

Re. TV coverage: Eurosport UK are covering the event. The BBC are advertising coverage via the red button.

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posted Aug 7, 2010

Is Amelia not 14? Still a great swim whatever. The ASA youth championships are a very big meet as well.

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posted Aug 7, 2010

Yes Amelia is, Good spot, I just read she swam 2.00 for the 200m free aswell, O Connors 200m breast 2.30 was impressive, We all know about johnson, Some really stunning times, Jessy Lloyd has really stepped up, Also has anyone realised Katrina alder is only 11!!!
She is surely going to be a record breaker, She is 4 seconds faster than anyone else in britian over 50 back...in history She is also 10 seconds quicker than Lizzie Simmonds at the same age in the 100m back, she is the age group record holder for all Backstrokes,and 100m free by 2 seconds.

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posted Aug 7, 2010

Does anyone know Katrina Alder, I thought she was 18 but on the official British swimming website it says she was born in 1999 and is 11 years old, I am confused, I am sure at the trials they said she was 18, But would British swimming be soo wrong, Help?

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posted Aug 7, 2010

Bit of a technical glitch on the British Swimming website - Alder is 18. There are a number of entries in the rankings that are also coming up as hidden as well for some reason. Don't know what they have done to the BS website - it was much better and easier to navigate before!

No one has mentioned Kristina Neves (13 yrs) and Anne Bochmann (16 yrs) - very impressive swimming. AB's programme (heats, semis, finals) make Michael Phelp's Beijing programme look like a warm-up! Already won at Euro Juniors - expect to see a lot more of her...

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posted Aug 7, 2010

Thanks for the Confirmation David, I agree the website is too technical now, Much better before, Was it Faulkners record Bochmann broke?, And considering the suits loads of records have gone this year, Sign of the times i am hoping, If it is we could be very successful.

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posted Aug 7, 2010

For the 400m freestyle - yes: 4:10.99, with Faulkner 4th in 4:16.58.
Okay, bit of a geeky moment here....
By my reckoning, Bochmann's swims totalled 5600m (excluding a DNF for 200m Br), winning 7 golds and 3 bronzes, with 1 AGBT in 400 free.

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posted Aug 8, 2010

Just how much training are these
youngsters doing ?
We have seen in Athletics that if
a youngster is pushed too hard too
soon there is a risk of 'burnout'.
Read an article on Rebecca Adlington
in the 'freebie' Friday Sport Mag.
and just reading her schedule left
me exausted !

Respect.

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posted Aug 8, 2010

A couple of the girls were on 5live the other day saying they train in the pool for about 2 hours before going to then 2 gym and getting a bite to eat.

In the afternoon they do another seesion in the pool.

To think these footballers complain about a couple of hours training 3 times a week!

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posted Aug 8, 2010

That is not out the ordinary even at county/district level.
There are a massive number give up the sport in early teens due to the training commitments compared to the payback in results and the need for a life.
My personal opinion would be that although it does improve performance the balance towards all this training has tipped a bit too far, espicially when you add in the fact that the morning swims often start at 5am or earlier!
The training is also very intensive.
The whole family lifestyle is heavily disrupted as well.

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posted Aug 8, 2010

I think the amount of training time varies a lot between the clubs. The top 'super' clubs like Plymouth Leander, Leeds, Manchester Aquatics, Millfield, Sheffield etc. will have a lot of pool time, and I'm guessing (someone correct me if I'm wrong) they expect their swimmers to commit to around 20 hours pool time a week. Of course this may be longer for distance swimmers, and slightly shorter for sprint swimmers. On top of this, you can expect to be doing a few hours of dry land work. I guess most swimmers would be covering between 30 - 80 km a week in the pool, from County to International standard.

My local club, which is much, much smaller than the above, has approx. 13 hrs of pool time available to the top squad. If you are selected for the home countries, I think you have to commit to a minimum of 15 hrs pool time a week.

Unless you're involved in swimming, I don't really think you appreciate the commitment that swimmers make. 2 hrs morning training before school, 2 hrs after school. Sacrificing a social life outside swimming and school. If you are still swimming at 18, or through University, you have done well. Like NOSIDA says above, most have given up by this time. I think it is quite rare that a swimmer at the top of National rankings at 13 will still be there at 18. It is a survival of the fittest thing. Either you focus on the aerobic capacity, and get the meterage in at a young age, and risk burn out, or you can focus more on the technique aspect at a young age, and build up the pool time as they get older (I'm not a coach, so these are just general observations). I only ever swam 20 - 24 hours a week (c. 80-90km) at training camps, so can't really say what it would be like to swim that distance on a weekly basis on top of school work.

Also, it is thought to cost around £5,000 a year on average for a swimmer at National level to train and compete. For a sport with very little financial reward, and then really only to Olympic champions, that is a lot of investment for little return. The swimming culture in Australia is different, however. I believe their swimmers are more akin to footballers in the UK, at least the likes of Thorpe and Hackett.

Anyway, a few personal thoughts, and some insight.
Bit epic, sorry.

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