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Andy's Blog Page
March 2008
Hey guys,
For the last 3 months it has been training, training and some more training, but now as I begin to taper (ease off at training in the aim of starting to feel really good in the water) it feels as if it has all gone past in a blur and I’m confident that I will swim well at Olympic trials.
As well as training I have done a little bit of racing over the last few months. I have raced all around the Gold Coast working on different parts of my races, with an obvious focus on the clock.
One of the competitions, which I focussed on was NSW State Champs at the beginning of Feb. It acted as a dress rehearsal for the Olympic Trials. This comp was perfectly timed as I could establish how well my training was going and make any adjustments needed. The meet was 5 weeks from trials and I was pretty happy with my results. I subsequently adjusted my training to include more medium paced butterfly swimming and more butterfly drills. This is too help me find the rhythm that I think my fly was lacking at that meet.
This year has been the only time in my life that all I have done is swimming. In the past I have been either at school or at university and generally very busy with other activities. This ‘freedom’ has given me a lot of extra time, which meant I was thinking about swimming a lot more than what I had. This is not always a good thing!
To avoid this, I find what works for me, is to only focus on training when I’m at training. When I’m away from the pool I focus on other things and forget about the last training session (whether it was good or bad.) So in order to get some balance back in my life and stop myself from over-thinking I bought some golf clubs. I have been playing a lot more golf. I have also been busy moving house and hanging out with mates. Having balance and having the ability to ‘switch off’ is also important in racing, so during Olympic Trials I will be keeping myself busy reading, watching TV and eating to stop me from thinking and stressing about swimming.
The Olympic Trials run from the 22nd-29th of March and are held in Sydney. Olympic trials are like no other meet. I know this because I experienced it as a 17 year old when I missed the team by 0.19 of a second in the 100 Backstroke. The feeling around the pool is electric and the pressure is on all swimmers to be at the top of their game. Trials are the only opportunity to qualify for the Olympic team, so it’s either swim well or miss out. There are no second chances.
At trials I am competing in the 50,100 fly and the 100 freestyle. I am hoping to make the Olympic team in the two 100metre events.
This will be my last blog until after trials, so wish me luck and cheer me on as I try to qualify for my first Olympic Team.
Have fun,
Andrew
P.S This month I have been lucky enough to be selected in the Cleo Top 50 Bachelors of the Year. This is quite an honour as I’m gracing the glossy pages with some pretty big names. Vote for me on http://www.cleobachelors.com.au/Profile.aspx?id=35 so I don’t finish last!!!
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