British Championships 2018

British Championships / Edinburgh International Meet 2018

This year the British Championships took place at Edinburgh's Commonwealth Pool from 1st-4th March 2018.  The event was combined with the Edinburgh International Meet which attracts swimmers from around Europe.

This year, although not having swam to the best of my ability due to injury and medical set backs, I successfully achieved qualifying times for 6 events over the 4 days.  Just days prior to competing, I found out that I was suffering from a Viral infection which was not the best of news at all.  

My results were not quite what I had hoped for, over the 4 days, my coach and I were able to pick up some extremely important points from my swims which will help me when I travel to the Gold Coast in just 2 weeks time.

My next update will be in a week or two's time as I set off on my trip of a lifetime to compete for Team IOM at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

Geneva International Challenge - January 2018

 51^st Geneva International Challenge

At the end of January I travelled to Geneva, Switzerland to compete in the 51^st Geneva International Challenge.  The competition took place at Centre Sportif des Vernets and attracted swimmers from over 50 clubs from many nations including Israel, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and the UK, proving to be an extremely high-profile meet.  Swimming for my school, Mount Kelly, I competed in 7 events – 50m/100m/200m Breaststroke, 50m Butterfly, 50m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke and 200m Individual Medley. 

In the heat of the 50m Breaststroke, I finished 6^th and qualified for the final, improving on both my heat time and position, finishing 3^rd and taking a bronze medal.  In the 100m Breaststroke, I successfully qualified fastest for the final, but even after having swam faster in the final, I was pipped into 2^nd position, taking the silver in a season’s long course best time.  In the 200m Breaststroke it was a similar story, after having qualified fastest for the final, I was once again touched into second position by the same swimmer, Sara Staudinger from SC Uster Wallisellen, therefore having to once again settle for the silver medal.

Having recently received the fabulous news that I had been selected to compete in the Commonwealth Games in Australia this April for the Isle of Man Team, I have been informed that although not a backstroke swimmer, I will be leading the team out on the backstroke leg of the 4x100m Medley Relay.  With this in mind, I decided to ‘test the water’ and see how my backstroke was looking; finishing 14^th overall, just 2 seconds slower than my personal best time, my school coach and I were extremely pleased with this result – one of my main aims over the coming weeks in preparation for the Games is to spend some extra time training on backstroke in order to be at my best in this event giving the team the best possible start in the relay.

In the 50m Butterfly, I finished 12^th, narrowly missing out on the final.   Having qualified 4^th fastest for the 200m Individual Medley final, I swam in the lane next to Italy’s Federica Pellegrini (the current 200m Freestyle World Record holder and Olympic gold medallist) – unfortunately, during the final my time was slightly slower than my heat, finishing 5^th overall.

During the competition, competing clubs accumulated points on all finalists and at the end of the meet, our team, Mount Kelly School were announced Top Visiting Club and received a well-earned trophy.

After a poor season in 2016/2017 through injury and illness, it was great to be back in the pool swimming on or around my personal best times again.  I feel that my determination and resilience to the hurdles I have faced over the last 12 months have made me much stronger mentally and physically.  My next competition will be in Edinburgh at the British Championships and Edinburgh International (combined) before heading off down under to the Commonwealth Games.

2018....

What a way to start the New Year....  I received the fantastic news that I had been successful in being selected to compete for the Isle of Man at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, being held in Australia's Gold Coast in April!

I am extremely honoured to have been selected - especially after having suffered some major setbacks within the last 12 months.   During the qualifying window, I successfully achieved qualifying times in the 50m/100m Backstroke, 50m/100m/200m Breaststroke, 50m/100m Butterfly and 200m/400m Individual Medley, now I need to sit down with my coaches and carefully decide exactly which events I will be swimming as it would be impossible to compete in them all.

After the worst flight to the Island I had ever been subjected to on New Year's Day, during Hurricane Eleanor, I eventually landed safely!  The following morning, I attended a Media Workshop with many of the other athletes, followed by a presentation regarding Anti-Doping in Sport before the official team launch took place later that evening.  The announcement of Team IOM was held at the Claremont Hotel in Douglas on the 2nd January, hosted by Jo Pack from The Sport Package.

Myself, Laura, Guy and Steph

The evening was well attended and we were brought to the front alphabetically in our sports.  The team consists of 32 athletes with representatives from the following sports: Athletics, Badminton, Cycling (track/road/mountain bike), Gymnastics, Lawn Bowls, Shooting, Swimming and Triathlon.  My swimming team mates consist of Guy Davies, Charlotte Atkinson, Steph Brew and Laura Kinley.  It is extremely exciting for the Isle of Man, that we will have the opportunity to not only compete as individuals, but also due to the fact that it is the first time the Island has been able to send a female relay team to the Commonwealth Games.  We will be competing in the 4x100m Freestyle and 4x100m Medley Relays which are always

(Details of the Isle of Man Commonwealth Games Team)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/42557178

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Isle of Man Commonwealth Games Association for giving me the opportunity to compete once again for Team Isle of Man at these Games, I am looking forward to the challenges ahead, and hope to be able to come away with some great results.

Quick round up of the last 4 years....

2015

I was selected to compete for the England Talent Squad Phase 3 in Italy - I had a great competition, winning 1 silver medal and 2 bronze medals!  Setting some great pb times in the process.

Later in 2015 I was selected to compete for the Isle of Man at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa.  I competed in:  50m/100m Breaststroke and 200m Individual Medley where I successfully went on to swim in the A Finals, the 50m Backstroke and 100m Butterfly where I qualified for the B Finals. Whilst in Samoa, I celebrated my 16th Birthday, I had an extremely memorable trip and am extremely grateful to the Isle of Man CG Association for giving me the opportunity to compete for the Island at such a wonderful location. 

In September 2016, I began my studies at Mount Kelly School in Tavistock, Devon - Here I have had the opportunity to train with some fabulous swimmers and under some of the best Coaches.  Whilst swimming at Pioneer 79 Swimming Club in Accrington, my training week consisted of 6 x 1.5hour sessions in the pool and 2x1 hour land training sessions.  By moving down to MK, I have stepped up my training considerably to 9x2 hour pool sessions and 4x1 hour land training sessions.  At first I was finding it extremely difficult, but I competed at the Winter Nationals at the end of 2016, achieving some great personal best times and I also medalled.

Unfortunately, during 2017 I suffered an injury to my left shoulder, I underwent endless physio sessions and eventually, when my right shoulder too became injured I was left no option but to seek further medical advice.  I saw a consultant who did various tests and scans, but was advised to reduce my competition programme and adapt my training until both shoulders recovered.  This affected me not just physically, but also mentally as I was unable to continue my training and competing in the way I had hoped with my move to Mount Kelly School.  I felt extremely frustrated and disappointed.  I did manage to compete in a few events during the season, however at these competitions, I had to withdraw from a number of events in order to prevent any further unnecessary injuries.  

At the beginning of July, just as everything was starting to come back together again, I was selected to compete in Croatia for the South-West of England and was due to travel to Lanzarote to take part in a swim camp to prepare for the British Summer Championships in Sheffield.  Unfortunately, just days prior to travelling to Croatia I suffered a devastating medical issue - my plans, my progress and everything suddenly came to yet another standstill.  Since the 2014 Commonwealth Games, I had been working towards my goal of being selected to compete for the Isle of Man once again on the Gold Coast in Australia.  I was told that unfortunately from that moment, I wouldn't be able to swim for a number of months, until I had undertaken a number of tests - which as you can imagine, after having suffering injuries throughout the season was a huge blow.   

It was extremely difficult for me during the summer to actually stay away from the pool - I travelled to and from Plymouth with my dad to have a variety of tests, I even travelled over to Sheffield to spend a day with the Team at the British Summer Championships - I was determined to be back in the pool again as soon as possible.... I used the summer to recharge myself both physically and mentally - I completed my Level 1 Swimming Teaching Course, worked hard in the gym and had a lot of 'family time'. 

Upon my return to school in September, I was still unable to train in the pool, until out of the blue I received the welcomed news clearing me of any issues and allowing me to get back in the pool and train/compete.  This was the best news ever!  In November, I competed at the English Schools Swimming Association National Relay Finals, it was great to be back in the pool competing again, and I even managed to catch up with a few of my friends from Pioneer 79 who were also competing for their respective schools (and my younger brother!).

Me and my brother...

Pioneer 79 Team-mates

Mount Kelly Team-mates

In November, I was selected to compete and travelled to South Wales for the final of the Arena League for Team Mount Kelly.  It was a great feeling to be in a position to compete for the team and earn some points again.  Our team won the final and next year, we will take part in the Premier League for the first time.... 

In December, I competed in the British Winter Championships - this competition is usually short course, however this year it had been changed to Long Course and was being used as a final opportunity for swimmers to be selected to compete for England at the Commonwealth Games.  Therefore, as you can imagine the quality of swimmers was extremely high, the competition took place over 5 days just before Christmas in Sheffield.  Having achieved qualifying times in 50m/100m/200m Breaststroke, 50m Fly and 200m Individual Medley I took each event as it came.  Although my times were not quite on my personal best times, they were very close.  Both myself and my coach, Emma Collings-Barnes were very pleased with my results.  In the final session, it was fabulous to watch my Pioneer 79 Swimming Club team mates win a silver medal in the Mens 4x100m Medley Relay, it was fully deserved and they were all really excited.  Straight after, the very last race of the competition, I was competing in the 4x100m Medley Relay Team for MK.  We had qualified fastest for the final and swam in lane 4.  In the final, the time I swam on the breaststroke leg was almost a second better than the time I swam in my individual race, so I was extremely pleased, we all had a great race, making sure our take-overs were perfect.  Not only did we win the gold medal, but our team also set a new Mount Kelly Open Medley Relay record which was brilliant!  It was a great end to a very difficult year.... roll on 2018!

Me and my GOLD medal!!

Me and the Pioneer 79 Boys 4x100m Medley Relay Team who won silver!!!

WHAT'S HAPPENED TO NIAMH OVER THE LAST 3 AND A HALF YEARS??

After having not updated my blog since 2014, you may now be wondering...... where is she now?

WATCH THIS SPACE!!

Last post found in my drafts!

No.10 - Downing Street

Upon returning from Glasgow, my mum received an email asking if any members of the IOM team would like to travel down to London to attend a 'reception' at No.10 Downing Street where we would get to meet the Prime Minister, Mr David Cameron himself!  Without hesitation, we replied straight away to put my name forward.  My mum would make a day of it by travelling down with my brother too and they would visit some of the sights whilst I went into No.10.


I was so happy when the next email arrived to find out that I had been successful in being chosen to go to London. 

Another post stuck in my drafts!

Sponsored Swim for the British Heart Foundation

On Saturday 16th August 2014 I took part in a fundraising event held at David Lloyd Gym, Chorley.  The event was organised by a little girl called Rosanna Ogden, a 4 year old child who was diagnosed with a heart condition at a very early age.  Her parents were advised to get Rosanna into swimming, she has turned out to be a little 'mermaid' and has raised £1,000's of pounds over the last couple of years for the British Heart Foundation. 

The event was extremely well supported and we managed to get swimmers from Pioneer 79 to join in the event.  The other swimmers from P79 were my younger brother, Harry, Caitlin and Ryan Armstrong, Tom Baynes and Elodie Smallwood.  We had a great day, full of fun and the swim itself was done in the open air pool, which was fun, especially when it rained!!

The event was very successful and during the day, we were lucky to meet Rebecca Adlington too.

Posts stuck in my Drafts...

Goodbye Glasgow......... Hello Sheffield!!!

Tuesday 29^th July 2014
Today, I bid farewell to Scotland as I travelled to Sheffield with my family for the 2014 ASA National Age Group Swimming Championships.  To be honest I was absolutely gutted that I had to leave the Games as I would have liked to have taken advantage of the fact I could go to almost any event I wanted with my athletes pass!  I'd done all my hard work in the pool, I would've liked to enjoyed the rest of the week. Anyway, it was organised and we headed off to Sheffield and I'd be back in Scotland on Sunday for the closing ceremony, I CANT WAIT!




Upon arriving at the hotel, I literally dropped off my luggage and headed straight to the pool to meet my coach and team mate Natasha Rogan for a light pre competition training session.   It was great to see them both and it didn't take me long to realise that I was actually very excited to compete in the Nationals!  Still hyped up from my experience in Glasgow I was looking forward to compete against swimmers of my own age again.  This year I successfully qualified  for 7 events in total (100/200m Backstroke, 100/200m Breaststroke, 200/400m Individual Medley and 100m Butterfly). 

Wednesday 30^th July 2014

My first event at the British Gas National Age Group Swimming Championships was the 200m Individual Medley, I successfully qualified 5^th fastest for the final in a time of 2.23, slightly off pace, however I hoped that I would be able to produce a better result in the final.  In the same session, I swam the 200m Backstroke – in a slightly disappointing time of 2.24, finishing 11^th overall in my age group (1^st reserve for the final). 

After a good rest I returned to the pool, ready for final of the 200m Individual Medley.  Turning 8^th after the first 50m, I managed to pick up 5 places on my backstroke leg (very unusual for me!), turning just under 2 seconds behind the leader at this point, Tazmin Pugh.  My breaststroke leg is probably my strongest leg in the medley, and on this occasion it produced a leg where I was able to turn first, just 3/100ths of a second ahead of Pugh at the 150m point.  I couldn’t believe that I was in with a chance of a medal - however, after giving the final 50m everything I had, it just proved to be too much, touching 3^rd and taking my first ever National Age Group Medal.  I was extremely pleased with my result, and as well as winning a bronze medal, I produced a new pb!  Even my coach, Mike was stuck for words, he was extremely pleased to have produced his first ever National medallist!

Thursday 31^st July 2014

Choosing not to enter the 400m Individual Medley due to the layout of the programme, my first event of the day was due to be the 200m Breaststroke.  However having been advised not to swim the distance event by the IOM Team Physio in Glasgow due to the ongoing problems with my knee, my only event for the day was then the 100m Butterfly.  Achieving a new personal best time in the heat, I qualified 5^th fastest for the final in a time of 1.04. 

Today I also took part in a relay event for Pioneer 79, the girls 4x100m Freestyle.  Our team consisted of Natasha Rogan, myself, Meghann Leaver and Alice Harding.  With 40 teams qualifying to compete, we were really pleased to finish 13^th overall, missing out on a place in the final by less than 1 second!  Each team qualifies to compete at the Nationals from results at the Regional Championships, with the fastest 40 teams throughout the country selected to swim.  This was the first time Pioneer 79 had ever competed at this level in a relay - not only did we manage to qualify for the Nationals in this particular relay, we also managed it on the 4x200m Freestyle and 4x100m Medley relays too! 

After another relaxing afternoon back at the hotel, I returned for the finals session in the evening.  The final of the 100m Butterfly proved to be extremely close and exciting, turning 9^th at the end of the first length, I managed to come back with a strong second half, maintaining my 5^th position in another pb of 1.03.  The gap between 3^rd to 10^th position in this final was just 1.4 seconds!

Friday 1^st August 2014

Today was a well earned ‘rest’ day for me, to make it even more special it was also my Mum’s birthday.  As a treat, we all headed off to Meadowhall for the afternoon, followed by a birthday tea, before I returned to the pool the following day for what was to be my final day of competing at the 2014 National Age Group Swimming Championships, before returning to Glasgow for the Closing Ceremony.

Saturday 2^nd August 2014

After a poor start to the day in the 100m Backstroke , I was also disappointed with my swim in the heat of the 100m Breaststroke, however, I had done enough to qualify 6^th fastest for the final later that evening.    Having just swam the 100m Breaststroke Heat, I had a quick turnaround and was soon behind the blocks ready for the 4x200m Freestyle Relay.  Again, with 40 teams competing, we were pleased with our result, finishing 24^th overall.

The final of the 100m Breaststroke was to be the last event for me at these championships, I was determined to give it everything I had left.  At the turn, I was lying 4^th, with just 0.4 between 1^st-4^th place, I could sense it was extremely close and just went for it!  I finished the race and glanced up at the scoreboard…… I couldn’t believe it, I had finished 2^nd and took the silver medal!  What a fantastic finish to a very very busy two weeks of competing!  I looked up at my family in the spectators gallery, they, along with the other parents, were clapping and cheering, it was an amazing feeling.

Sunday 3^rd August 2014

After another long drive we arrived in Glasgow around 3pm, we were all very tired, my mum and dad dropped me back off at the Games Village whilst they headed back to the Yurt they had previously been ‘glamping’ in!  They decided to watch the closing ceremony in front of the TV with a well earned bottle of wine! 

The Closing ceremony was so much fun from the beginning to the end.  All the competitors and team managers were told to squeeze into the tents that were dotted everywhere in the centre of the stadium, when we were given the 'signal' we were all to run out of the tents and begin what can only be described as a 'big party'!  The atmosphere was electric, everyone had a fantastic night, with all the athletes just wandering, dancing and generally having fun whilst Lulu, Deacon Blue and Kylie Minogue performed and entertained us all.  It was a great evening, although everyone was enjoying themselves, they were also disappointed it had all come to an end.  The XX Commonwealth Games in Glasgow is an event that will stay with me for a long long time, I had the experience of a lifetime and enjoyed every minute!