After having not updated my blog since 2014, you may now be wondering...... where is she now?
WATCH THIS SPACE!!
ME
Tuesday 30 January 2018
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 29th 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).
Tuesday 29th 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 30th
July 2014
My first event at the British Gas National Age Group Swimming Championships was the 200m Individual Medley, I successfully qualified 5th
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 11th overall in my age group (1st
reserve for the final).
After a good rest I returned to the pool, ready for final of
the 200m Individual Medley. Turning 8th
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 3rd 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 31st
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 5th
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 13th 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 9th at the end of the first length, I managed to
come back with a strong second half, maintaining my 5th position in
another pb of 1.03. The gap between 3rd
to 10th position in this final was just 1.4 seconds!
Friday 1st
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 2nd
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 6th 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 24th 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 4th, with
just 0.4 between 1st-4th 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
2nd 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 3rd
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!
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!
