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!