GB OLYMPIC TRIALS 2012

THINGS HAPPEN FOR A REASON


Further from my last posting.....where i still say THANK YOU, you will remember that i told you about things happening for a reason, the course that i got booked on got cancelled so i immediately signed up for the next one. Stomping round the house solved nothing so i did my normal and headed off to the water, 5K of swimming later and i felt calmer, not exactly one of those 'oh well' moments but calmer, i had be soooo looking forward to it and the course was pretty much imminent, for the sake of 2 people it got cancelled, not impressed but literally nothing i could do about it, next one is booked!
But as i have said things happen for a reason, i got an email, inviting me to attend the GB National Championship trials, now knowing that everyone that knew me, knew of my wish list which included this event, but also them knowing that i did not manage to get tickets, my first thought was this is a wind up. But a part of me deep inside was doing cartwheels.....could it be real, the logos looked right, the name at the bottom of the email was right. Time to double check, so i sent another email else where.....nothing!!!!! Now do i open my mouth let the whole world know or keep it quiet.
Getting up the next day, the first thing i did even before putting the kettle on was check the emails....nothing. But then later that day confirmation, oh i was going to see the GB swim stars, how exciting. Andrew Reid, MD of Verve would be meeting us at the venue and act as our guide and host, we had a brilliant time with him.


Now they say that everything happens for a reason, had my course not been cancelled i would not have been able to attend the trials, so there was a good reason for the cancellation, someone somewhere was looking after me.


Wednesday soon arrived and the weather was fine, travelling down did not seem to take that long at all, getting into London, with the instructions as given by Linn meant it was uneventful too. Parking too was easily found, in the local shopping centre which due to a recent referb looked splendid. Having arranged prior to travelling to meet up with fellow swimmer and freediver Dan Graham, who is a first response first aider to the Olympics, a quick phone call and he was there. Coffee and cake and a great chat about freediving and i am hooked, i have to give this a go. Dan was great company explaining his role in the Olympics and that the trials were not just a trial for the swimmers, it was a chance for everyone to perfect their performance, it was great to see his enthusiasm for his work and that all the hard work was paying off with the smooth and uneventful running of the games thus far.

Time flew by and soon enough it was time to meet Andrew, finding the venue was not a problem, straight out the shopping centres doors and there it was right in front of us. Wow, it looked impressive. The site area big enough to accommodate the thousands that would be flooding through its doors later in the year! Staff positioned all along the route were friendly, full of smiles and the occasional joke or two. Joining the queue, i telephoned Andrew, he had the tickets, whilst waiting for him who should walk by but Sharon Davis, looking remote but splendid. Next walking along, deep in concentration was Tom Litten, the very special reason we were glad to get tickets, those of you that have read previous blogs will know that Tom is very special to us having swam with him and had the pleasure of introducing him to open water swimming. Tonight Tom was competing, a hug huge from him and off he vanished to finish his preparations.


Before you could blink Andrew arrived, big grin on his face, he was as excited as we were by this event. You could tell instantly that we were going to get on. A gentle giant of a man with a fab sense of humour is how i would instantly describe him, he was as excited as we were to be there.  Going through security was similar to that of an airport with scanners and wands being waved. An elderly couple going through before us seemed a tad confused that they had not been recognised as they had attended the mornings swim viewing!

Entering the venue is breath taking, and Dan was right in that its a 'wow' moment, he had described to us the groups of school children who had flooded through the doors each day, each group giving a collective wow as they took in the sights, for us adults it was no different. It simply is a sunning venue, attention to detail is second to none. We stood in awe before the camera's quickly came out. Staff were great telling us where our seats were, and all the facilities. They genuinely seemed to be enjoying their work, a massive bonus, it must be great to see the reactions of peoples faces as they come through the doors.

Tom Litten after his warm up

Already in the pool, like a mass pod of dolphins were swimmers turning their arms over and getting warmed up, some using training equipment, some under their own steam, the different techniques on display for me was amazing, the drills they were doing food for thought! Like a child in a sweet shop i decided that i had to have the clackers, flags and anything else that would make this event more memorable, so diving outside  (no pun intended), i set off in search of such goodies only to be enveloped in a bear like hug from Bryn Dymott, he had said that he would be there. It really is great to meet up with fellow swimmers and put a face to the name and all the chats that happen on facebook. He's a very personable man, obviously inspired by what he had seen so far and getting tempted to return to masters swimming....we will be following your adventures should you choose to do so Bryn!

I had told Tom that we were coming down, and that the mankini that i encouraged/forced him to wear during his time with us in the water would be making a reappearance. Thankfully Andrew took this in his stride as i donned it in the seats.

Watching the swimmers compete is inspiring, the speed but the ease with which they swim makes us mere mortals look like we are floundering at best in the water, each movement they make is graceful and precise, the exact product of hours of training coming to fruition.

Being mainly a open water swimmer i found it quite fascinating the array of costumes, jammers, goggles that the swimmers were wearing, Andrew was also interested in the differences in the equipment requirements of pool swimmers verus open water swimmers. It struck me how little the swimmers used in comparison, and also that with small tweaks of equipment that the open water market could be easily catered for. It seems that the market as a whole caters for the top down swimmers (and quite rightly so), us normal swimmers have diluted versions of what they wear, many due to the cost involved and also the issues surrounding catering for a diverse, large and competitive market. It was good to be able to discuss 'our' requirements and explain the reasons why for example pool goggles although wonderful are not great in the open water due to their limited peripheral vision, size, and ability to stay suctioned to our faces in the types of weather we face. I could see Andrews brain recording all the information and storing it away, i am sure had we not been there for the purposes of watching the swimming we could have spent the night in a pub with scraps of paper having an in-depth conversation about products and their usage and the transferability of some of those products.

Racing took on a pace which is amazing to see as did the conversations around us, what is nice for the spectator is that the coaches and event staff are also in with the crowd, despite most not knowing who they were talking about the frantic pace of hushed conversations had me intrigued. Is it as nerve racking for them as it is for the swimmers i wonder, they seemed harsh at times in their verdicts after swims, did they realise the impact of participating in such a life changing event and the effects it can have mentally and physically on the swimmer, i am sure they did.

Tom Litten

Seeing Tom swim was an amazing experience, he literally flew through the water and i hope he could hear me screaming as he glided through the water. As soon as his race finished he had promised to come and say hi, and this he did, he was disappointed with his swim but for us it was just brilliant to watch and it was a proud moment to be able to say, i know him!. Pictures had to be taken...with the mankini. A few hugs later and it was tome for Tom to go off for a well earned drink, i shall remain his second best fan (his family are his first) and truly look forward to seeing his career progress.

 Returning to Andrew, conversation again turned to products, Andrew seemed truly interested in the differences and the requirement, some of the women had amazing costumes on, bright and really jazzy looking, but these for all that they looked wonderful would be impractical for us wetsuit wearers, the straps too thin, and the sides to high which would lead to chaffing, which as us suit wearers know is a nightmare and can cause scarring if the chaffing is severe enough. We don't just need to keep warm in the water we need to be safe too, the cold in the water is excellent as disguising injury as many a swimmer will testify to when then have exited the water to find necks rubbed raw, feet bruised from treading on the hidden sharp rocks underfoot. That said to have a jazzy practical costume.....wow that would be fab.

Lyndon Longhorne, getting ready to swim

Soon it was the turn of the paralympians, remarkably and as is normally the case those that struggle on land are amazing in the water. Any other sport may have denied them the chance to compete but the water welcomes one and all, embraces them and supports them. This is evident in the speed and grace displayed. Many a child who feel being deprived of an electronic gadget and 'forced' to enter the great outdoors  moaning the whole time should attend these games, and thank themselves lucky, it may be a big wake up call that sitting on the sofa while the sun is blazing outside is not an option, the swimmers were inspirational, determined and eloquent in their address of the water.

All in all we had an amazing day, the journey home was uneventful but seemed long but we grinned and chatted swim talk the whole way, still grinning now. Thank you so much to Linn and Andrew of

http://www.theaqualife.com and Verve, you have been wonderful. For all of you unfamiliar with the aqualife team, please use the link and register with them, they are truely interested in what us the normal lay swimmer needs and take on board what we say. I had an incredible preview of what the Olympics are going to be like, got to watch Tom Litten race, brilliant night!! Memories made and stored, fab!