Oadby & Wigston Junior Sportsman Award 2015

Oadby & Wigston Junior Sportsman Award 2015

Wow, it’s been a busy few months, what with taking some GSCE exams and lots of assessments before Christmas, there’s hardly been time to catch my breath.

I had a brilliant rest over Christmas and spent as much time relaxing on my new Xbox One (usually after an early morning swim session!)

With a repetitive injury in my shoulder, I’ve been struggling with my competitiveness and fitness lately. I’ve started having sports massages and plan to visit a physio therapist soon, so it’s good timing for us to be in our short course technical cycle at training. I’ve really been focusing on my technique and hope to have improved enough to start seeing seem times drop!

Before Christmas, I was nominated (by my school) and shortlisted for a Junior Sportsman Award. We (my family) went to the evening and saw some real talent and dedication to various sports, so I was extremely pleased and honoured to win on the night.

Me with Lucy Hatton

 My award was presented to me by Team GB athlete Lucy Hatton (60m hurdles ranked 3rd British all-time). Whilst receiving the award, there were plenty of questions asked about a "day in the life of" a swimmer. Sharp intakes of breath from the audience when I mentioned about the 4.20am alarm calls and the amount of meterage/training etc. We also spoke about my main achievement of 2015, taking the Bronze at the Midlands Open Water Championships 3,000m

Talking in Public...there's a first!

  I was really nervous on the night but so pleased to have been a part of it all.

Smile please :)

  My next swimming focus is the County Championships which’ll be ran over the next 3 weekends at Loughbrough University and Braunstone leisure centre.

I’ll be swimming the following:

 

50, 100, 200, 400 & 1500 Freestyle

50, 100, 200 Backstroke

50 Breaststroke

200 Individual Medley 

Lets see how I do this year?! :)

Manchester International Open Meet 2015

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted! but since my last post, I’ve been on holiday (twice), it’s the start of the new season, a new head coach, new focus, GCSE’s and life just getting more manic!

I’ve just completed a busy weekend of racing at the Manchester International Open. It was fantastic to swim and be in the same company as LiamTancock, Fran Halsall, Roberto Pavoni, Hannah Miley, Molly Renshaw and loads more swimming stars.

We arrived in Manchester on the Friday afternoon, checked in at the hotel had a walk around the massive Trafford Centre followed by a good meal and a great night's’ sleep.

Saturday saw a mixed bag of results, my 1500m free was off a little but I had good personal best times on both the 200 freestyle and 200 backstroke. Had a great night relaxing with my family,

another brilliant meal and a good laugh back at the room later on :)

Sunday morning saw a big hearty breakfast and a trip to the pool for the middle session. Again, I had personal best times on 200 IM, and 100 backstroke. I managed to take gold (in my age group)

for the 400 freestyle and also got Fran Halsall’s autograph along with an Arena swimming hat too!

So, even with a cough and a cold, I had a good weekend of swimming which will be a starting point to build upon for the rest of the season.

See you next time J

3k Open Water Midlands Championships 2015

Fantastic result for me on Sunday at Bosworth Water and the Midlands Open Water Championships. It was my first time swimming 3000m and because of a change in the course, it sounds like we probably swam 3500m in the end :)

I was really pleased to see my name in 3rd place and had to look twice at my time of 42.56.02 though. I'd sort of expected a time of around 35 mins as i'd swam 2k in training and came in on 23.00.

It was sort of confirmed that the course was indeed longer than stated and many had the same opinion but to be honest, i'm not bothered as we all swam the same course and I came 3rd in my age group and 10th out of the 71 men and women that took part.

I really ought to see about a triathlon now!

Midlands Open Water Championships 2015

I got the Student Voice Leadership Award!

Last night saw South Wigston High School have their annual awards evening where various

students won awards for top effort and excelling in different areas of school.

Our school puts huge emphasis on effort, it isn't always about winning, it isn't always about how many points you get, to us it's about the effort that you put in and it's about how you conduct yourself...these awards celebrate everything that's good about our school and it's awesome students and staff!

This year i've had the pleasure of being Head Student and all the duty's that includes. It's been interesting to be a part of the engine that makes the school run and although I was asked to stand again, i've decided to focus on my school work during the next GCSE year.

Last night I was presented with the Student Voice Leadership Award for my time as Head Student It was a great night and one that I was really pleased to be part of, we've got some seriously talented students.

South Wigston High School Awards Evening 2015

My Headmaster, Mr Toward, is retiring at the end of this term so there were a couple of surprises during the evening and it was great to see him speechless for a change.

He's supported me so much and his door was always open if I needed to talk about anything, we'll all miss him and wish him well :)

English Schools Swimming Association (ESSA) 2015 Result

English Schools Swimming Association (ESSA) 65th Inter-Divisional Championships

Sunderland Aquatics Centre 27-28 June 2015

Just a quick update...our East Midlands squad had a good time both at the pool and "resting" in the hotel in the evening, it was good to spend some time with my mates

at night too!

I was also pleased to get a small PB on my 400 free as i'd gone slower by 3-4 secs the last two outings so i was pleased to get that monkey off my back :)

It was a tough meet with England's finest taking part so we all had a our work cut but we all swam well getting PB's

East Midlands ESSA Squad 2015 (4th row up, 3rd in from right)

Swimming related, next stop for me is the 3000m Midlands Open Water Championships at Bosworth Water on Sunday 5th July...looks like it's gonna be a scorcher so should be great!

Bosworth Water Park

English Schools & Regional Open Water Championships...i'm back!

Hi everyone, it’s been a while….I’ve had a rough couple of months in terms of achieving the times I needed for English National championship invite. My focus was always on the 1500m selection for English Nationals but I could never get near a long course time. My short course time (17.03) was a great result for me but it never happened for me in a long course pool (17.41).

My 400m (4.26.81) time was a nice surprise for me but again, bittersweet, I ended up missing the cut for that invite by about 2.8secs. I was disappointed to say the least. I also qualified with 2 times in the Midlands Championships but with our scheme of work and training, things didn't really hit that sweet spot and It’s taken me a while to bounce back to be honest but I've continued to train hard and amongst school stuff, I've had two things to focus on…

Sunderland Aquatic Centre

This weekend sees the English Schools Swimming Association(ESSA) 65th Inter-Divisional Championships where I’ll be part of a squad representing the East Midlands at the Sunderland Aquatic Centre.

I'll stay in a hotel with my squad for a night, be kitted out with the ESSA teamwear and take part in some media work too. I'll only be swimming the 400m free but I'm gonna go for it!

The following weekend, I’ll be competing in the Midlands OpenWater Championships. Last year I competed in the 1500m but this year I’m doubling up to do the 3000m. My Dad and I went to Bosworth Water Park last weekend so I could get the feel for open water again as it’s been a year…it was nice to swim with the fish, weeds and smelly water again…not!

Bosworth Water Park (that's me pointing at my Dad....it's chilly!)

Thanks for reading, I hope it's gonna be a good couple of weeks!

Success in the 1500m and 400m Freestyle!

The Leicestershire ASA County Championships started a couple of weeks ago. I've swam OK with a couple of medals as a bonus. I got a silver and 2nd place for my 1500m freestyle (sc) with a time of 17.03.96 which was about 40 seconds under the Midlands qualifying time and puts me 2nd in the County, 7th in the Midlands and around 16th in the Country. It was my best swim to date and felt great all the way. I'd got a good race plan and most importantly stuck to it :)

The picture below is of me with the 3rd place bronze I got for the 400m freestyle (lc) with a time of 4.30.53 which just managed to get me a Midland qualifying time.

Bronze for the 400m Freestyle at Loughborough Uni Pool of Dreams

I'll be swimming again this weekend in the Counties so i'm looking forward to more positive results :)

Swimming and the Duke of Edinburgh (well, almost..)

Hi guys, sorry i've not posted for a while...it's been manic! I'll start doing regular posts again soon but for now here's a couple of pictures.

I'm 3rd from the left in the middle of the shot!

These pictures were taken by Mel at +Work Your Words Copywriting at the Leicester Sharks annual club championships. It was great to get my race head on again!

The one below is not swimming related but it's what's been keeping me busy recently.

This was taken as I came back to HQ after a weekend on my first expedition for the Duke of Edinburgh bronze award.

That's me on the right!

Thanks for looking, more to follow soon :)

Don't forget to follow me on twitter @swimmerjd

A BIG thank you for my new goggles!

I was presented with some new goggles from my local opticians Edmonds & Slatter who my family have been using for years. I always have my eyes tested there and so does my Mum, Dad and sister. They've always been great and it's nice to know that they look after me :)

Edmonds & Slatter like to try and support the local community and have plenty of fundraising events throughout the year. They said they'd like to help me, so here's a picture of Amy Coleburne presenting me with a pair of competition goggles at their store in Blaby.

So, it's a BIG thank you from me and I'll see you next time for my eye test!

They're really nice so for more information or booking an eye test please go to their website :)

Edmonds & Slatter

City of Sheffield Swim Squad Summer Meet

We're off to the City of Sheffield Summer Meet this weekend at Ponds Forge for a 2 day open meet, it'll be an interesting one especially at the end of a busy year/season.

Here's a random picture of me at the Farnborough Air Show last Sunday. We won tickets from FIAT on twitter and spent the whole day there...it was awesome (more pictures to come)

Sorry, back to the swimming ;) I'm hoping to finish off the season with some new PB's.

Below are the events that i'll be competing in.

Saturday am (session1)

Warm-up 8am, Start 9am

100m F/C (1.02.74)

200m B/S (2.51.60)

Saturday pm (session2)

Warm-up 1.30pm, Start 2.30pm

200m IM (2.33.03)

400m F/C (4.37.81)

Sunday am (session3)

Warm-up 8am, Start 9pm

200m F/C (2.12.92)

200m B/C (2.33.16)

Have a good weekend watching the Commonwealth Games...the swimming has been amazing to watch #bringiton!

Midland Open Water Age Group Championships 2014

Hi all, on Sunday 13th july, I took part in the 1500m, regional (Midlands) Open Water Championships. I really enjoyed my swim, got a dirty face, swam well, was pulled by the ankles and shoulders but the vaseline that my dad applied before the race meant they just slipped straight off.

I came 7th in my age group and 8th overall. I think i'll be looking at more meets like this over the next season, it's only my 2nd attempt at open water and I'd like to step up to the 2000m or 3000m for my next swim as I felt I had plenty left and wasn't really sure on how to swim it, especially the hustle and bustle of the start!

I came home in a time of 18.25.08, with my 1500m time in a 50m pool at 18.08.52. I think next time i can go out harder and be more aggressive at the start but I'll put this one down to experience. The water temperature was 21.3deg. with an air temp of 18.4deg. 

Midlands Age Group Open Water Championship 2014

Midland Age Group Championships 2014

It's been a busy week so far, moved up into year ten at high school before the end of term, steady training, mainly short distance sprints and skills work as we're being tapered for the Midland Age Group Championships. I've had a tough year but I did get 3 regional times 200m, 400m and 1500m freestyle with only being less than a second of another 4!

Coventry Sports Centre

I Hope it goes well tomorrow :)

Don't forget to follow me on twitter @swimmerjd :)

Run-Sleep-Swim-Sleep-Swim-Sleep! *UPDATED*

Hi everyone...it's going to be a busy weekend starting today!

My School are holding their athletics day at Leicester's athletics stadium...this year, as last, I'll be running the 1500m. Last year I came second and I expect that I'll do the same this year as the 1st place runs for the county and trains as I do with my swimming so it'd be wrong of me to think I'm going for gold...I'm always up for a good race and to push myself though :)

Leicester's Saffron Lane Athletics Stadium

The sun is out, I've got plenty of drinks and they'll be an ice cream van there for when I NEED that ice-cream cone :)

After having a good sleep, my Dad and I will be taking a trip to the Corby International Swimming Pool for the Northampton Spring Open Meet. I still need a few regional qualifying times and I'm going to try my hardest to get them this weekend. The races are over the 2 days and are as follows:

 400m IM, 100m & 200m Backstroke, 100m & 200m Breaststroke and finally the 100m free

Corby International Swimming Pool

I'll let you know how I get on....I hope it's good news ;) Have a good weekend all....what ever you're up to

************UPDATED*************

I had a great 1.5k run and finished in first place...I set off a little too quick but managed to hold my lead and kicked hard with over 400m to go leaving 2nd place behind by over 50m...i'm very happy with that :)

I had a fairly bad couple of days at Corby, one's I've got to try and forget and move on from to be honest....onwards and upwards :)

100 miles for a regional qualifying time !

Me and my family took a 100 mile journey to Leeds today with the hope of me getting a regional qualifying time in the 1500m free....no pressure then !

A great result...I got my Midlands QT with a 18.09.52s and a silver medal for my trouble, so the journey was worth it after all...I was so relieved.

It was a quiet meet but that's OK as I was focused and could concentrate. I was beginning to feel the pain with 500m to go but I knew I was slightly quicker than last time I swam it. 

I actually quite fancy the 5000m open water swim now...gotta look into that a little more

;)

County Championships finally over!

Hi Guys, after 4 full weekends, the Leicestershire ASA County Championships are finally over and we can all start to recover and focus on our next cycle of training and meets coming up in the next few months which are all leading to the regional championships.

Swimming is full of up's and down's (pardon the pun) and there seems to be know reason why you can swim well one minute and fall short the next.

I had an OK championship finishing in 6th place overall in my age group, I managed a regional time on my 200m free and 3rd place in the county on my 1500m free and 200m breaststroke.

I don't think I have peeked this season yet and there is certainly more to come from me. Below is a picture of me and some the other winners from Leicester Sharks (i'm the one with the green Beats)

Follow me on twitter swimmerjd ;)

Leicestershire County Championships 2014

Following on from my first event in the County Championships (1500m freestyle), the next 3 weekends will be full of swimming in all of the other events, below is a summary of swims in front of me. I came 4th overall in the county last year, it's gonna be tough this year but i'm hoping to make some regional qualifying times in the process.

100m Backstroke

50m Butterfly

100m Freestyle

50m Breaststroke

50m Backstroke

100m Breaststroke

50m Freestyle

400m IM

200m Breaststroke

200m Freestyle

200m IM

200m Backstroke

400m Freestyle

100m IM

I'm looking forward to it.....bring it on! :)

Ranked 3rd in the county for 1500m freestyle

Hi Guys, Sunday saw the first round of the Leicestershire County Championships held at Loughborough University. There were 2 events during the day, the girls/open 800m freestyle and the boys/open 1500m.

I was swimming as a Leicester Shark with my dad as coach for the swimmers we had there. It's been a year since I last did the 1500m and 2 years since I did it long course. I had a great swim, felt really relaxed and in control of everything, as a swimmer I rarely feel that much in control of the water.....it's usually fighting back :)

My time was 18:14:46, converted to short course is 17:55:5 which is only 4 secs away from my regional (Midlands) qualifying time. I pushed really hard so it was a nice surprise to see I was so close and even better to get Bronze in my age group making me 3rd in the county.

3rd Place 1500m Freestyle

Regional times sheet and Sports Systems conversion software

I'm looking forward to the full weekends of the Counties to start.....feelin' good!

Good Result at Derventio Open Meet

A belated Happy New Year to all!

In my last post I was preparing to go to the Derventio meet at Ponds Forge. I had a great weekend and got good pb's on 6 out of 7 races, I was really pleased, as it was Christmas it was a great atmosphere and most of the squad swam really well. It was one of our targeted meets so results had to be good as it would prove that we'd been training right for the last couple of months!

This Saturday i'll be at Sheffield once again, just competing in a few races at the

City of Derby Open Meet. These are my events

Session 1: 200m IM, 200m Freestyle

Session 2: 400m Freestyle

Once I've finished my 400m Freestyle, it's a quick change and off to the first round of the Leicester Winter League at Corby International Pool....it's gonna be a busy day ;)

Corby International Pool

Follow me on twitter swimmerjd ;)

Derventio Open Meet

This weekend see's the start of the 3 day Derventio open meet at Ponds Forge Sheffield. I'll be there from Saturday morning until Sunday evening. It's usually a tough meet with a high caliber of swimmers. I'm not in the best place at the minute, I'm training well but when it comes to competitions, I just can't seem to pull it out of the bag. I'm having a lot of pain during the day and feel the need to stretch out and warm up all the time? I've been told that it's growing pains and some suffer more than others.

To help me during the weekend, my mum and dad have let me have one of my christmas presents early!....a new pair of Speedo Fastskin Elite 2's. It's given me a boost in confidence and I know there's nothing more I can do except swim as fast as I can :)

Have a fantastic Christmas where ever and what ever you are up to :)

Leicester Sharks Club Championships and City of Leicester Distance Meet

It was the final round of Leicester Sharks internal club championships over the last couple of weekends. I gained slight PB's on all 12 events and took 10 golds and 2 silver medals for my age group. It was a nice relaxed club atmosphere and it was good to see my teammates that I don't get to see very often.

Below is the customised programme cover that my dad produced for last weekend of the championships ;)

It's also the weekend of the City of Leicester distance meet, where we'll be competing as a quite a large squad, i'm in for 5 events over the 2 days.

My events are:

200m Freestyle

400m Freestyle

200m Backstroke

200m Breaststroke

200m I.M