Poolside chat - new year, new racing!

[Glittertwins]

Hope this works, am rubbish at this!

No swimming news from me, but there is an IKEA in Sheffield.

It is an easy walk from Carbrook tram stop.

Oooh theres an idea! We have one on Southampton but I'm sure I'll have time to kill in Sheffield!

No swimming news here really either!

Start taper next week and they've had a slight shuffle of the squad structure (and placed swimmers in their squads for new season) - but it didn't really affect ds!

Could always do Meadowhall on an off day too. Think we're for a rematch of mini golf, he's still sore about me beating him last time 😆

We only have 1 off day and ds will train a session but won't do anything that involves walking 😂😂 TBF to him that's because he has to rest his legs as it's day before 400 free!

If he can walk inbetween sessions he eats so he can still walk when we get to next one 😂

Rests

Well he eats too but I thinks that's a general swimmer thing 😂

We've got the first Thursday off so we'll pootle off somewhere for a bit then he can go to the pool for a training session

Good luck to all in the next 2 weeks!

Good luck everyone travelling to Sheffield for Aquatics GB, English nationals or OW nationals.

We are currently sat watching 1500 as some of DS teammates are about to compete!

We are on a 3 1/2 week break after last week’s Scottish Summer Meet. DD put together the best sequence of swims we have seen her do in a long time. So incredibly proud of her hard work and determination through a tough season which has been blighted by several health problems. She medalled twice and made 3 finals. A long chased time in her favourite event was the cherry on the top of the cake and her smile at the end of the lane when she touched the wall has a special place in my heart.

Good luck to everyone heading to Sheffield. I hope the week brings your swimmers whatever it is that they are targeting.

Excellent. Well done mini little road 🥳🥳

Amazing, well done to her! Good luck to everyone else competing. We’ll be in Swansea for the Welsh summer meet

Well done!

Well done to the mini @itsgettingweird!
I'm still here as he made a final for the first time.

Wahoooo!!!! How did he get on? Does he swim 16 or 17? I know he did GCSEs this year. We have swimmers who took exams across both age groups.

Thanks.

DS 50m free final was exciting to watch - the 5 older boys were sooooooo close in time 😂

He's in the 16s. Not bad but pretty happy to have made it in the first place!

I was saying at the meet the other day.

People don't realise just how good any kid who makes it to nationals is and how making a final means your more too in your age group than football players as you don't even have enough people to make a football team (iyswim?

I used football because you always hear about academy's. Only 50 kids in total make a final per discipline at nationals.

It's the same with international comps.

Because it's a sport that's so focussed on the top 3 it's easy not to recognise just how good everyone is. Same with athletics and gymnastics etc.

Tennis is even more cut throat where they only celebrate the winner really.

I've loved every minute watching it.

NOT looking forward to the journey home!!!

The M1 is just clogged with roadworks. We made decent time and the only bit we were totally stationary for was the getting onto the motorway in the first place. Getting out of Sheffield was dead east. We fortunately just missed a horrible crash around the Loughborough area where a car was on its roof in the verge off the hard shoulder. Two artics and at least 2 other cars involved by the looks of it and the emergency services hadn't got there yet - hoping everyone was okay.

We made good time up here until we got the crash on M1 and the roadworks.

We are about to have breakfast and then give getting home a go 😂

Should have made it back by now?

Just got home about 15 minutes ago!!!

We left just after 8 and went to the lake to see my dad and watch his team mates do some of the open water.

Left there just after 10.30 and other than a quick 10 minute stop to get him food (he was starving as is typical post race week 😂) we (I !) kept going!!

Took us down M42 due to accident and then a detour off A34 and back to it again as was closed due to an accident.

I've just popped some (strong!) painkillers for my head and then I'm off to do a quick food shop to get us through the next 2 days.

I'll worry about doing a proper one Monday after taking him to work.

I'm off now until September 😊

Rumour has it next year is in Tollcross!!!

But that isn't confirmed yet just a lot of talk that it is.

I hope it's not Toll Cross. That's a huge distance for the vast majority of swimmers. Sheffield is at least pretty much in the middle!

And that's a nightmare journey 😂

No 'swimming' for us for the next fortnight, but DD has earned her lifeguard shirt (she wasn't impressed that a big chunk of her shifts involve cleaning, but at least she is with a lot of people she knows from swim club and the pool is easy to get to).

Just in case you haven't seen it advertised, "Discovery +" are offering a subscription for the Olympics for £3.99. I've confirmed with them that we can give notice at any time.

https://get.discoveryplus.com/gb/sport/olympic-games?

Hopefully the cameraman filming the IM will get better shots of the turns tonight - we really wanted to see them flip from back to breast.

Thanks, someone else had mentioned that deal too but I'm at work / driving / at nationals so won't be able to watch it. Will just have to watch bbc1 tonight and see how Leon Marchand does in that 400IM.