Q. What was your best / biggest achievement and disappointment last
year?
Well there was a few of both really, But being able to go to
Edmonton Canada and taking part in the ITU word final of the Aquathlon for the
U20 GBR team is just a great feeling to have. Finishing 11th place overall and
being 3rd GBR over the line takes a bit of beating, not many people get the
opportunity to represent their country at sport, and not only that but
represent it in such a great location.
I am so lucky to have had three sponsors for last season and
this upcoming season, it's really a major piece in any elite’s jigsaw, they're
able to make it all possible from helping to pay for my travel &
accommodation costs to training and bike fittings plus much more.
Not on such a grand scale was going back to Eton Dorney to
take part in the Lidl Banana Man Triathlon and winning for the third time in a
row, unknown to mum, once returning home to present her with the winners hamper
that we get there. I am aiming to return this year and see if i can make it 4
in a row!
As for the biggest disappointment, well it must be for not
quite getting the best results in my AS' but on a minor scale not winning the
local Clevedon open water one mile Long swim (wetsuit class) which I have won
for the last two years, I am sure there were some ringers brought in for this
year, just to catch me off guard, but being in sport you have to learn from
your losses to adapt for future wins. So I shall be back this year to try again.
Q. How much training do you do a week and how does that fit in with
school work?
Now that is a question! Monday normally get home from school
at about 5.00 pm grab some tea and relax, then it’s out to the gym at 7.00pm
for 2 hours of circuits, Tuesday tend to stay on at school to do some extra
work get home in time for food at 5.00pm homework or some TV and then down to
swimming training at 8.00pm for a 3000m swim set, Wednesday is stay at school
until 4.30 then a quick 1 mile run into town get ready for a Pilates session at
5.00pm for an hour then home for food by 6.30 its then back out at 7.30 for an
easy hour swim session swim session, Thursday is the tough one have to stay
on at school until 5.15 so it’s a big rush to get home for food and to be ready
for the running coach to give me a lift at 6.00 up to the running track in
Bristol for a 2 hour run set of about 15k, home by about 9.30 to 10.00 Friday -
DAY OFF only school no training, this allows me to maximise my well-earned
sleep.
Saturday road running from 9 until about 11.30 this is
usually about 15k. Then it’s off to work for the rest of the day. I am a
lifeguard at the local swimming pool. So even when I am not swim training I can
still get the full chlorine effect. Sunday stay in bed as long as possible Sunday
lunch with mum, dad and brother plus Nan will come around as well, then it’s a
swimming set with club at 6.00 until 8.00 in the evening normally about 6000m.
So that is pretty much a standard week for me regarding training. Did I forget school,
yes I also have to try and fit in study work for my A levels around this as
well.
Oh and come the summer or better weather i will ride to and
from school each day as well (about 18k per day), it gives mum and dad a bit of
a rest in fairing me around.
Q. So how do you fit in homework and study to this schedule then?
As I said I tend to stay on after school has finished at
3.15pm and do most of my work then, the frees are either sat a desk with my
head down or either on the saddle with a couple of top Enduro twins.
If not at school I then try and find time at home. but I do
find its all too easy to get side tracked into watching TV or sleeping so that’s
why I tend to try and get it done at school rather than at home.
Q. What are you studying at school at the moment and what do you hope
to go onto do later?
I am currently studying for my A levels in PE, Biology and
Psychology I am hoping to then go on to
university at Cardiff or Swansea to do sport science. They both cater for top
sport training.
I would like to go on and do something in sport not overly
sure at the moment but I'm sure I will find something!
In triathlon I aim to be the best I can be, I may not make a
triathlon world champion (or may be one day I will!) but I will still be trying
as hard as I can to be at the top of my game and the best I can be whether its
in my age group,a championship race or
any other event I am in. So as long as I have tried and given it my all then I
can be proud of what I have done & achieved.
Q. You've always been very sporty – can you attempt to summarise your
early adventures in sport?
I first learnt to swim quite early 2 years old I think, as
we live by the sea and have a few rivers, lakes and ponds near us so my parents
thought it was important for me to be able to swim. I seem to pick it up very
quickly and had a very good teacher who got me very proficient in all the
strokes, breaststroke used to be my thing but it was her that suggested i join
the local swimming club and put me on the waiting list. I then joined Clevedon
asc and worked my way through from improver to senior squad with whom i still
train today.
I played football with a local club for a few years but when
training started to clash with swimming I had to make a big decision, but
looking back its actuality one of the easiest I've had to make
I did a couple of seasons at cricket but that never really
went anywhere. It was with swimming that I seem to do quite well, although I
always seem to be in an age group that had the toughest swimmers going, so had
to always work hard to achieve and stand out from them. But having said that I
do have quite a large amount of medals from club level to county level in most
strokes and at most distances.
I also had success in open water swimming being only 14 when
doing my first Clevedon 1 mile long swim from one local beach to the main beach
at Clevedon, some 60 odd swimmers usually take on this challenge once a year in
June or July I have continued to do it each year since.
I joined a local athletic club for a bit of fun running but
again was soon being asked to cover for others in some track events, I was then
spotted by the head endurance coach and asked if I would like to join him and a
few selected athletes to do some extra track and road work which I did, I now
train with the elite endurance runners.
I have also had some success in cross country having represented
my school and county at many events.
Q. How did you wind up doing triathlon, and what do you think it was
about this particular sport that made it stick?
The swimming club I was with used to hold an annual
aquathlon so entered and found i was pretty good at it and could win. I then
went onto join a triathlon club in Bristol as they had a junior section and
just liked the fact that triathlon is three sports in one. You don't get quite
so bored just training for one sport like say swimming, it can be so boring
just going up and down the same pool for 2000m in an evening. I was competing
at youth elite level within a year, it was hard but I made some good friends at
training camps and would always meet up with them at competitions. The
triathlon circuit is so different from the swimming galas I used to do; with
triathlon you turn up registrar, set up and race OK the events are a lot longer
but it’s just not sitting in a hot and stuffy swimming pool all day long.
Q. Who or what inspires you in triathlon?
I've always been a fan of Javier Gomez and all the British
Elite Triathletes. But the main guys I look up to are Alistair and Jonny
Brownlee. There continued dominance, consistency and attitude towards the sport
is amazing. Plus the fact that they are really nice guys when I've spoken to
them.
Q. What are your big aims for 2015?
To do as well as last year and try if possible to improve
where i can, I would also like to be able to go to ITU Chicago later this year
as I have pre-qualification for the world aquathlon final in the U20 age group
having finished 3rd GBR at Edmonton Canada.
