CUNDY HANGS UP HIS TRUNKS AND HITS THE TRACK
Triple Paralympian Jody Cundy has swapped the pool for the
cycling track as he calls it a day on his international swimming
career.
The 27-year-old, originally from Cambridgeshire but now training
in Swansea, has enjoyed 12 years at the top of his sport,
winning five medals (three of them gold) over three Paralympic
Games as well as six World Championship medals since 1994.
Cundy, who has combined training for both sports over the
last year, and who competed for cycling at the Visa Paralympic
World Cup in Manchester in May, follows former British swimmer
Sarah Bailey to cycling.
"The move to cycling gives me a new challenge in sport,"
he explained. "I think I've pretty much reached the top
of my game in the pool and with the S10 class as competitive
as it is it would take a best swim to make the top three,
and half a second can mean the difference between making the
finals and not.
"I'm on the British Cycling programme now and I'm really
enjoying it. My first competition was the British Nationals
last October where I broke a British record without training,
and this year I made the squad for the Paralympic World Cup
and won gold in the team sprint in a new world record.
"Up until five weeks ago, I was only training for two
hours a week as swimming was my main focus, but now I'm doing
up to 16 hours a week on a bike - it's like being a junior
again and I'm setting massive PBs on a regular basis which
is really motivating."
The challenge of a new sport, the potential of becoming the
best in his class and the possibility of competing in Beijing
in just two years time was enough to encourage Cundy to make
the move.
"I knew that if I wanted to compete as a cyclist in
Beijing I would have to make the move sooner rather than later,
and when British Cycling invited me to a camp and discussed
my options I knew now was the right time," he said.
"It will be hard not to miss the pool as I've dedicated
over 16 years of my life to swimming, and my girlfriend Liz
[Johnson] is a swimmer on the British team. I plan to continue
swimming on a regular basis and I haven't ruled out competing
at regional meets and the national short course championships
in the future.
"I've really enjoyed my time as a swimmer and I've got
some great memories I'll never forget; making my international
debut at the 1994 World Championships in Malta with gold,
winning my first Paralympic gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics
and then winning double gold with two world records and PBs
in all my events at Sydney 2000.
"I've had some brilliant support in swimming, particularly
from my parents without whom I wouldn't have got into the
sport, and also from my coaches who've helped me along the
way - Cliff Dedynski, Nick Juba and Billy Pye."
Cundy, who has already reached the heights of success in
the pool, hopes to emulate that success on the track.
"My focus now is on the cycling and my short-term target
is to get faster over 1km," he added. "My current
PB is 1:14, but the world record is 1:10 and I'd like to be
challenging for that by the end of this year and reduce it
again on the run-up to Beijing.
"The next 6-12 months are an opportunity to see how
I react to full-time training and to hopefully make the World
Championship squad this September and then go on to medal,
or win, at the Beijing Paralympics."
Cundy will continue to live in Swansea and train at the Newport
velodrome.
|
