INJURED COOK FACES FIGHT TO BE RACE FIT
Double Commonwealth breaststroke Champion Chris Cook faces
a battle to be fit in time for next month's European Championships
in Budapest, Hungary.
The City of Newcastle swimmer broke down with a groin injury
on the eve of this month's Mare Nostrum competition in France
and has been working hard to ensure he has a chance of being
competitive when the European action gets underway on 31st
July.
And, although Cook now says the odds are stacked against
him, the 27-year-old still fully intends to be there giving
it his all when Europe's best breaststroke swimmers face each
other.
"I'm confident it's healed now," said Cook, "but
I've lost three-to-four weeks' valuable training and race
preparation, and that is going to be key in such tightly contested
events.
"In order to do well at the European Championships I
need to be down around the one minute mark over 100m and,
given my preparation, I'm not sure I'll be in the shape to
do that.
"I think this year's Championships are going to be won
by a time in the high 59 seconds or low 60 seconds and I'd
need everything behind me with a perfect preparation to achieve
that."
Cook is trying to remain positive, however, as he tries to
make the most of a reduced preparation and is confident his
competitiveness will serve him well if he can make it to Budapest.
While training hasn't followed the usual blueprint ahead
of a major meet - the injury forcing a change of emphasis
- Cook and coach Ian Oliver have looked at other areas of
his technique to see where improvements can be made.
"I'm not going to give up and I'll be there in Budpest,"
said Cook "It's about taking the positives out of every
situation and I've been pleased with the work I've been able
to concentrate on away from my injury.
"We've been working on my pull through the water as
well as other areas that can sometimes become neglected. Injuries
force you to take a big step back to analyse things and that's
what's happened these past four weeks.
"I have to remain positive about this. Just because
you can't go through the front door it doesn't mean you can't
go through the window."
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