MARSHALL READY FOR DAUNTING AUSSIE TEST
There can be fewer challenges as daunting as facing the
world ' s number one swimming nation in their own backyard
but for England ' s women that will be the size of it when
the Commonwealth Games start in just a week ' s time.
Australia have set themselves a target of winning 100 swimming
medals, South Africa are a nation very much on the rise, while
Canada and New Zealand are showing strong signs of re-emergence.
With this in mind it ' s shaping up to be one of the most
competitive Games ever witnessed but for one of England '
s most experienced female swimmers, Mel Marshall, it will
simply be another opportunity to swim well in order that she
does herself justice.
The Loughborough University swimmer has stripped away everything
in preparation for her second Commonwealths and this is a
tool she will apply to her performances.
" To me it doesn ' t matter that we ' re competing in
Australia, " explained the 24-year-old. " It doesn
' t matter who it is we ' re racing against. I ' ve got my
own lane and my own job to do - that ' s what I ' ll be concentrating
on.
" Its just a lane, it ' s just a diving block, it '
s just an opportunity to swim well. "
Marshall is full of respect for the Australian hosts but
holds no fear for them or any of the other nations she ' ll
go up against in pursuit of success in the 200m Freestyle
as well as the 100m and 200m Backstroke events.
" The Aussies are professional, fast and competitive.
They ' ve got more depth than we have but we shouldn ' t be
written off as we have some very talented swimmers within
the squad, " said Marshall.
" They ' ve got medallists at every level of competition
as well as world record holders, and with the home crowd they
' ll be fully loaded but we will stand up tall against them.
"
In recent weeks Marshall has been enjoying the best training
sets of her career. She ' s been achieving levels in workouts
she hasn ' t attained before and, since the disappointment
of the Athens Olympics, at one time never imagined possible.
She ' s had her ups and downs within her Commonwealth training
cycle She but a good foundation has stood by her.
" I had a great start to the season but fell ill in
November," she explained. "It ' s quite a debilitating
problem which I ' ve had before, that was the only positive
to it really as I knew how to deal with it.
" I carried a bit of baggage from that into the European
Championships in December as I had been unable to do any real
quality work in the pool but it ended up going well for me.
I put that down to my pre-season efforts.
" That block of work enabled me to get back into shape
a lot sooner and I ' ve improved ever since. I quickly got
back to the kind of sets I was doing before the Olympic Games
and it ' s moved on even further from there. "
Marshall ' s time at the England preparation camp on the
Gold Coast, Marshall however, hasn ' t been without problems.
Two days into the camp and she was struck down by illness.
She ' s now desperately trying to reclaim the levels of strength
she had beforehand.
" Everything was going well and then I was hit by a
stomach bug and lost 3kg in two days," said Marshall.
"I spent 24 hours in bed and just sweated it out.
" Fortunately I ' m over the worst of it now and am
building myself back into it slowly. It ' s been about a week
now but I just want to get fit and healthy for the Games.
It ' s about getting my strength back. "
Illness aside, Marshall is looking forward to getting into
the pool in Melbourne and continuing the good form she ' s
shown so far this season.
It ' s a total turnaround for the athlete who was left evaluating
It herself following her experiences at the Athens Olympics.
" I ' m smiling a lot more these days. I lost that love
for swimming but I feel that relationship is back on track
now, " sge explained.
" I think a turning point for me, following a disappointing
2004, was the World Championships last year. It made me realise
that this arena is nothing I can ' t handle
" If I start creating opportunities by being involved
in the sport then who knows what might happen. I know that
once I get on that block my heart and mind will just take
over and get on with it.
" As long as I can give everything I will never fail.
Sometimes you might not win but you never fail. My battle
has always been a personal one - to be the best I can be.
I just want to get the most out of myself. "
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