SWIMMERS DEFINING BLUEPRINT FOR BEIJING FINALS
Britain's swimmers have begun the process of preparing themselves
for the morning finals they will have to endure at the Beijing
2008 Olympics following last week's decision that medals will
be won in the morning as opposed to evening finals.
The announcement ended months of speculation and debate between
the International Olympic Committee and broadcasters following
requests from American broadcaster NBC to move swimming finals
from the traditional evening position in order to benefit
the U.S. audience.
Such a change to the programme means an entirely different
approach will be needed by athletes to be at their peak in
the mornings where Olympic titles will be decided.
British swimmers competing in Canberra, Australia last week
utilised the competition to experiment with different approaches
to how they will ensure they're at their physical peak for
the Beijing finals.
Under the guidance of British Swimming Coach Ben Titley,
the athletes shifted their emphasis for the Canberra event
deciding instead to aim for best performances in the morning
sessions.
"As a group we woke at 5am to go for a 30 minute walk
where we cleared the sleep from our systems," said Titley.
"The venue at the Australian Institute of Sport was
opened early for us at 5.30am so we could get into the water
for a half-hour light training session which acted as a loosener.
"The athletes returned to their accommodation for breakfast
and had an hour in their rooms to themselves before we returned
to the pool at about 7.45am with the heats starting at 9am."
Titley is conscious of the fact there are very few opportunities
between now and Beijing for his athletes to find the correct
approach to dealing with the shift in timing and to practice
what they will come to rely upon to give them the best chances
of success at the Olympics.
"This is something we need to put into place immediately
so the athletes are properly adjusted when we get to Beijing,"
explained Titley. "It's such a massive change and we
need to educate their bodies to deal with the scenario.
"What we did in Canberra was try to change the focus
of the meet from the afternoon finals to the morning heats
and the swimmers responded perfectly with some great performances
in the morning.
"I was impressed with how well they coped with the change
of emphasis. The athletes were totally professional, they
just accepted having to get up early and attacked every race
they contested."
Titley was delighted with performances given the fact it
was the first time the group had experienced being at their
absolute peak in a morning session while swimming against
hosts Australia.
"The athletes swam faster than expected in the morning
even though it was alien to them," said Titley. "Our
aim was about the process and not about the results but the
British swimmers picked up some impressive medals along the
way.
"What really interested me as a coach was the fact each
of the swimmers took something different from it and all had
their own ideas on how to make the situation work."
NBC, the biggest Olympic rights holder, paid £1.88bn
for the North American rights to screen the Games between
2000 and 2008.
The IOC also announced that diving finals at the Beijing
2008 Games will be held in the afternoon.
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