SPRING SUCCESS BECKONS FOR SCOTTISH STAR
City of Edinburgh swimmer Kris Gilchrist will be one of
only ten men to challenge themselves at three tough competitions
this spring in a bid to prepare themselves for the biggest
sporting event in the world this summer.
Gilchrist steps out at his first competition in March at
the European Championships (50m) in Eindhoven, before returning
to the UK to compete at the British Championships in April
and then onto the World Championships (25m) in Manchester.
The British Championships are a vital competition for all
British swimmers as it provides them with their final opportunity
to be selected for nomination for the Olympic squad.
Breaststroke specialist Gilchrist, is in the middle of his
final preparations for the British Championships and reflects
on his progress over the past four months.
"I am pretty pleased with how my preparations have been
going over the past couple of months," he said. "My
training group and I have put in a solid block of training
and everyone seems to be in a similar place, which is great.
"When you see your group responding well to their training
it pushes you on to do better and both my coach and I are
pleased with the way I have been swimming recently."
More than 20 swimmers were selected to take part in warm
weather camps in Australia during the winter months to give
them the chance to build a considerable, uninterrupted block
of training ahead of a demanding Olympic year.
"My Olympic cycle began in Australia," he said.
"After seven weeks of training we competed at the Queenland
Championships, which felt good and I claimed two silver medals
which was great after feeling a bit fatigued.
"It was a high quality meet and we all subconsciously
raised our game to match the other competitors.
"I competed in the 200m Backstroke and took silver,
it isn't my best stroke so that was a good result. I like
to mix up my strokes in training as it takes the focus off
my main stroke and keeps my body guessing.
"We returned to the UK just before Christmas and then
my training group went onto our second warm weather camp at
the beginning of the year."
The next step in the European medallist's preparation is
his third warm weather camp, where the City of Edinburgh athletes
will begin their taper before the first international competition
of the year.
"The Tenerife camp will provide me with a strong foundation
of training and build up for the European Championships,"
he added. "I am only competing in the relays in Eindhoven.
But there is not too much emphasis on this competition for
me. I will be using the event to keep up my competition and
race exposure.
"This is excellent timing for me as it is a week before
the British Championships and this is where my main focus
is at the moment."
After the disappointment of last year's World Championships,
where Gilchrist failed to make an impact on his main event
- 200m Breaststroke, he has now taken a different route in
preparing for the big competitions and believes this may help
him achieve his dream of making it onto the British Olympic
team.
"My preparation for the World Championships (50m), last
March, seemed perfect but yet the competition didn't go to
plan for me," he said.
"This time around my coach and I have changed our competition
plan and it is less specific to my main stroke and not so
much fast swimming but focusing on quality.
"We tried this preparation at the Japan Open meet last
summer and I claimed the silver in the 200m, so we have stuck
with it this year too."
With this year's British Championships following the Olympic
programme with morning finals all swimmers will be adapting
their competition preparation to fit in accordingly.
"It is the first time many of us have competed in morning
finals," he said. "However, most of us that have
competed at internationals have had to swim fast in the morning
to get a second swim so I think this should fit in quite well
for us.
With the likes of James Gibson and Chris Cook posting encouraging
times over the past couple of months, Gilchrist understands
that there is a lot of competition for the Breaststroke places
on the British squad.
"I will be competing in my main events, the 100m and
200m Breaststroke, at the Championships. There are a minimum
of four of us that can swim the qualifying time so the finals
will be really tough.
"With the selection policy we have to swim the FINA
A time in the heats and then finish first or second in the
final, this means we will know before the final who has a
chance of qualifying, I believe it is going to be a very interesting
competition to be involved in.
Gilchrist will complete his trilogy of events at the World
Championships (25m) in Manchester and as he enters this competition
he will know whether he has done enough to gain his selection
onto the British Olympic squad.
"I am not looking towards the Olympics at the moment,
I am focused on the next six weeks and after that I can rest
and reflect on how I have competed at the three competitions."
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