Photocall for Amber Valley athletes

A photocall for all the Amber Valley athletes who have received a bursary from the Fund this year has been held at Belper Meadows.

It was a lovely sunny afternoon and athletes were congratulated by Cllr Peter Makin, Mayor of Amber Valley.

Many thanks to everyone who was able to attend. To see more photos from the day go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/derbyshiresport/sets/72157623720287691/

A full report will also be posted at http://www.derbyshiresport.co.uk

My first event at British Championships was the 100m breaststroke, for this there were heats semi-finals and a final. I swam quick enough to get into the semi-final but missed out on the final by about a second. But in the semi final of the 100m breaststroke I was the fastest in my age with a 1.04.45. This was not a PB but it was very close because my PB is 1.04.40. Being the fastest in my age allowed me to go to European juniors in Helsinki this year. I also swam in the 200m breaststroke and I came 3^rd overall in my age. All the relays that the team took part in did great, our 4x200 and 4x100 freestyle relays won bronze but our IM relay came 4^th.

This year I qualified for British Championships for the 4th time in my swimming career, I qualified to swim in the 100m breaststroke and the 200m breaststroke. Derventio Excel also entered the 4x100 freestyle relay, 4x200 freestyle relay and the 4x100 medley relay. I will be part of the 4x200 freestyle relay and the 4x100 medley relay doing the breaststroke leg. This year is the last year I am able to qualify for European Junior Championships. To go to this I will have to achieve a certain time or be the fastest in my age group.

Photocall for Chesterfield athletes

Many thanks to all of the Chesterfield athletes who were able to attend the photocall for the district at Queen's Park Sports Centre in Chesterfield.

Athletes were able to meet Cllr Keith Lomas and Cllr David Stone from Chesterfield Borough Council; Cllr Kevin Parkinson from Derbyshire County Council and Ollie Shearer, Sports Development Coordinator at the University of Derby, all of which support the Fund, together with Cllr Clive Moesby, Chair of Derbyshire Sport.

All of the photos from the day can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/derbyshiresport/sets/72157623803369026/

A full report can also be seen at http://www.derbyshiresport.co.uk/

Mions International, Lyon, France

This was the first in a series of difficult events around Europe that I will be competing in over the next couple of months. Over 700 fighters from 12 countries took part this year and there were 27 boys in my section. Although I was still recovering from a virus I fought well winning four of my five fights to win a Bronze Medal. This weekend I compete in Rouen, France.

Germany and Cardiff GB training

On the 23rd we made our way down to Luton and stayed in a hotel overnight, we then had to be at Luton airport at 5 o clock to fly as a team to Germany. We played the Germans once on the first day, as we walked into the pool it was shocking how much bigger their team was than ours. The game was good and we comfortably beat them. The second day on the 25th we trained as a team in the morning, working on our tactics then that night we played them again. We beat them again, however they had picked their game up and were a lot more physical. On the 26th in the morning we did another training session adding more tactics to what we already had, which would help us in the game. Then that night we played the Germans again and still managed to beat them. On the last day the 27th we did a timed 300 metres, our coach wanted us to feel how tired we would be on the 7th/8th day of the Europeans but still be able to think and play well while tired. Then after that we played the Germans for the final time, still beating them comfortably. We then flew home that afternooon. Going to Germany was a very good experience, helping me see what I need to do, and what I may be up against.

I've just got back from GB training this weekend. I went down to Cardiff Friday night and stayed in a hotel and had to be at the pool for 11 o clock in the morning and we started training at 12 at Cardiff International pool, which is a really nice pool. We did 3 training sessions of 2 hours on the saturday with 2 hour rest in between. For the first 2 training sessions we did swimming, leg work and tactics. I found the swimming and leg work physically hard and the tactics a lot to take in but it was good as I learnt loads. We then played a match against the 95/96's boys, which did us good as in games girls normally grab costumes, however as we were playing the lads we had to just use our tactics, speed and strength to beat them. On Sunday we did 2 training sessions of 2 hours with 2 hours in between. We did swimming and tactics for the first session and then for the second we played the 95/96's boys again. I found the weekend very hard but learnt loads. Over all it was a good weekend of training.

I'm off to England Squad trainig in Wolverhampton today. 2 hours of Kata follow by 2 hours of Kumite (fighting). This will be the first time I have trained in fighting with the England squad. Having had some success in my first fighting competition in Hartlerpool, I'm gearing up my training before I go to Japan.