I’ve skipped a couple of days updates as I finally made it down to London to see some of the games. While I was there I had the pleasure of meeting some of our ex-Olympians among other ex-swimmers and current coaches and support staff. Obviously the disappointing medal tally and lack of great individual performances [...]
Olympics Day 5: Jamieson Bucks GB Trend
As a Scotsman and a breaststroker I was always going to be most excited about the men’s 200 breaststroke last night and, despite Michael Jamieson being touched out by Daniel Gyurta for gold, I was not disappointed. Gyuarta’s performance was incredible. He went out after it and held on well, normally (like Jamieson) more of [...]
Olympics Day 4: Phelps & British Breaststroke
Just a quick update today. Work to do! Phelps beats Olympic record but suffers from poor execution Ok, let’s first congratulate Michael Phelps for becoming the most decorated Olympian of all time. But I don’t think Phelps felt that great after his 200 ‘fly last night. Not only did he drift in to his finish, [...]
Olympics Day 3: Meilutyte’s Title
Ruta Meilutyte Wins Gold Day 3 in the Aquatics Centre was all about Ruta Meilutyte for me. In the heats she shocked herself and the world with an outstanding swim and backed that up in the semi-final with a European record. She endeared herself to many with her genuinely humble response and will have had [...]
Day 1: TeamGB Carrying the Weight of Expectation?
Rebecca Adlington Planning for Retirement
“Career transitions’ are a major topic of study in sport psychology and none arguably has a bigger impact on sports people than retirement. There have been many examples over the years, borne out by the research, of professional athletes that have struggled to deal with retirement. Alcoholism, drug abuse and depression have all been recorded [...]
Kit Day: Pride and Excitement for Team GB Swimmmers
Yesterday was another busy day on twitter for Team GB’s selected swimmers. Why? It was the day that they got their official Olympic team kit. As a bystander, it really feels like ‘kit day’ was an enormous success. Whether by accident or design, the opportunity was taken to build a real sense of pride and [...]
Renshaw: A Psych’s View
After two Olympic Trials, 16 year old Molly Renshaw apparently found recently herself in the apparent position of being the only swimmer in the world to have a FINA ‘A’ time, be in their country’s top 2 and not be selected for the London Olympic Games (as reported by PullBouy.co.uk - not yet independently verified) Understandably [...]
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