David Swift - Great Britain Skeleton Slider

First half of the season off to a flier!!

2012-02-01T06:26:00.000Z

So the first 4 races of the Intercontinental cup kicked off in December and saw two double races in Lillehammer, Norway and Sigulda, Latvia. Going into these 4 races I was very keen to keep up the run of good form that had followed me through selections and, with a strong field this year that included a few World Cup sliders the challenge was always going to be hard!

Lillehammer - Race 1.
The track at Lillehammer is basically our home track and I felt confident going into these two races that decent results were very much within my grasp and indeed they were! The only problem was corner 13, the very corner that actually sent me to hospital in my very first year on ice! Whilst it hadn't been a problem in pre season the track had very subtley changed and as a consequence I took a very regular hit to the chin pretty much every run...imagine a swift uppercut whilst travelling at 70mph! Unfortunately it was a problem that I never managed to fix and after a couple of broken visors it actually gave me mild concussion. Fortunately enough this didnt set in until pretty much the second day of racing!
The first race itself went well amidst a sprinkling of snow, a final position of 4th, with the fastest pushtime of the field was to me a very good start to the competitive season!

Lillehammer - Race 2.
A much brighter day, however it ended with me being pretty much bedbound afterwards for the next few days to relieve the very mild concussion it was believed I had sustained!! Not pleasant, however my push at the top of the track set a new track record and for the 4th run in succession I was maintaining my lead until the dreaded corner 13, from there on in I was bleeding speed and only managed to pick up a 6th position. Still a pleasing result, but I was mainly just happy to be moving onto the next track!!

So we moved onwards across the Baltic sea to Riga, Latvia.

Race 3 - Sigulda, Latvia.
This track was completely new to pretty much every athlete on the circuit as it hadn't been used in a while! This suited me however, as I feel that I generally pick up new tracks very quickly. Although the speeds arn't too high here (around 115kph) the corners have almost no transitions and come at you thick and fast, however a challenge is always a good thing and come race day I felt prepared.
And it showed...3rd place in this race with again the fastest pushtimes (by a much bigger margin this time!) My first run was the cleanest I had had at this track and left me in second place just 1/10th of a second behind the first placed Michi Halilovic of Germany. However a slower 2nd run dropped me to third, however it was again a positive result and one which put me on the podium for the first time in a couple of years!

Race 4 - Sigulda, Latvia.
Basically a repeat of the first race here! I managed to push even faster, however a couple of poorer runs managed to bag me another 3rd position and podium finish!

My medal haul from the first half of the season!

The end result going into the Christmas break is that I was ranked in the Top 20 in the World when we take into account the World cup sliders, possibly my best ranking at this stage in my career so far, and joint 3rd in the Intercontinental Cup rankings! It also means that with 4 more races in February that a shot at making the World Championships team is very much on the cards...so here's hoping the good form continues into the North American leg!! :)

Starting the 2011/2012 season how we mean to go on!!

2011-11-29T21:01:00.000Z

So after a long off season of hard graft, both with working as a barman and training full time the 2011/2012 season finally kicked off in mid October. This preseason was going to be key as the association looked to streamline their squads under our new Performance Director Nigel Laughton, and involved hopping around europe to 3 different tracks in the space of a few weeks!

Stop 1 - Lillehammer, Norway. Our usual stomping ground for pre season. It was the same as every year to be fair, nervousness with getting back onto our sleds, sore necks from the crazy g-forces that our bodies had been without for 6 months and the age old headache of setting up sleds. The sled side of things always takes time, fitting new runners, optimising setups etc etc, but everything seemed to run a bit smoother than usual with the help of sled tech Rachel Blackburn, i'm not alone in being very thankful for all her hard work getting us all sledded up and ready to roll! Lillehammer allowed us to get back into the grove so to speak, and everything went without a hitch.

Stop 2 - Selection race 1 - Winterberg, Germany. As the title says really, the scene for our first selection race, literally a whistlestop tour here, 3 days of training followed by a 2 run race. Within our mens team we had 7 athletes capable of winning spots. To cut a long story short I had a nightmare on my first run here, literally the first corner of the track screwed me over and from here all speed was lost. My push times were the fastest in the team by a considerable distance, but were unable to save me from 6th spot. Disappointing but not the end of the world considering the calibre of the sliders in the British setup. Anyway, onwards!

Stop 3 - Altenberg, Germany, selection race 2. This was to be the tough one. One of the toughest tracks in the world to get down safely on let alone do it quickly! I was also the least experienced at this track in terms of runs down the track over my 5 previous years so an uphill struggle was on the cards from day 1. Same format as before, 3 training days with 6 training runs and straight into the race. Training didnt go well by all accounts, runner setups were a struggle and the final days training was a complete no show in terms of performance. Sometimes however we need days like these, maybe its a kick up the backside to focuse, maybe its teaching you what not to do! Either way I pulled the second race result literally out of thin air to come 4th. My push starts were incredible, smashing a massive .12second off my push personal best and from there, a lead of almost 2 tenths to the next fastest pusher, it was a case of catch me if you can. Admittedly 3 people did catch me, but thats besides the point, ide rather have it that way round, it means that when i finally do learn how to drive as well as some of our other guys il be a real force to be reckoned with! :)

Loading onto the sled at Altenberg. Picture by Phil Searle.

The results over the two races put me 5th overall and earned me a place on the Intercontinental cup team representing Great Britain over 8 races through Europe and N.America. 4 races before Christmas and 4 races after. Our first races are in Sigulda and Lillehammer, the latter is where I am right now...catching up on my blog...

Season Over - Post Season Ice Training Well Received

2011-03-02T17:53:00.000Z

Following the conclusion of the season that saw me ranked 10th overall on the ICC and 33rd on the World stage the development squads were sent to Park City in Utah for 2 weeks of post season training. This was somewhat of a novelty as we very rarely get the chance to slide without the pressure of races or selection decisions and was an opportunity I very much relished and enjoyed.

With this being the debut season on my new sled, nicknamed Rita we had had very little oppportunity to discover optimum settings with runner selections, the amount of weight I could use within the sled etc therefore this opportunity of an extra 40 runs over these two weeks was vital to me learning a lot in how I could maximise my abilities on it. It also enabled me to get back to basics, to get back to the enjoyment slide of sliding and to work on my aerodynamic form on the sled as I had developed a tendency to be quite slack in this department.

The tweaking and getting back to basics worked well, of the 6 athletes we had out there I had the fastest top speed and best downtime. One of my downtimes was even a personal best which was only half a second off of the track record, even more positively this was off of a relatively slow pushstart, meaning there was plenty more to come! All in all a very successful spell of sliding and one that will hopefully see me come on leaps and bounds for selections next season in October.

Until then the season for me is now officially over. I will hopefully be moving back to Bath in the next few weeks to start training again, work outside of skeleton is starting up again to cover living expenses and I am looking at doing my Personal Training qualifications to start giving me employment opportunities both whilst I am competing and for when I eventually retire!

Many thanks to all those who have wished me well this season and to my friends, family and girlfriend who have been ever supporting and understanding through my continued hard work! Here's to an enjoyable and productive offseason! :)

Enjoying the gorgeous weather and quick track in Park City, Utah.

2011 Season Roundup

2011-02-24T14:10:00.000Z

So the 2010/2011 season has wound to a close for me now. Apologies for the lack of frequent updates, I've been very slack on the blogging side of things! But we are back up and running now! Selections back in October sent me to the Intercontinental cup for the season, with 4 races in Europe and 4 in North America. The season actually ended up being very disappointing and full of ups and downs, my training times before just about all of the races suggested that I was on for great results (Top 5 at least) and the end product come raceday was always a bit of a letdown. There were however a lot of positives to take from it all. As Michael Johnson would say its the losses that you learn the most from and what you take from those losses that make you a stronger athlete and human being.

With the results not being as I had wanted and hoped for I was left to take what I could from the performances - Strong pushes throughout, a very decent understanding of the new sled setup and some very promising training times, all of which will help me immensely in the forthcoming seasons leading upto the Sochi 2014 Olympics. Additionally this season led me to slide three new tracks at which I had never slid before, La Plagne, Altenberg and Whistler are all very technical, difficult tracks and having now learnt these tracks it sets me in much better stead to be competitive at future races there as well as making me a better all round slider.

In terms of looking to the future I've also now highlighted a number of key areas that I need to work on moving forward. First and foremost a mental state thats condusive to sliding, so that I take training form into the races. Secondly I've identified a few technical issues I need to address with my push which I believe will have massive benefits over this coming off season, and thirdly im now very close to identifying an optimum sled setup with regards to runner settings etc which is far more beneficial to my style of driving. Take all of these and make them better for next season is the goal, and a goal that will hopefully see me bring home the performances I know im capable of.

A full rundown of my results this season is below:
Winterberg 10th
Altenberg 10th
La Plagne 11th
La Plagne 14th
Whistler 11th
Whistler 16th
Lake Placid 9th
Lake Placid 9th

Raceday #1 in Whistler, loading onto the sled after pushing the 3rd fastest pushtime in history at this track.

New Season, New Aspirations

2010-10-23T19:23:00.000+01:00

So the last 7 months have been spent training hard at the University of Bath. There's not much more to be said about that to be honest, I've been working with my S&C coach Danny Holdcroft and an old sprints coach Rob Ellchuk to get myself into tip top condition for the coming season and preparations have been going well with personal bests on the pushtrack and feeling fighting fit for a good season!

So it is that we are now into our preseason training and along with the excitement of starting a new season I had a new sled to look forward to, I have now moved onto one of the Blackroc sleds that were designed for the last Olympic games and its a bit like Christmas coming early to be honest. I believe this sled will be much more competitive than my last and should put me in good stead for the next 4 years leading into the next Games!

We arrived in Lillehammer, Norway about a week ago now and have had 5 sliding days so far and i can report that the new sled is a bit of a handful but i feel like i'm getting to grips with it and how it handles in the corners and it feels fast! All in all a very good sign, consequently my times over the last week has steadily been dropping as i become acclimatised to being back on ice, crazily sliding downhill at breakneck speeds, and simultaneously getting used to how the new sled handles!

James Hoad and I in a very chilly icybath!!

We have another 2 days of training before 3 days of official training and then 2 selection races here in Norway, this will decide who will be on the World Cup and Intercontinental circuits for the coming months and is well within my grasps to do well here. I'm ultimately sliding against some of the best sliders in the world so it's a tough ask but as the relative newbie of the group il give it my best and see what happens! Here's hoping training continues to go well! :)

Vancouver 2010 - Amy Strikes GOLD!!!

2010-03-06T16:12:00.002Z

February saw the arrival of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games, the highlight of every athletes career. After the last two Olympic games bringing bronze and Silver respectively, the trend was set to bring home Gold from this games and Amy made sure to not disappoint. British skeleton and Team GB ended up sending 4 athletes, Kristan Bromley, Adam Pengilly, Shelley Rudman and Amy Williams. With Amy producing quite simply an amazing example of how a race should be emphatically won, consequently bringing home the Olympic Gold medal, and rewritting history along the way. After training with Amy all of this previous summer it has been an amazing experience for me to see the culmination of all her hard work, time and dedication to have come to this amazing pinnacle, and quite simply it inspires me even more to emulate this acheivement in 4 years time. So on this point I just want to say Congratulations to Amy and bring on Sochi 2014... :)

ICC race 8, Park City - Proving a point...

2010-01-30T17:03:00.000Z

After the massive disappointment of being dropped for a few races to accommodate 'priority' athletes I was relieved to find that my season wasnt quite over when I was sent out to compete at Park City for the final race of the season. I was flown out to meet the squad at Calgary and was one of the drivers on the car for the 18 hour drive down to Park City, which is just outside of Salt Lake City in Utah, USA. The drive was very much like you see in the movies, dead straight roads, nothing for miles either side, and some good banter down the radios between our two car convoy. After a couple of rest days (and some cheeky shopping trips) we started training at what to me is one of the most enjoyable tracks on the circuit! Speeds around the 130kph are acheived very early on with a challenging mix of single and double pressure corners. Training on the first day got me used to being back on the sled after a month away from the ice, and i put down some competitive times. The following training days and the race were to be undertaken in persistant snow, a major drawback for me as the top few corners are uncovered, hence slowing the effect of the initial push from the top as the snow clogs the track. Consequently the race became more about the drive lines from corner 4 onwards, and training indicated that I would do well despite this!

Race day came around and it was great to have the adrenaline rush of a raceday back in my veins. The warmup went as well as it could in the snow, and my push on both runs was still one of the best despite a month out from hard training. My first run wasn't entirely clean, i took a couple of hits on my way down the track in key areas, but despite this I was ranked 5th after the first run. My second run was cleaner but in a very close heat where around 9 sliders had runs separated by only 2/10ths of a second I fell back a place and finished 6th. A very pleasing result with all things considered this season, and I feel I very much proved the point that my deselection was unjustified with 3 medals in the 5 races I participated in. (The top 6 in each race acheive medals).

The Podium Finishers for ICC race 8, Park City.

This for me was the concluding race of the season. After all the highs and lows I failed to make the Olympic team, however my selection onto the British team was always with the vision of making the 2014 Olympic Games. To have acheived qualification for the 2010 Games was always a very big ask, however I feel I was well and truely in the mix, and in different circumstances I could have made it. For now though a summer of training awaits, I have acheived my World Cup Qualification Criteria this season which was my main goal, so I can potentially be racing on the highest stage of my sport next season, and with World Championships to be aiming for it is very much 'Game On'!!

The harder you fall, the higher you bounce...

2010-01-06T22:29:00.001Z

The disappointment of not quite making it, of going so far and stumbling along the path, can be devastating, can lead to those less strong willed to falter and give up. The real believers, indeed the real champions are the people who fly in the face of adversity, who say 'hey I don't agree with this, but it makes me stronger' who take the hit on the chin, analyse what made this happen and who come back better prepared, chasing that goal with ever greater hunger and fervor rather than shrinking away from the task in hand.

When circumstances around you take away what you believe in your heart is possible just remember that "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” (Roosevelt) Ultimately the harder you fall the higher you bounce and if you're made of the right stuff you will reach that summit, and surpass it.

Ultimately in life miracles don't just happen, you have to make them happpen, these don't neccessarily come easily but the hard work, sweat and tears that make them happen make the victory all the sweeter. The path along the way is lined by hard work, good friends, kicks up the backside and friendly words of encouragement, take the most from all of them and use them to your advantage. Everything worth doing in life is hard, keep the friends, minimise the kicks up the backside and store the encouragement, there are always people around to help you, to pick you up when you fall and who will help you acheive your goals. Bear in mind that if you only do what you've always done, then you will only get what you've already got, always be moving forward, even if it's small steps, as long as they are aimed in the right direction they all help.

Life is only ever what you make of it, in your persuit of something amazing don't forget to stop and take stock of your surroundings, enjoy the journey, it will help to keep you motivated towards your end goal. Make the most of the detours that will inevitably come along, but don't lose sight of your ultimate goal. Have no regrets and make the most of every opportunity, those who stand still will merely see it all pass by, those who are truely fulfilled are those who make things happen, who get involved in whatever mix life throws at them.

My Parents (and me!) My biggest source of motivation, encouragement, love and support and to whom I am eternally thankful. :)

The inevitable low point

2010-01-06T22:19:00.000Z

After the highs of the first two races there inevitably had to be some sort of fall from grace, and in my case over the course of a few weeks I managed to hit pretty much rock bottom. Thanks paramountly to some woeful decisions in my opinion of the selection committee, but i'll explain that later.

My 3rd race was at Konigssee Germany, to a track i knew well and had high hopes for. After a strong set of training results my beliefs seemed well founded, however as is often the case in skeleton one slight error proved my undoing on raceday. My first run saw me push well and holding a significant lead until the exit S4, of one of the corners just before a straight of some 200meters, i came out of the corner angled slightly wrong and consequently skidded down the majority of the straight, and on a track this short (47 or 48 seconds ballpark downtimes) any mistake like that is costly, and it put me into 15th position. A stronger second run after having learnt from my mistake saw me climb a few spots to 12th, a very respectable position considering, however in my high expectations, still a blip on the landscape for me. However we were moving onto Cesana, one of my favourite tracks on the calender...until now...

So all too soon we were training in Cesana, the track proved a very tricky customer during the week, however some time on the track watching other athletes and some good track walks put me in very good stead for another strong result. A top 3 was most definitely possible here. Raceday however turned out to be a nightmare, my start is up there with the worlds best for sure, but a vital component of the start is getting on the sled whilst keeping it in the start groves, this however proved to be my undoing, i powered off a monster of a start that would have most definitely given the track record a run for its money, however a stumble on the load saw me pop out of the spur, skidding a good 15meters before the final timing gate and taking several hits bleeding all my speed into corner 1. From there on it it was damage limitation and despite having one of the best speeds later down the track there was just no coming back from the time and speed lost at the start and i finished a lowly 22nd. Ironically my start time was still the fastest of anybody on the day, proof that it truely was an absolute monster of a push. Still there are lessons to be learnt here and in a season where finishing the race and maximising points is of more importance, making sure i was on the sled securely is crucial, and mark my words, this will not be happening again!

Me! Sliding...obviously!

These results saw me sitting 5th out of 6th GB athletes come the mid point of the season, and it was at this stage I was to find out what hitting rock bottom would feel like. Cutting a long story short the GB association at Christmas make tactical decisions with who is racing in what competitions, one of the more experienced sliders on the GB team who was deemed more of an 'olympic prospect' was moved down from World Cup and into the ICC team because he missed one of the world Cup races and needed to make up that race and gain points on our circuit instead. This consequently meant one of the ICC sliders had to move out of the squad to make room, and after a season of such promise I was the one chosen to be dropped for 3 races, a decision that left me utterly heartbroken and demoralised, without going into the legal ramifications and ins and out i feel i was properly screwed over by the whole situation, as a lot of decisions that i feel were unjustified went against me, perhaps the fact that I am a lot younger than the rest of the team and had no experience of the current olympic track team led to the decision. At the end of the day after putting everything i possibly could into this season I am left sat at home for a few weeks instead of racing, there are still possibilities of me racing a couple more races this season but for now my Olympic dreams are over...at least for another 4 years. Still, onwards and upwards, and as Michael Johnson would say "While we may like to imagine life as an obstacle course where we can run around all the losses, failures, defeats and disappointments, begin to realise that losing is an integral part of the stuff that propells us, that makes the chase worthwhile".

Superb start to the season!!

2009-12-04T16:51:00.001Z

After a very long preseason of selection races and training the first two races of the Intercontinental cup in Winterberg rolled around on the 27th and 28th of November. The races were to be raced back to back due to scheduling issues, and it was a great feeling to be gearing up for competition against the rest of the world again! :) The 3 days of training leading into the races went fairly smoothly, the track had been cut differently to when we were last training on it, so a lot of new 'lines' had to be played around with in order to squeeze out as much speed as possible from the track. However i was confident going into race day that everything would come together and i was certainly not disappointed. The first of the two races was set to a typically dreary drizzly day in Winterberg, however the track held up well over the course of the two runs. My start time on the first run again blitzed the majority of the field and led to me laying 6th after the first run. The run was a bit of a mess with the timings of the steers having changed again due to quicker track conditions to when we had been training. However the second run was strong, and combined with another impressive start time led to me picking up 4th spot overall, a result that my parents, coaching staff and myself were very very pleased with! Indeed I was the highest ranked Brit with Chris type coming in 5th and Ant sawyer in 9th.

I tend to have problems with back to back races, experiencing mental and physical fatigue as the sport is very demanding, however I went home from this first race, executed all of my recovery procedures and came into the next day ready and raring to go. Indeed the exact same thing happened as per the first race. I was lying 6th after the first run, and after a stunning second run that was the 2nd quickest downtime of the run i managed to pick up several spots and claim 4th spot again. A result that reinforces my belief that I can be a force to be reckoned with this season! Indeed the results over the two races leaves me ranked 15th in the World and 3rd on the ICC circuit. More importantly however it means i have acheived the selection criteria to move upto the World Cup Circuit, it also ranks me as the 3rd highest Brit, which with the Olympic Games looming is a place i fully intend to hold onto and hopefully better...

So our next stop is in Konigssee in the South of Germany, one of the shortest tracks on the circuit and coincidently one of the most fun. Hopefully I can go one better this time around and bring back a medal! :)

Teignbridge Sports Personality 2009 Winner!

2009-11-29T20:25:00.000Z

Little did I realise that during the summer months spent training in Bath I was nominated for my Local Districts' Sports Personality Awards. These awards are held at the Langstone Cliff Hotel in Dawlish in my home of South Devon. Unfortunately the awards were held this year when I was out of the country competing on the Intercontinental Cup Circuit a few days ago, however the invitations were sent early enough for me to be able to find some close friends and coaches to be able to represent me on the night and luckily for them they got to pick up the Senior Sportsman of the year and the overall Sports personality of the year awards for me! -Many thanks to Janice and Mike Hindle who collected the trophies!!! I did however know about this win prior to leaving the country and was able to record an acceptance message and interview with the evenings host Ben Mosbey from Palm FM. Which is actually now on Youtube at the following address...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IQlCiTkZ7w - Teignbridge Sports Personality of the Year Acceptance

The full press release of the evening can also be found here - http://www.teignbridge.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=11934

Needless to say the award is a real pleasure for me to have received and it has given me a massive boost going into a pivotal season, that can hopefully culminate in reaching Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

Picture Courtesy of LIFE and Getty Images

Final Preseason Preparations

2009-11-20T12:59:00.002Z

So after being selected for the Intercontinental Cup Team (ICC) we had a few days back in the UK to recouperate before travelling to Germany for some additional preseason training on two of the tracks we will be racing on before the Christmas break. After a long drive from Frankfurt we arrived in Konigssee, a track to the south of Germany that is home to 'The Eagles Nest' one of the many strongholds of Hitler during the War. The track is one of the most picturesque on the world circuit and is a very short but tricky track. I spent just under a week here getting some valuable practice time with two of my teammates Chris Type and Sarah Sydney. The other two members of our team were getting training runs in Vancouver before being flown out to join us in Winterberg. The week went very well, with some competitive downtimes being put down.

The view looking down the straightaway of the Konigssee track.

After the week in Konigssee we made the 8 hour drive North to Winterberg to meet the rest of our team and to get some additional training at the track in Winterberg. This track is the complete opposite of Konigssee, a rather dreary town with not an awful lot to do, this didn't matter however as our 2 days of downtime coincided with a great weekend of sport. So several rugby games, a boxing match and a Premier league fix (not impressed with United being beaten...undeservedly might I add!!) later we were ready to slide again. With our full contingent of team and coaching staff we managed to have a very constructive 8 days on the track, all of which will stand us in good stead for the two races that are held here in just over a weeks time. For now though i have a good 4 days or so at home to recover and prepare for the business end of our season, the 4 races before Christmas that will have a huge bearing on our Olympic chances.

Selection Race 2 - Lake Placid

2009-10-28T15:43:00.003Z

After my 4th place finish in the first selection race for the Great Britain World Cup Squad, I was looking for improvement in the second race a week later. The 3 days of training leading into the race were far from ideal with deteriorating ice conditions making the track very slow. A combination of rising temperatures, wind and rain meant that the track changed very quickly, with certain sections melting whilst others become very frosty. However I made the best of the training I was given to correct certain sections of the track that I was losing speed in previously and I was confident of being in the mix in the race.

The British Skeleton Squad

Picture Courtesy of LIFE Magazine and Getty Images

So race day came about all too quickly and i was drawn with the first start number for the men, a position I wasnt all too keen on, as it means almost no information of how quick the track was likely to be, as fate would have it the track ended up being almost 3 seconds quicker on the race day, and this threw a few spanners into the mix, as the timings of our steers in the corners had to be that much quicker to account for the extra speed. Despite this I put down a very competitive first run that put me 3rd and again had me within 4 tenths of the leader Andy wood, it also meant that 2 tenths covered 2nd,3rd and 4th positions. The second run didn't go quite as smoothly and meant that I finished 3rd, this result also meant that I finished 3rd overall over the two selection races.

This result means that I shall be spending the first half of the season on the Intercontinental Cup Circuit which will see me racing in Winterberg, Konigssee and Cesana before Christmas. The selection races really opened up my eyes as to how much my driving ability has improved over the last couple of years. My pushstart at the beginning of a slide down the track has always been my strong point (consistantly being around 2 tenths quicker than anyone else on the team) and has meant that I could get away with not having such a clean run down the track. However for some reason the last two races has seen my pushstart being not quite such an effective weapon, with Andy Wood and Anthony Sawyer both having pushed within a few hundredths of a second of me. However I was still able to be competitive with my driving and this is very encouraging. As soon as I am able to combine a lethal start time with my improved driving abilities the results will be impressive. So this is the goal for the next 3 weeks. The first of these weeks is spent at home in Devon, we then have 2 more weeks of training on the ice in Germany before our race series starts. So I am now analysing video and working with my coaches to firstly improve my push back to what it should be and secondly to prepare for what will hopefully be a very successful season!!

Preseason and Selection Race 1 - Lake Placid

2009-10-19T21:36:00.000+01:00

So at the beginning of October our preseason training started. We were originally meant to be training in Cesana, Italy, however a broken refrigeration system and some very uncharacteristic warm weather in the Italian Alps meant that we had to relocate to Winterberg in Germany. A week was spent here refamiliarising with our sleds, thankfully it all came flooding back and it provided a much needed adrenaline fix after 6 months or so off the ice! From here we travelled to Montreal and drove down to Lake Placid for our first of two selection races which will decide who will be on the World Cup and Intercontinental Cup circuits for this coming season.

The race format is such that we all have 6 training runs on the track spread over 3 days followed by a race day which comprises of two runs down the track, with the cumulative time deciding the winner. Training made it very evident that the race was going to be a close one, I even managed to acheive the fastest downtime on the last training run prior to the race so all was looking good. The race however didn't all go to plan. I had a pretty clean first run that put me with a few tenths of a second of the leader Ant Sawyer, infact 4 tenths spread the field. However a poor second run that started with me almost tripping over my sled at the start due to a sticky start spur and ended with me clattering the right wall out of 14 meant that i finished 4th overall, with Ant managing to claim top spot by one hundredth of a second. A really big congrats to him, as he's my roommate for this fortnight!! However a few lessons to be taken away and learnt from by me for the second race, where absolutely anything could happen. However now only a win will do for me, so pretty straightforward huh?!

First Blog - Getting upto Speed

2009-10-19T16:56:00.000+01:00

Ok so this is my first blog, and the first of many that will track my progress through this season and the coming seasons for the duartion of my career as an elite athlete for Great Britain in the sport of Skeleton Bobsleigh. I took up the sport 3 Years ago after finishing my university course and am currently in the preseason of my 4th season, and a big season it is too with the Olympics looming large just a few months down the line! The past 3 seasons have gone by in a bit of a blur, being sent to tracks all over North America and Europe, with some intense summer training in between. It has seen me mature from a complete novice where I was hitting every wall in sight on the way down the track into a competent athlete, and one that can certainly challenge for an Olympic berth this season. Along the way I have picked up a World Junior Championships Silver Medal and a British Championships Gold. Indeed I am still the current British champion going into this season. Along with these I have made some great friends, have learnt how to take disappointment and turn it into a motivational force, and discovered what its like to taste success and believe me, i intend to make winning a habit for many years to come...