British Championships 2018

British Championships / Edinburgh International Meet 2018

This year the British Championships took place at Edinburgh's Commonwealth Pool from 1st-4th March 2018.  The event was combined with the Edinburgh International Meet which attracts swimmers from around Europe.

This year, although not having swam to the best of my ability due to injury and medical set backs, I successfully achieved qualifying times for 6 events over the 4 days.  Just days prior to competing, I found out that I was suffering from a Viral infection which was not the best of news at all.  

My results were not quite what I had hoped for, over the 4 days, my coach and I were able to pick up some extremely important points from my swims which will help me when I travel to the Gold Coast in just 2 weeks time.

My next update will be in a week or two's time as I set off on my trip of a lifetime to compete for Team IOM at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

Geneva International Challenge - January 2018

 51^st Geneva International Challenge

At the end of January I travelled to Geneva, Switzerland to compete in the 51^st Geneva International Challenge.  The competition took place at Centre Sportif des Vernets and attracted swimmers from over 50 clubs from many nations including Israel, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and the UK, proving to be an extremely high-profile meet.  Swimming for my school, Mount Kelly, I competed in 7 events – 50m/100m/200m Breaststroke, 50m Butterfly, 50m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke and 200m Individual Medley. 

In the heat of the 50m Breaststroke, I finished 6^th and qualified for the final, improving on both my heat time and position, finishing 3^rd and taking a bronze medal.  In the 100m Breaststroke, I successfully qualified fastest for the final, but even after having swam faster in the final, I was pipped into 2^nd position, taking the silver in a season’s long course best time.  In the 200m Breaststroke it was a similar story, after having qualified fastest for the final, I was once again touched into second position by the same swimmer, Sara Staudinger from SC Uster Wallisellen, therefore having to once again settle for the silver medal.

Having recently received the fabulous news that I had been selected to compete in the Commonwealth Games in Australia this April for the Isle of Man Team, I have been informed that although not a backstroke swimmer, I will be leading the team out on the backstroke leg of the 4x100m Medley Relay.  With this in mind, I decided to ‘test the water’ and see how my backstroke was looking; finishing 14^th overall, just 2 seconds slower than my personal best time, my school coach and I were extremely pleased with this result – one of my main aims over the coming weeks in preparation for the Games is to spend some extra time training on backstroke in order to be at my best in this event giving the team the best possible start in the relay.

In the 50m Butterfly, I finished 12^th, narrowly missing out on the final.   Having qualified 4^th fastest for the 200m Individual Medley final, I swam in the lane next to Italy’s Federica Pellegrini (the current 200m Freestyle World Record holder and Olympic gold medallist) – unfortunately, during the final my time was slightly slower than my heat, finishing 5^th overall.

During the competition, competing clubs accumulated points on all finalists and at the end of the meet, our team, Mount Kelly School were announced Top Visiting Club and received a well-earned trophy.

After a poor season in 2016/2017 through injury and illness, it was great to be back in the pool swimming on or around my personal best times again.  I feel that my determination and resilience to the hurdles I have faced over the last 12 months have made me much stronger mentally and physically.  My next competition will be in Edinburgh at the British Championships and Edinburgh International (combined) before heading off down under to the Commonwealth Games.

2018....

What a way to start the New Year....  I received the fantastic news that I had been successful in being selected to compete for the Isle of Man at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, being held in Australia's Gold Coast in April!

I am extremely honoured to have been selected - especially after having suffered some major setbacks within the last 12 months.   During the qualifying window, I successfully achieved qualifying times in the 50m/100m Backstroke, 50m/100m/200m Breaststroke, 50m/100m Butterfly and 200m/400m Individual Medley, now I need to sit down with my coaches and carefully decide exactly which events I will be swimming as it would be impossible to compete in them all.

After the worst flight to the Island I had ever been subjected to on New Year's Day, during Hurricane Eleanor, I eventually landed safely!  The following morning, I attended a Media Workshop with many of the other athletes, followed by a presentation regarding Anti-Doping in Sport before the official team launch took place later that evening.  The announcement of Team IOM was held at the Claremont Hotel in Douglas on the 2nd January, hosted by Jo Pack from The Sport Package.

Myself, Laura, Guy and Steph

The evening was well attended and we were brought to the front alphabetically in our sports.  The team consists of 32 athletes with representatives from the following sports: Athletics, Badminton, Cycling (track/road/mountain bike), Gymnastics, Lawn Bowls, Shooting, Swimming and Triathlon.  My swimming team mates consist of Guy Davies, Charlotte Atkinson, Steph Brew and Laura Kinley.  It is extremely exciting for the Isle of Man, that we will have the opportunity to not only compete as individuals, but also due to the fact that it is the first time the Island has been able to send a female relay team to the Commonwealth Games.  We will be competing in the 4x100m Freestyle and 4x100m Medley Relays which are always

(Details of the Isle of Man Commonwealth Games Team)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/42557178

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Isle of Man Commonwealth Games Association for giving me the opportunity to compete once again for Team Isle of Man at these Games, I am looking forward to the challenges ahead, and hope to be able to come away with some great results.

Quick round up of the last 4 years....

2015

I was selected to compete for the England Talent Squad Phase 3 in Italy - I had a great competition, winning 1 silver medal and 2 bronze medals!  Setting some great pb times in the process.

Later in 2015 I was selected to compete for the Isle of Man at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa.  I competed in:  50m/100m Breaststroke and 200m Individual Medley where I successfully went on to swim in the A Finals, the 50m Backstroke and 100m Butterfly where I qualified for the B Finals. Whilst in Samoa, I celebrated my 16th Birthday, I had an extremely memorable trip and am extremely grateful to the Isle of Man CG Association for giving me the opportunity to compete for the Island at such a wonderful location. 

In September 2016, I began my studies at Mount Kelly School in Tavistock, Devon - Here I have had the opportunity to train with some fabulous swimmers and under some of the best Coaches.  Whilst swimming at Pioneer 79 Swimming Club in Accrington, my training week consisted of 6 x 1.5hour sessions in the pool and 2x1 hour land training sessions.  By moving down to MK, I have stepped up my training considerably to 9x2 hour pool sessions and 4x1 hour land training sessions.  At first I was finding it extremely difficult, but I competed at the Winter Nationals at the end of 2016, achieving some great personal best times and I also medalled.

Unfortunately, during 2017 I suffered an injury to my left shoulder, I underwent endless physio sessions and eventually, when my right shoulder too became injured I was left no option but to seek further medical advice.  I saw a consultant who did various tests and scans, but was advised to reduce my competition programme and adapt my training until both shoulders recovered.  This affected me not just physically, but also mentally as I was unable to continue my training and competing in the way I had hoped with my move to Mount Kelly School.  I felt extremely frustrated and disappointed.  I did manage to compete in a few events during the season, however at these competitions, I had to withdraw from a number of events in order to prevent any further unnecessary injuries.  

At the beginning of July, just as everything was starting to come back together again, I was selected to compete in Croatia for the South-West of England and was due to travel to Lanzarote to take part in a swim camp to prepare for the British Summer Championships in Sheffield.  Unfortunately, just days prior to travelling to Croatia I suffered a devastating medical issue - my plans, my progress and everything suddenly came to yet another standstill.  Since the 2014 Commonwealth Games, I had been working towards my goal of being selected to compete for the Isle of Man once again on the Gold Coast in Australia.  I was told that unfortunately from that moment, I wouldn't be able to swim for a number of months, until I had undertaken a number of tests - which as you can imagine, after having suffering injuries throughout the season was a huge blow.   

It was extremely difficult for me during the summer to actually stay away from the pool - I travelled to and from Plymouth with my dad to have a variety of tests, I even travelled over to Sheffield to spend a day with the Team at the British Summer Championships - I was determined to be back in the pool again as soon as possible.... I used the summer to recharge myself both physically and mentally - I completed my Level 1 Swimming Teaching Course, worked hard in the gym and had a lot of 'family time'. 

Upon my return to school in September, I was still unable to train in the pool, until out of the blue I received the welcomed news clearing me of any issues and allowing me to get back in the pool and train/compete.  This was the best news ever!  In November, I competed at the English Schools Swimming Association National Relay Finals, it was great to be back in the pool competing again, and I even managed to catch up with a few of my friends from Pioneer 79 who were also competing for their respective schools (and my younger brother!).

Me and my brother...

Pioneer 79 Team-mates

Mount Kelly Team-mates

In November, I was selected to compete and travelled to South Wales for the final of the Arena League for Team Mount Kelly.  It was a great feeling to be in a position to compete for the team and earn some points again.  Our team won the final and next year, we will take part in the Premier League for the first time.... 

In December, I competed in the British Winter Championships - this competition is usually short course, however this year it had been changed to Long Course and was being used as a final opportunity for swimmers to be selected to compete for England at the Commonwealth Games.  Therefore, as you can imagine the quality of swimmers was extremely high, the competition took place over 5 days just before Christmas in Sheffield.  Having achieved qualifying times in 50m/100m/200m Breaststroke, 50m Fly and 200m Individual Medley I took each event as it came.  Although my times were not quite on my personal best times, they were very close.  Both myself and my coach, Emma Collings-Barnes were very pleased with my results.  In the final session, it was fabulous to watch my Pioneer 79 Swimming Club team mates win a silver medal in the Mens 4x100m Medley Relay, it was fully deserved and they were all really excited.  Straight after, the very last race of the competition, I was competing in the 4x100m Medley Relay Team for MK.  We had qualified fastest for the final and swam in lane 4.  In the final, the time I swam on the breaststroke leg was almost a second better than the time I swam in my individual race, so I was extremely pleased, we all had a great race, making sure our take-overs were perfect.  Not only did we win the gold medal, but our team also set a new Mount Kelly Open Medley Relay record which was brilliant!  It was a great end to a very difficult year.... roll on 2018!

Me and my GOLD medal!!

Me and the Pioneer 79 Boys 4x100m Medley Relay Team who won silver!!!

WHAT'S HAPPENED TO NIAMH OVER THE LAST 3 AND A HALF YEARS??

After having not updated my blog since 2014, you may now be wondering...... where is she now?

WATCH THIS SPACE!!

Last post found in my drafts!

No.10 - Downing Street

Upon returning from Glasgow, my mum received an email asking if any members of the IOM team would like to travel down to London to attend a 'reception' at No.10 Downing Street where we would get to meet the Prime Minister, Mr David Cameron himself!  Without hesitation, we replied straight away to put my name forward.  My mum would make a day of it by travelling down with my brother too and they would visit some of the sights whilst I went into No.10.


I was so happy when the next email arrived to find out that I had been successful in being chosen to go to London. 

Another post stuck in my drafts!

Sponsored Swim for the British Heart Foundation

On Saturday 16th August 2014 I took part in a fundraising event held at David Lloyd Gym, Chorley.  The event was organised by a little girl called Rosanna Ogden, a 4 year old child who was diagnosed with a heart condition at a very early age.  Her parents were advised to get Rosanna into swimming, she has turned out to be a little 'mermaid' and has raised £1,000's of pounds over the last couple of years for the British Heart Foundation. 

The event was extremely well supported and we managed to get swimmers from Pioneer 79 to join in the event.  The other swimmers from P79 were my younger brother, Harry, Caitlin and Ryan Armstrong, Tom Baynes and Elodie Smallwood.  We had a great day, full of fun and the swim itself was done in the open air pool, which was fun, especially when it rained!!

The event was very successful and during the day, we were lucky to meet Rebecca Adlington too.