Swimming Championships in Rome

Yes! Well done to Brits Jo Jackson and Rebecca Adlington for taking the silver and bronze at the Swimming Championships in Rome yesterday. And Rebecca did it in a Speedo LZR (50 per cent polyurethane) while everyone around her went for the 100 per cent polyurethane suits (Jo in Adidas and Italian Federica Pellegrini, who took the gold, in Jaked). The swimming governing body, FINA, announced last week that the suits will be banned from January.

Here is what Rebecca had to say about the suits (I have taken this from The Guardian, but she is quoted in all over the place saying the same thing):

“Maybe I could have gone a little bit faster but I wanted to be able to compare my times last year, and I want to be able to come next year and know that I can hopefully go just as quick, so that’s why I chose to wear this. At the end of the day a suit is not going to swim by itself, it’s the person that is in the suit that’s got to do the work.”

What can you say? Rebecca is a true sporting heroine. Everyone from the Daily Mail to The Guardian loves her. It's a shame to hear the BBC reporting tonight that swimming in Britain is on the decrease. Well, build some more decent pools!

Meanwhile - great news that the Stratford Olympics Stadium is ahead of schedule. London Mayor Boris Johnson was all excited about it on Twitter today – and at the launch of the new high speed train traveling from Kings Cross to Stratford in under seven minutes. That’s great! Now, I wonder if the last Tube out of central London on Friday and Saturday nights could leave at 1am…

Hampstead Ladies Pond

When I was leaving Hampstead Heath Ladies Pond this weekend, I saw this gorgeous, tanned and toned guy in his late 20s/early 30s stripped to his shorts with a towel slung over his right shoulder starring devastatingly at the bathing times’ board by the entrance to the pond, which also carries the words NO MEN BEYOND THIS POINT.

Standing next to him was an elegant, sun-kissed and agile-looking woman in her late 50s/early 60s with a sports bag. The guy was looking at the board with such concentration it was as if he was in the middle of translating the English into Greek. The woman was dividing her attention between looking at the young man, looking at the board and looking at anyone looking at them. My smile broadened. I almost said to her: “Why don’t you go in? I am sure no one would mind...” but I was too busy giggling.

When I shot a glance over my shoulder after I had walked past them, they were STILL standing there.

Swimming Backwards Underwater

I have mastered the art of swimming underwater backwards and thought I would pass on tips to anyone interested:

Take time to collect your breath and slow down your breathing, taking a couple of deep breaths before you take the final breath to last you the length underwater. The final deep breath will probably be an audible gasp; don’t be afraid to make it.

Give yourself a good momentum when you push off from the wall; you don’t have oxygen time to waste on gaining speed underwater.

Tip your head right back so that the top of your head is at a 180 degree angle from the surface of the water.

Use a backwards breaststroke motion.

Position yourself close to the surface of the water as it will give you more freedom to manoeuvre your head, should you need/want to. It also means that you will avoid banging your head on the bottom of the pool (I speak from trial and error experience).

Look where you are going (that is part of the fun anyway). Have someone swim a normal breaststroke in front of you if it helps.

Let out your breath very, very slowly at regular intervals from your nose, not your mouth. (I have been advised to try a nose peg, but haven't got around to trying this way yet.)

Set yourself a goal – 10 meters, 15 metres, 20 metres, 25 metres and beyond...

Underwater Swimming

This week I discovered the magical sensation of swimming backwards underwater. So magical, that I almost forgot to share the experience with anyone!

Swimming backwards underwater (where your back faces the bottom of the pool) is not the same as swimming forwards underwater because the breathing control is different. This has to do with the fact that the nostrils are facing towards the surface and, of course, gravity is weighting the water into them. This isn't a problem when you are swimming forwards underwater (with your stomach facing towards the bottom of the pool). The balance is also different, more complicated, but the reward is not just the sensation but the visual aesthetic of the water's surface from underneath (I recommend goggles).

It is an art I have yet to master but I think it will be well worth the effort.

A fellow swimmer once told me she loved underwater because her heart rate slowed and it calmed her down. Swimming underwater actually involves a lot of concentration - when you are starting out. Then, when you learn to master your breathing, the pleasure of underwater swimming really kicks in.

Swimming Champions

Woo hoo! Well done to Beijing Olympics double gold-medallist, Rebecca Addlington, and fellow British champion swimmer, Jo Jackson, for smashing the world record for the 400 metres freestyle at the British Swimming Championships last night. Jackson beat Adlington by 0.13 of a second, clocking 4:00.66 sec at Ponds Forge in Sheffield, but both swam under Adlington’s Beijing world record. I hope Adlington qualifies for the World Swimming Championships in Rome!