Karen Pickering - Britain's most successful swimmer BBC & Channel 4 Commentator
Blog
Monday, 23 January 2012
Evening Star column: Sport Relief Challenge
I will embark on one of my biggest sporting challenges to date when I attempt to teach comedian Frank Skinner to swim, starting next week.
Frank is a non-swimmer with a massive phobia of being in water so for Sport Relief, which begins on March 23rd, his aim will be to swim awidth of the new Olympic pool, which is 25m.
It's a big challenge and Frank might not evenget in the water during his first lesson, but I will be receiving help from aswimming teacher and he will also be having therapy to help combat his phobia.
Getting him over this fear and then teachinghim to swim are two massive hurdles. It sounds so silly when you look at peoplelike David Walliams who swam the channel and Eddie Izzard, who ran 43 marathonsin 51 days, but in a way, this is almost a bigger challenge.
Learning to swimis one thing but he has got to overcome his phobia too and the anxiety thatgoes with it. He has got to be able to trust us and know that we are not goingto let him drown.
His fear is an irrational one in many respects.Water can be dangerous but the real danger comes in rivers, lakes and the sea,places where other external factors such as temperature and tides have abearing.
We will be starting in a small, quiet pool justto get him used to the environment and will be taking little steps with regularlessons.
I hope what Frank is doing will act as a biginspiration to other adults, with one in five in this country being unable toswim.
I wasdelighted to hear about the pupils at Westbourne Sports College,in Ipswich, who are going to be Field of Play Team Members at the Paralympics.
It will be an incredible experience for themand they will get the chance to see some of the greatest Paralympians on theplanet.
Watching it on TV is one thing but actuallybeing there you realise how fast the athletes are actually going.
I have been to events before and watched the5,000m and 10,000m races. On TV, the athletes make it look so easy but I know Iwould not be able to keep up, even in just two or three strides, going fullpelt.
Then there is the noise, which seems to followthe athletes around the stadium.
The pupils won't be the only volunteers at thisyear's Games either, as my mum, Deedee will be a volunteer at the swimmingevents.
Over the years she has done so much for otherpeople as a swimming teacher, secretary of my local club and at Sussex CountySwimming Association, never mind ferrying me around.
She will belooking after the officials during the Games and I am really proud of her.
Friday, 14 October 2011
Evening Star column: David Haye, "21st Century Legacy" and doping laws
FORMER world champion David Haye announced his decision to retire from boxing this week and I know just how it will have been to make such a decision.Boxing, like swimming requires years of dedication and David will have been boxing since an incredibly young age and it will have been his life.It is so difficult to step away from your chosen sport as it almost provides safety and comfort as you know that you work to a routine during training and are always striving towards a goal and when you are going to achieve it.It is a simple life really and it is something as a sportsman or woman you have been doing for the majority of your life.
I am sure there will be plenty of other opportunities for him out there but trying to make his mark at something else, when in boxing he will have no doubt have been a perfectionist like most competitors, is difficult.
He is fortunate that he has been able to make the decision himself and has not been forced to make it through injury but that will not make the transition period any easier.
I struggled when I made the decision to finish swimming even though I retired gradually and wound down for a year and let other opportunities take me away from the pool rather than fitting other jobs around swimming.
I went to the World Championship Trials towards the end of that season and whilst I knew I would not qualify for the team, I decided to see how disappointed I would be and therefore how desperate I was to continue swimming.
If I had found that I was not ready to quit, I would have returned to full time training for Commonwealth Games the following year but I did not feel that desperation.
In some sports, such as football, you can retire from the international game but still play domestically. In Olympic sports, the athletes don't have that luxury as they won't be earning any money. The only way they will be able to continue is by doing the sport as a hobby.
It is not easy to quit and I wish David all the best, he is a lovely guy.
I ATTENDED the launch of a new project led by 1968 400m hurdles Olympic champion, David Hemery, yesterday.
The '21st Century Legacy' is a project aimed at school children which encourages them to be the best they can be in whatever field or career they choose to follow.
The programme will see a host of Olympians, Paralympians and other people go into schools and share their stories and hopefully act as a motivation and inspiration to the pupils.
The good thing about this programme is that it will be run throughout the school term and the athletes will be able to return at the end of the projects to see how the children are progressing. Among the aims of the project is for the school children to identify their goals and how they will achieve them and it will also help to eradicate that fear of failure which is especially prevalent amongst girls. The children will be able to sit down and say, 'this is what I want to do and this is how I'm going to do it'.
I remember when I was at school one of my teachers laughed at me, to my face, when I said I wanted to compete at the Olympics when I grew up. I have selective hearing and it didn't deter me but some children may not go for their goals if they are ridiculed.
AMERICAN athlete LaShawn Merritt will now be able to compete at next year's Olympics in London, after the Court of Arbitration for Sport over turned a ruling made by the International Olympics Committee (IOC). The IOC's rule 45 states that anyone banned for a doping offence for six months or more should miss the next Olympics, even if their suspension has expired, but this was successfully challenged by Merritt and has opened the door for several drug cheats from America to compete in London.
I think it is a real shame that this stance has been taken and I hope the BOA (British Olympic Association) stays as strong as ever in its stance on drug cheats. The BOA issues a lifetime Olympic ban to drug cheats but the difference between the BOA's stance and the IOC's is that the BOA offers an appeal process and I think that is a key element.
I competed against drug cheats on many occasions and it was awful.
I am sure there will be plenty of other opportunities for him out there but trying to make his mark at something else, when in boxing he will have no doubt have been a perfectionist like most competitors, is difficult.
He is fortunate that he has been able to make the decision himself and has not been forced to make it through injury but that will not make the transition period any easier.
I struggled when I made the decision to finish swimming even though I retired gradually and wound down for a year and let other opportunities take me away from the pool rather than fitting other jobs around swimming.
I went to the World Championship Trials towards the end of that season and whilst I knew I would not qualify for the team, I decided to see how disappointed I would be and therefore how desperate I was to continue swimming.
If I had found that I was not ready to quit, I would have returned to full time training for Commonwealth Games the following year but I did not feel that desperation.
In some sports, such as football, you can retire from the international game but still play domestically. In Olympic sports, the athletes don't have that luxury as they won't be earning any money. The only way they will be able to continue is by doing the sport as a hobby.
It is not easy to quit and I wish David all the best, he is a lovely guy.
I ATTENDED the launch of a new project led by 1968 400m hurdles Olympic champion, David Hemery, yesterday.
The '21st Century Legacy' is a project aimed at school children which encourages them to be the best they can be in whatever field or career they choose to follow.
The programme will see a host of Olympians, Paralympians and other people go into schools and share their stories and hopefully act as a motivation and inspiration to the pupils.
The good thing about this programme is that it will be run throughout the school term and the athletes will be able to return at the end of the projects to see how the children are progressing. Among the aims of the project is for the school children to identify their goals and how they will achieve them and it will also help to eradicate that fear of failure which is especially prevalent amongst girls. The children will be able to sit down and say, 'this is what I want to do and this is how I'm going to do it'.
I remember when I was at school one of my teachers laughed at me, to my face, when I said I wanted to compete at the Olympics when I grew up. I have selective hearing and it didn't deter me but some children may not go for their goals if they are ridiculed.
AMERICAN athlete LaShawn Merritt will now be able to compete at next year's Olympics in London, after the Court of Arbitration for Sport over turned a ruling made by the International Olympics Committee (IOC). The IOC's rule 45 states that anyone banned for a doping offence for six months or more should miss the next Olympics, even if their suspension has expired, but this was successfully challenged by Merritt and has opened the door for several drug cheats from America to compete in London.
I think it is a real shame that this stance has been taken and I hope the BOA (British Olympic Association) stays as strong as ever in its stance on drug cheats. The BOA issues a lifetime Olympic ban to drug cheats but the difference between the BOA's stance and the IOC's is that the BOA offers an appeal process and I think that is a key element.
I competed against drug cheats on many occasions and it was awful.
When you are standing on the blocks before the race and you are next to someone who has served a ban, you know you are not competing against them on level playing field.
Okay, so they may have served their ban but as I have said before, the effects of doping can last a lifetime and they can just stand there with not a care in world, not worrying that they have denied a fellow athlete medals, prize money and potential funding.
Okay, so they may have served their ban but as I have said before, the effects of doping can last a lifetime and they can just stand there with not a care in world, not worrying that they have denied a fellow athlete medals, prize money and potential funding.
Monday, 26 September 2011
I READ this week that the Great Britain football team, which will compete at next year's Olympics in London, will be staying with the rest of the athletes in the Olympic Village, in Stratford. It will be a culture shock for them staying as part of a 550-strong Team GB setup as they are used to staying in the best hotels in the world.
I have been in a couple of the apartments in the athlete blocks at the Olympic Village and they are very nice and modern and some are quite spacious but is not luxury accommodation. The bedrooms are very basic with a bed, wardrobe and drawers, the lounges have some furniture and whilst it is good quality it is minimal. The good news is though that there will be extra long beds available for any tall athletes! The British Olympic Association will most likely add to the basic rooms for TEAM GB athletes to make them more homely, but they will still be very basic compared to what they will be used to.
However, it will be a great experience for the footballers to be around so many amazing athletes and it is such a buzz to be in the same place, seeing each other morning and night, supporting each other and joining in with other athletes' celebrations or feeling their pain.
The dining hall is usually the size of a big supermarket and I know the food will be exceptional, having been part of the testing process for food at the Olympic Village.
The London village is very compact compared to previous Games but by staying in the village the footballers, who will have to travel across the UK for their games, will really get a feel for the whole event and venues such as the Olympic stadium and pool will be right on their doorstep
At the Barcelona Games, the USA squad of basketball players known as 'The Dream Team', felt they would not be left alone if they stayed in the Olympic Village and therefore stayed in alternative accommodation. I understand wanting to go somewhere quiet the night before you compete but to miss out on the whole experience would be a great shame.
THE seventh Speedo Splash Awards were held on Friday and it was amazing. We were very lucky with the weather particularly because we had a champagne boat trip which went from Putney Pier and up the river to Westminster, before arriving at the Hurlingham Club which had its own jetty.
I was really pleased with the event, there was a great atmosphere in the room with 250 guests attending. The voting for the awards was quite tight apart from the Splash Open Water Swimmer of the Year category which was won unanimously by Keri-Anne Payne. It was lovely to see Tonia Couch and Sarah Barrow win the diving award. I watched them at the World Aquatics Championship, in Shanghai, where they just missed out on a medal. They are pretty young and have a long time ahead of them but I was delighted to see them rewarded for their efforts. Tom Daley has been in the British diving spotlight for such a long time now so it was nice to see the girls come out from his shadow.
The Splash Disability Swimmer of the Year award went to local girl Susie Rogers who was really pleased to win. She had an amazing European Championships, winning 5 golds, which all the more remarkable since it was her first major championship. The Splash star award went to the celebrity swimmers that swam across the Irish Sea in aid of Cancer Research and Jason Bradbury and Pamela Stephenson, who took part in that event, were there on the night which made it very special. At next year's Speedo Splash Awards we will of course be celebrating successes from the Olympic Games so let's hope that it's a tough choice for the judges again in 2012
I have been in a couple of the apartments in the athlete blocks at the Olympic Village and they are very nice and modern and some are quite spacious but is not luxury accommodation. The bedrooms are very basic with a bed, wardrobe and drawers, the lounges have some furniture and whilst it is good quality it is minimal. The good news is though that there will be extra long beds available for any tall athletes! The British Olympic Association will most likely add to the basic rooms for TEAM GB athletes to make them more homely, but they will still be very basic compared to what they will be used to.
However, it will be a great experience for the footballers to be around so many amazing athletes and it is such a buzz to be in the same place, seeing each other morning and night, supporting each other and joining in with other athletes' celebrations or feeling their pain.
The dining hall is usually the size of a big supermarket and I know the food will be exceptional, having been part of the testing process for food at the Olympic Village.
The London village is very compact compared to previous Games but by staying in the village the footballers, who will have to travel across the UK for their games, will really get a feel for the whole event and venues such as the Olympic stadium and pool will be right on their doorstep
At the Barcelona Games, the USA squad of basketball players known as 'The Dream Team', felt they would not be left alone if they stayed in the Olympic Village and therefore stayed in alternative accommodation. I understand wanting to go somewhere quiet the night before you compete but to miss out on the whole experience would be a great shame.
THE seventh Speedo Splash Awards were held on Friday and it was amazing. We were very lucky with the weather particularly because we had a champagne boat trip which went from Putney Pier and up the river to Westminster, before arriving at the Hurlingham Club which had its own jetty.
I was really pleased with the event, there was a great atmosphere in the room with 250 guests attending. The voting for the awards was quite tight apart from the Splash Open Water Swimmer of the Year category which was won unanimously by Keri-Anne Payne. It was lovely to see Tonia Couch and Sarah Barrow win the diving award. I watched them at the World Aquatics Championship, in Shanghai, where they just missed out on a medal. They are pretty young and have a long time ahead of them but I was delighted to see them rewarded for their efforts. Tom Daley has been in the British diving spotlight for such a long time now so it was nice to see the girls come out from his shadow.
The Splash Disability Swimmer of the Year award went to local girl Susie Rogers who was really pleased to win. She had an amazing European Championships, winning 5 golds, which all the more remarkable since it was her first major championship. The Splash star award went to the celebrity swimmers that swam across the Irish Sea in aid of Cancer Research and Jason Bradbury and Pamela Stephenson, who took part in that event, were there on the night which made it very special. At next year's Speedo Splash Awards we will of course be celebrating successes from the Olympic Games so let's hope that it's a tough choice for the judges again in 2012
Saturday, 13 August 2011
Evening Star column: World Championships offer high hopes for Olympics
The recent swimming World Championships in Shanghai were the last major championships prior to next year's Olympics so it was always going to act as a good indicator for London 2012.
I was fortunate enough to cover the championships for the BBC and Shanghai is an amazing city and the venues were incredible.
One thing that stood out for me was there was a lot of talk prior to the championships about whether any world records would be broken because of the change in rules for swim suits. I felt a small number of records could be under threat ' and thankfully I was right.
Two world records were broken and the first one, by Ryan Lochte, was a real landmark event for swimming. Ryan has finally come out of the shadow of Michael Phelps and he is going to be a big name in 2012. He has a very different personality to Michael, who is still not back to his best shape but who will no doubt be in better form next year. It is going to be a very exciting battle between the two in London.
Of Great Britain's six medalists, including three gold, Keri-Anne Payne stood out in the 10k open water swim, leading from start to finish. This was made even more impressive by the fact she swam in 30-degree water and whilst the health and safety of races has been addressed since the sad death of a swimmer last year but there are still some issues.
I was fortunate enough to cover the championships for the BBC and Shanghai is an amazing city and the venues were incredible.
One thing that stood out for me was there was a lot of talk prior to the championships about whether any world records would be broken because of the change in rules for swim suits. I felt a small number of records could be under threat ' and thankfully I was right.
Two world records were broken and the first one, by Ryan Lochte, was a real landmark event for swimming. Ryan has finally come out of the shadow of Michael Phelps and he is going to be a big name in 2012. He has a very different personality to Michael, who is still not back to his best shape but who will no doubt be in better form next year. It is going to be a very exciting battle between the two in London.
Of Great Britain's six medalists, including three gold, Keri-Anne Payne stood out in the 10k open water swim, leading from start to finish. This was made even more impressive by the fact she swam in 30-degree water and whilst the health and safety of races has been addressed since the sad death of a swimmer last year but there are still some issues.
Ellen Gandy in the 200m butterfly was another highlight, missing out on a gold medal by just four-hundreths of a second. I first recognised Ellen's talent when she was 11 and saw her swim at an open meet. She asked me for my autograph but I said I would only give it to her if she gave me hers back. She was really embarrassed and ran away.
It was great to see Rebecca Adlington win the 800m in what was one of the most exciting races I have ever seen. There was only a couple of tenths separating her and Lotte Friis for all of the race until the last 50 metres. It was a real battle and a very different race to when she won her Olympic gold. It showed that, no matter how the race unfolds, she is a tough competitor.
Overall, there were some amazing races and what I loved about the championships was that you had 15-year-olds winning and also 33-year-olds. Also the number of countries participating was huge which meant, aside from USA who were dominant, the medals were going to a real variety of nations. It certainly made for some exciting races.
It was great to see Rebecca Adlington win the 800m in what was one of the most exciting races I have ever seen. There was only a couple of tenths separating her and Lotte Friis for all of the race until the last 50 metres. It was a real battle and a very different race to when she won her Olympic gold. It showed that, no matter how the race unfolds, she is a tough competitor.
Overall, there were some amazing races and what I loved about the championships was that you had 15-year-olds winning and also 33-year-olds. Also the number of countries participating was huge which meant, aside from USA who were dominant, the medals were going to a real variety of nations. It certainly made for some exciting races.
