Feb 1, 2011
The beggining of 2011
I have to admit that it didn’t feel like Christmas over here in Australia but I still had a great time. We spent Christmas with the Gandy family, which was really nice. We went for a walk on St Kilda beach with Kingston the dog on Christmas morning and in the afternoon we had a turkey dinner with all the trimmings, then spent the rest of the day eating cheese and biscuits and chocolate! I think we then spent the next 2 days after Christmas just eating too!!
On New Years Eve we spent the day sun bathing on Brighton beach, it was a scorching 40 degrees! In the evening we celebrated the New Year by going into Melbourne city centre to watch the fireworks, which were amazing. Thousands of people turned up to watch, and the fireworks were set of from all the tall buildings in the city.
Training has been going well so far this year! I am now training with Leisel Jones and Sarah Katsoulis. I race against them both in major competitions so I know them pretty well already. I have been working really hard on some of the new techniques that Rohan, my new coach has given me. I am really weak on my BR arm pull, because my elbows drop on my pull through and this causes a lot of resistance. I am also working on my head position, I need to drop it more as its causing resistance against the water. It’s interesting to see how Leisel and Sarah train, I am so far behind them on some things, but they have been doing them for years, I am sure I will catch them up though. It shows me what I really need to improve on and how I can swim quicker in the future.
Iv been doing my land work in the gym, I’m really trying to improve the flexibility in my shoulders, lats and back. This will really help with my arm stroke. I have been doing my outside activities on the bike and running. I have been really enjoying going and doing outdoor activities. Think the weather being so good helps!
Iv settled well into my training group. I get on really well with all the swimmers. We had a girl’s dinner a couple of weeks ago, which was really nice. It reminded me of my girls back in Loughborough!
Going out for breakfast, lunch or even just for coffee is the thing to do here so I have done that a few times with some of the girls.
We are now settled into a new apartment. Its great! Its right near the city and it’s a really cool and cosmopolitan place to live! I’m so glad that we are settled, It means we can use our free time to enjoy Melbourne now!
One of the first things we brought for the apartment was a BBQ! You cant live in Australia and not have a BBQ!
The Australian Open was here in Melbourne the last two weeks. I really enjoy watching tennis, My favourite player is Roger Federer! Unfortunately I didn’t get to see his games but we were very lucky and we got tickets through a friend so we went 3 days in the first week. I have a friend who I use to swim against, her name is Mirna Jukic and her boyfriend is Jurgen Melzer. He is a player and is ranked 10th in the world so we were able to go and see his matches. He played really well in all his games, unfortunately he lost out in the 4th round against Andy Murry.
The weather here has been awesome the last few weeks. We have spent the last two weekends chilling on the Beach. I love that we only have to drive about 20 mins and we are at the sea.
I return to the UK on the 26th Feb for my preparation for the British trials for world championships. Hopefully I will see some of you there supporting in the crowd!
Kate
