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After a week off training with a virus I am back into it and really beginning to get excited about the Olympic Games in Beijing this August.

Since I last posted I have been to Europe for the Mare Nostrum events. I produced some good swims while I was over there and was happy with my form. The break up of routine was handy as well and allowed me to freshen up a bit before heading home to more training.

Unfortunately we didn’t have a lot of time for sight seeing while we were over in France, but we did get a day off to go to St Tropez and also Cannes. Both of those places were really cool and I had a great time there.

Since then I have been training a lot until last week. It was really frustrating to be sick, but there isn’t a lot you can do except to rest up and get better.

Overall I have had a good preparation with only a couple of small injuries and colds.  While last week does set me back a little bit in terms of my preparation, I have the fitness from training hard constantly and feel like I am ready to head to the Olympics.

Recently the US Swim Team completed their Olympic Trials and, while many of them were impressive, I had my eye on Katie Hoff and her performances.

Katie snatched back the 400m Individual Medley world record I took from here at our trials. We now  have one world record each heading into Beijing as I still hold the world record in the 200 IM.

I think with Katie taking back the 400 IM record it puts a bit of pressure on her as the favourite for the race in Beijing. Her time of 4:31.12 took .34 of a second off my time, but I feel like I have more improvement than that in me as I swam my world record time in March.

I feel it will take a world record swim to win the 400 IM in Beijing.

If I win gold in Beijing then I win gold, but for me the most important thing is knowing I have given this campaign my all and not having any regrets.

My boyfriend Eamon has been in the news a little bit as he has had a back injury. Eamon had an injection a week ago and his back seems to be fine. He is used to not having perfect preparation anyway and he won’t let it affect him.

Eamon and I also shot our range of ads for Davenport underwear recently. I’m really happy with the shots we did and had a great time on the shoot. I always see doing promotional and advertising as a fun bonus and I think the campaign is a good one.

Check out Davenport’s website at http://www.davenportunderwear.com.au/

I’ll be leaving at the end of next week and will post one more time before I head off overseas for the Olympics.

Steph

Things have been hectic lately. Not only have I been all over the place training hard for the Olympics but I’ve had a lot of organising to do for it.

After the Olympic Trials the whole team went to Canberra for a team orientation camp and the atmosphere was really good. There was a good mix of experienced swimmers and up and comers there and everyone got along well. We’re all really looking forward to heading to Europe and Beijing later in the year as a team.

While we were there we had a Grand Prix event on. It wasn’t exactly the best time for racing as most people had a little break in training after the trials. Even worse for me, it was a short course event.

I’m not a huge fan of short course swimming as the focus is really on technique on the turns and I struggle to keep my rhythm going all the way through. I really do prefer long course where my stroke can flow more.

Speaking of long course, the whole Australian swim team are heading over to Europe at the end of next week to compete in France, Spain and Italy. I am looking forward to the trip, not just for the swimming but for a chance to get away from the media attention.

When we are over there we will be competing against most of the European Olympians, so it will give us all better gauge on where we are at ahead of Beijing.

I’ll also have my eyes on what is going on at the USA’s Olympic trials and how Katie Hoff swims. She has stated she would like to take it out a bit harder in her races, which means she will try and swim faster in the butterfly and backstroke.

They are my best legs, while hers are breaststroke and freestyle. Her new tactics won’t change mine in any way. I think in medley you really do have to swim your own race and to your strengths or it can catch up with you at the end.

As I said the media attention, especially all the Facebook stuff, was hard to take. I felt like I was painted as a party girl and that’s not who I am. I’m a professional athlete. If I was out drinking every weekend I wouldn’t be able to do what I do.

I actually haven’t had a drink for four months and certainly won’t be having one until after the Beijing games.

For another example of how the media can blow things up, look at Grant Hackett’s press in the last week. To suggest Grant would be fat and out of shape heading into the Olympics was ludicrous. We have a few open water swimmers in our squad at home and they always look bloated when they get out of the water after a race

At home I went out to help launch the new Audi A4 and will be getting a new one at some stage, so that’s pretty exciting.

Looking forward to Europe - Steph

It’s been an amazing week and the fact I own two world records has still failed to sink in properly. I think once I get away from the pool this week and have some time off it will begin to sink in.

I suppose my reaction to my first world record caused a bit of a stir. Some people said it was fine while others didn’t understand it. My only response is it was a huge shock for me because I certainly didn’t think I was swimming at that pace.

I’m pretty happy with the way the weekend panned out and now I have one up on Eamon who apparently thinks “he has to wear a skirt”.

I’ll let you decipher what that comment meant.

I also have a couple up on Katie Hoff. I think Katie will probably break my 400 Individual Medley mark at the US Olympic Trials, but I think I may just hold on to the 200 IM world record which would make for an even more interesting battle in Beijing.

Ironically we would be competing in the nation which sprouted the previous world record holder in the 200 IM, YanYan Wu. I was only eight years old when she broke the world record but I have heard Katie Hoff once said she wanted to erase Wu’s world record from history due to a positive drug test Wu had later in her career.

A lot of talk about the TZR suits we are using has taken away a little bit from those who broke world records at the Olympic Trials. It’s obvious a lot of technology has gone into them and they have improved on the suits before them, but when those suits came out world records were also broken.

The focus has been taken off the efforts of the swimmers a little bit and it’s a shame because at the end of the day we are putting in a lot of hard work.

Anyway right now I’m looking forward to a week away and a chance to do what I want and eat what I want before I get back into the pool in preparation for Beijing.

Steph

I have started tapering for the Olympic Trials and am excited by the fact that I haven’t tapered before a competition in a long time, which means I should produce some personal best times at the trials.

Speaking of the trials I get to have all my events in the first four days and kick off my schedule with the 400 metre individual medley on day one. If I can qualify for that event then all the pressure will be off on the following days because I will have already made the team.

I’m not really nervous in the lead up to the trials and I won’t be until I get into the marshalling area.

A lot of world records are being broken at the moment and I think that sort of swimming either makes you feel the pressure or feeds your desire to break the world record yourself.

As for me I am not too bothered either way. I am not a big student of swimming history nor do I bother checking up on what everyone else is doing. I think it’s important to focus on what I am doing in the pool.

Having said that Katie Hoff from the USA is swimming some very fast times lately and I know she will be tough to beat in Beijing.

The process of tapering has given me a bit more free time, but that has been taken up by sponsor commitments and media requests. The most fun I had was doing Toasted TV at Sea World. It’s a kid’s show which airs on Channel 10 and was actually a pretty cool experience.

I haven’t had much time to do anything outside of swimming so I am looking to catching up after the trials with some of my friends from when I was at school.

Steph

I was sitting at home on my lounge yesterday when my phone’s message tone went off. It was Eamon and the text said “I just broke the world record”.

I couldn’t believe it. I actually thought he was joking to begin with and then realised he wasn’t.

To say I was happy for my boyfriend would be an understatement. I am so proud of what he has achieved for himself; those feelings were tinged with disappointment, the disappointment of not being there in person to witness it.

I had flown home earlier in the day as it was agreed we would get back to Queensland for training.

To see the joy on his face and the pride at that special moment at Homebush would have been amazing.

Our journeys in swimming have been undertaken together and although I wasn’t there in person my thoughts were with him and I can tell you Eamon is rapt with his performance.

The 50m world record Eamon broke was held by Alexander Popov and was a mark which had stood since 2000, which is quite a long time. It also makes Eamon the first Australian swimmer to hold the world record for the 50m freestyle. It is an outstanding achievement.

I don’t think the significance of it all has kicked in for Eamon yet, but it will soon and now he can’t be the underdog anymore. He prefers to be the guy who isn’t really mentioned as the favourite. That won’t be happening for a while!

I also performed well in Sydney and swam some times which were close to personal bests. To do that without a rest and while in training has given me extra confidence and the knowledge that I am on track for the Olympic Trials in a months time.

Hopefully I can take home a world record too. It’s always been a dream of mine.

I swam for the first time in the new Speedo suit in the 200 IM and found out first hand it’s like wearing a second skin. The suit is really fast and is a big improvement on the already fast previous one.

One thing I noticed is it takes about 20 minutes to get it on. It’s so tight!

People ask if they are comfy and the answer is I have never worn a comfortable racing suit, but they are well and truly worth it when it comes to performance.

Speaking of performance, there wasn’t really a swimmer who didn’t swim good times in Sydney and that will make the Olympic Trials all the more interesting.

Steph.