Emma Wilkins, Swimming

Introduction

My name is Emma Wilkins and I was born in Stafford (010291) and live in Cannock. I am currently taking a a year out from University, where I was studying Human Bio Sciences, and now, in preparation for London 2012, I am based at Loughborough University/ITC, and also with Chase Swimming Club.

I am a sprint freestyler which means my best events are 50m & 100m freestyle with my second stroke as butterfly, 50m & 100m events too.

I train over 20 hours per week in the pool and also undertake weights, land training and a running programme each day. I have represented Great Britain on a number of occasions.

You can now follow me on:-

Twitter:@emmawilkins1991

http://www.facebook.com/thegamesandme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-QzV3wgJiI

April's Blog...
Posted: 25 April 2012

At the start of this month I was kindly invited by Sport in Schools to be part of a national programme, to mentor and inspire young children on a regional basis. I visited Pirehill First School, Stone, in Staffordshire with the aim of encouraging children to become involved in sport in order to stay fit and healthy. I met a group of children, who fired a range of excellent questions; they were so confident and certainly kept me on my toes. This was filmed and will be issued to other schools on a regional basis.

Pupils from Pirehill First School in Stone

Pupils from Pirehill First School, in Stone, taking part in Sporting Activities.

I thoroughly enjoyed my day at the school, the children were so enthusiastic about the Olympics and the winning of Gold Medals. My aim was to encourage them to always try their best and to aim high. Not all can be gold medallist but we can all achieve our aims and realistic goals. I consider it so important to inspire children to take part in sport, as this will keep them fit and health, working together as a team, confidence building and greatly supports their educational development too.

Later on that day I attended the Volunteer Staffordshire Awards Evening held at Alton Towers Resort Hotel, this was to recognise and celebrate Staffordshire's outstanding volunteers. 750 volunteers were nominated by members of the public in nine categories, but just 24 finalists made it to the Gala Awards ceremony for the celebration. I was delighted to be asked to be a Category Champion and present the Sporting Volunteer of the Year Award. This involved me doing a short presentation on how volunteers in sport have played a crucial role in swimming and other sports, to over 150 invited guest and dignitaries. It was a spectacular gala evening, just like a television awards ceremony.

I introduced the nominees and then, the exciting part, opening of the golden envelope to reveal the winner, I felt just like a celebrity!!!

A thoroughly enjoyable evening. I hope I will be invited back next year, but as an Olympian…..

Emma Wilkins with County Councillor Phil Atkins

I am shortly leaving for a training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, really looking forward to getting away from the British weather, rain, rain and more rain. I know the training is going to be so very tough but I have to push myself so that I can achieve my goals and ambitions. The second stage Olympic trials are fast approaching, a culmination of four year's of training, I really do not want to let anyone down, my support team are so very important, to be an Olympian isn’t just for me, it’s for all who have supported my development over many years.

Twitter: @emmawilkins1991

http://www.facebook.com/thegamesandme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-QzV3wgJiI

March's Blog...
Posted: 27 March 2012

My February blog outlined my week's plan for the Olympic Trials, held at the London Aquatic Centre. The week passed with some highs and some lows but overall, an absolutely fantastic experience.

It was amazing, to swim in the new 50m competition pool ahead of the Olympics, and to trial the facilities. My competition started off really well with a one second personal best (PB) time in the heats of the 100m Butterfly, which qualified me for the semi-finals, this was a real bonus as I didn’t expect to make a semi in an event for which I do not even train.

I also swam an all time PB in my main event, 100m freestyle heats, qualifying me for the semi final and then carried me forward into the final. I had another PB in the 50m Freestyle final, just missing out on a medal by only two hundredths of a second.

A really big congratulations to all my Loughborough team mates who qualified for the Olympics, I really enjoyed being part of such a great team. Although I missed selection at the first stage, there are still places available on the 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Team and I will be training exceptionally hard in readiness for the second stage selection meet in June 2012.

I really appreciated all the support from my sponsors, in particular the staff members from Clinigen who attended on the night of my 100m Freestyle semi-finals. It was wonderful to receive their support and for them to see me in "my working environment" .

Last weekend I attended the Staffordshire ASA County Championships and was awarded the M G Memorial Trophy presented by Staffordshire ASA President Geoffrey Kirkham. It bought back so many happy memories of my early swimming years where I once competed at county level representing Chase Swimming Club. The young swimmers, from clubs across Staffordshire made me feel so very welcome, I hope I was able to inspire some of the up and coming swimmers to achieve their goals. Once again, thank you to the Staffordshire ASA Committee for recognising my achievements in swimming. Additionally a huge thank you to my coach, Paul Grainger – Chase Swimming Club for playing such a vital role in my development during my years as a Staffordshire Swimmer.

Link to photographs taken by Jeff Bagnall

During March I had the pleasure of meeting Jonathan Edwards, Olympic Gold Medallist and current World Record Holder in the Triple Jump, at a Staffordshire 2012 Conference. Jonathan presented a motivation talk and spoke about his achievements which were very inspirational. On the same day I met up with other athletes from across Staffordshire at a ceremony organised by Staffordshire County Council, this was to recognise achievements of young Staffordshire athletes covering a range of sports. I was presented with a grant by Cabinet Member for Culture, Communities and Customers, Councillor Patrick Corfield. The Young People’s Sports Performance Grant Scheme aims to provide potential sports stars with some additional support.

I have just been notified by British Swimming, that in view of my achievements at the first stage Olympic Trials, I have been included on the Olympic 2012 short-list, which means British Swimming consider I still have a chance of qualifying.

Now back to hard work........and the start of a new training cycle.

You can now follow and send me good luck wishes on:-

Twitter: @emmawilkins1991

http://www.facebook.com/thegamesandme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-QzV3wgJiI

February's Blog...
Posted: 17 February 2012

Prior to departure to the overseas training camp, I was invited to attend and present at the Clinigen Global Sales Conference. This was quite a daunting experience for me as I had not given a long presentation before, let alone to a group of 30 business people. My talk went as planned and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, they made me feel very welcome and asked plenty of questions.

I have just returned from a three week training camp in Tenerife at the T3 Training Centre, where I completed the final cycle of intense training before the Olympic Trials.

I had a great three weeks of hard work, gaining training personal best times and only had two days of rest during the entire camp, one of which happened to fall on my 21st birthday. It was a fantastic day, warm weather, beautiful clear blue skies, relaxing by the pool with my Loughborough team mates, what could be better. I really missed my family and friends back home, but this is one of the sacrifices I must make in order to strive to achieve my ambitions.

Whilst in Tenerife, as part of our training, I used an indoor flume channel. This is a swimming tank, which has a current of water set at a certain speed and enables the swimmer to swim at a pace, in a static position, so that they can be videoed and analysed.

I had to swim at a certain speed and hold my pace with the lowest stroke rate whilst trying to gain the most efficient technique. This was a first for me and was a great opportunity to really work on my stroke and look at my technique in detail. Following my return to the UK, I competed in the BUCS (British University National Championships) which was held in Sheffield, 10th-12th February. On the Friday night I competed in the 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay. This was an important event for me as I had not competed in100m freestyle this season and therefore this was going to be a good indication on how my training was progressing. Up to now I have been swimming personal best times (PB's) in other events and now I hoped this would continue with 100m freestyle, my main event.

I went on to swim a relay PB on the third leg, the Loughborough Team was made up of three other GBR International Swimmers and we smashed the women's 4 x 100m Freestyle British Club Team record by over four seconds, placing us at the top of the World Rankings for the 4 x 100 free (2012). The time was one second faster than the British Team swam last year at the World Long Course Championships in Shanghai, and would have placed us in the final.

Report from Swimming World. "The Loughborough foursome of Amy Smith, Fran Halsall, Emma Wilkins and Caitlin McClatchey obliterated the field in the women's 400 free relay with a stunning time of 3:38.49, easily the top time in the world this year and ranked 13th all time".

I also competed in the 100m butterfly and produced another PB which was so very pleasing at I am still in hard training. This was my last competition before the Olympic Trials and I feel my results are very encouraging.

From Monday 13th February I commence my taper which means training volume will gradually reduce in preparation for the Trials. I am so looking forward to competing in the new Olympic pool (London 2012 Aquatic Centre) and to represent my home county of Staffordshire.

I have decided not to compete in the 200m freestyle so that I can concentrate on my main events and detail my schedule below:-


Date	Event	Morning Session	Evening Session
Sat 3rd Mar 2012	100m Butterfly	Heats	Semi Final
Sun 4th Mar 2012	100m Butterfly		Final
Wed 7th Mar 2012	100m Freestyle	Heats	Semi Final
Thu 8th Mar 2012	100m Freestyle		Final
Fri 9th Mar 2012	50m Freestyle	Heats	Semi Final
Sat 10th Mar 2012	50m Freestyle		Final

Please follow me in my goal to represent Staffordshire in the London 2012 Olympics; I do hope I can do Staffordshire proud.

You can now follow and send me good luck wishes on:-

Twitter: @emmawilkins1991

http://www.facebook.com/thegamesandme

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-QzV3wgJiI

January's Blog...

Posted: 12 January 2012

Christmas feels a long time ago and back into heavy training, it’s such a crucial time now, leading up to the Olympic Trials in March.

In my last blog, I mentioned a long course meet in Corby. I planned to race in the 200m freestyle, an event I am fairly unfamiliar with. I really surprised myself by swimming a 4 second personal best (PB) time, coming 3rd overall. What was even more exciting; the time was a National Qualifying Time, which now means I can swim 200m freestyle at the Olympic Trials, a great ice breaker without any expectations. This now means I qualify to compete in four events, 50m, 100m & 200m freestyle and 100m butterfly. It just goes to show, it is well worth different events, perhaps outside your comfort zone, to gauge development and to justify the hard training.

In January, I competed at the Derby long course meet, which was held in Sheffield, however, my coach kept my race distance down to 50m events only, as I was carrying an ankle strain. Again, swimming an event outside my normal routine, I managed a 1.5 second PB in my 50m backstroke. I later found out this was also a Staffordshire County Record, my first in backstroke. PB’s on the back of heavy training is certainly a confidence booster.

On Wednesday I am off to an overseas training camp, which will complete the winter training programme, I go with my Loughborough ITC colleagues, Liam Tancock, Ross Davenport, Jack Marriott, Grant Turner, Francesca Halsall, Elizabeth Simmonds, Lowri Tynan and Joanne Jackson. We will be spending three weeks in the state of the art complex, T3 Training Centre in Tenerife, under the direction of my Coach Ben Titley. Following this, we will return to compete in the BUCS (British University & College Sports) Long Course Championships in Sheffield.

Having had three weeks training in Florida, prior to Christmas, I now know how intense the training is going to be, I just hope all this heavy winter training is going to pay off when it come to the Olympic Trials!!!

Trust you all had a good Christmas and wishing everyone who is following my blog a very happy new year.

December's Blog...
Posted: 15 December 2011

In my last Blog I mentioned that I was preparing for an overseas training camp and on Wednesday 16th November I departed from London Heathrow and flew out to Miami, transferring to Surf Side Resort in Fort Lauderdale, which was to be my base for the next three weeks.

Our training programme was based at Pine Crest, an all-faith college preparatory school, the facilities were absolutely fantastic, I just couldn’t believe it was a school.

The training in Florida was intense, we followed a two day cycle, training two swimming sessions on the first day followed by one the next, but that wasn’t all I did. My weekly meterage increased up to 65,000m (40 miles 684 yards) which is significantly higher than my standard programme. As I said, some days we only had one pool session but it didn’t stop there, oh no…. firstly we would complete 1hr 30mins of weight training, 2hrs 30mins of swimming followed by a 30min run back to our Motel, this was tough particularly in the warm weather.

I really enjoyed training in an outdoor pool, the fresh air, warmth of the sun and the beautiful scenery, so different from the typical British indoor pool environment.

Whilst out in Florida I only had two rest days during a 21 day programme, rest days are so very important in the recovery phase. On the first day we went Christmas shopping and on the second day the team went sailing on a Catamaran, such good fun. We also visited the International Swimming Hall of Fame, this is a shrine dedicated to the history, memory and recognition of famous swimmers, divers, water polo players, synchronized swimmers and persons involved in life saving activities throughout the world. The Museum, Library and Archives contain the world's largest collection of aquatic memorabilia and the single largest source of aquatic books, manuscripts and literature.

Here is a picture of me taken next to the first ever Olympic Flag flown at the 1920 Olympics Games. The design and production of the flag was first carried in 1914 but it was not actually flown until the 1929 Olympic Games which were held in the city of Antwerp, Belgium.

Since then the flag has been flown at every Olympic Event since.

I returned back to the UK on the 7th December, being so use to 25deg wearing summer tops and shorts, I made sure I was well prepared when I disembarked, wearing my hat and gloves, oh it was so cold. Now back training at Loughborough, I feel as though I have banked a really good solid block of intense winter training ready for my next phase.

This weekend 17th/18th December 2011, I am competing at a long course meet which is being held at the International Pool in Corby, this will be my first long course meet of the season. Fingers and toes crossed I am looking forward to turning the hard work into good results.

Christmas fast approaching….but no, mince pies and chocolate for me! I only take three days off over the Christmas break and on these days I will still take some form of exercise.

Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas and so looking forward to 2012 .. let’s hope it’s going to be a successful year for all.

November's Blog...
Posted: 13th November 2011

It is nearly two months since my move to Loughborough Intensive Training Centre (I.T.C.) all is going very well. I am really enjoying my new training schedule, such a great variety, with the addition of ballet, which may seem rather unusual for a swimmer, however, it works on body posture and control, which is very important for positioning in the water.

I competed in my first GBR international swim, under the guidance of my new coach Ben Titley, which was held in Berlin where I competed in the 50m butterfly, 100m and 50m freestyle events. I achieved all unsuited personal best times. For those of you new to swimming, unsuited refers to current suits allowed by FINA, the international governing body, since full body suits were banned following the 2009 World Championships, where many world records were broken. I was very pleased with my performances as these times were on the back of heavy training. My swim in the 50m butterfly was really pleasing as this now ranks me 2nd in the British Swimming National Short Course Rankings.

I was delighted to receive a letter from Staffordshire Amateur Swimming Association to confirm that I have been awarded the M G Evans Memorial Trophy. This trophy is awarded each year to the individual or club whose performance is judged by the committee to be the most meritorious for that year. They will be making the presentation at the 2012 Annual County Swimming Championships, which are held in March.

London 2012: National Memorial Arboretum
hosts Olympic torch relay

I was pleased to be invited to attend a photo-call held at the National Arboretum announcing the Olympic Torch Relay Route. This was to celebrate the route through Staffordshire and the event to be held at the

Arboretum which will mark Armed Forces Day,on Saturday 30th June 2012. I would love to be there and how fantastic would it be to be a torch bearer, representing Staffordshire.......Good Luck to all.

On Wednesday 16th November I fly out to Florida with my new swimming colleagues, support team, coaches and physio etc. This is a three week training camp, not a holiday..... I am told it is going to really tough. The reason for training overseas is to keep away from the British colds and flu in preparation for the Olympic trials. I look forward to giving you a full update upon my return.

And finally, I would just like to take this opportunity to thank my new sponsor, Clinigen Group, a Specialty Pharmaceutical and Services company based in Burton upon Trent, for their valued commitment and support which has allowed me to make the move to Loughborough ITC, to progress to another level training alongside top GBR swimmers in the country.

You can follow Emma on:-

Twitter: @emmawilkins1991

http://www.facebook.com/thegamesandme

September/October's Blog...
Posted by: Emma Wilkins on 18th October 2011

Since my last update things have been moving so very fast. On Mon 26th September I moved to Loughborough, this is one of British Swimming's five Intensive Training Centres of world-class standard specifically to provide athletes with a fully integrated training programme at one location. This is a fantastic opportunity as it provides me with the best training facilities, 50m pool and much more all on one site. I just can't believe I am here.

Last weekend I took part in my first competition representing Loughborough University, this is the first meet of the season, it provides a chance to get early race practice and concentrate on getting all the technical skills right. At this point of the season I am in hard training and not expected to hit personal best times. However I achieved a 7 second personal best time in 100m backstroke, not one of my events and to my surprise I finished 3rd behind two British Swimming World Record Holders. How bril is that......

On the 7th of October I travelled to London with the National Squad and visited the Olympic venue. The security was extremely tight, prior to entry we had to endure a 30 minutes health & safety talk, then we had to go through an airport style security system which also involved palm print scanning, this was to enable access to other parts of the venue. We were given an escorted tour around the aquatic centre showing us the Call Room; this is where swimmers congregate before an event, training pool and athletes areas. The 17,000 spectator seating was absolutely breathtaking, I just can't imagine what the atmosphere will be like when its full of spectator all cheering the athletes on... it made me feel so very excited. I just hope I can be one of the home nation athletes to experience this once in a lifetime event.

On Thursday 20th October I will be flying to Berlin to represent GBR in one of the World Cup series. I will be competing in the 100m Butterfly, 50m and 100m freestyle events. I am looking forward to this competition, as it provides an early opportunity to compete internationally against other nations. I have also been informed that Ian Thorpe is down to compete, this will be his first international competition since his official retirement back in 2006, all part of his plan to make a comeback ready to compete at next year's Olympics - this should be very exciting to watch.

Due to my move to Loughborough ITC, I now have a new training schedule. My dry training programme has increased significantly, almost doubled since my last blog.

Monday	AM Swim 2.5hrs, Weights 2hrs, Gym Work 1hr, PM Swim 2hrs
Tuesday	AM Swim 2.5hrs, Run Cardio 1hr, Yoga 1hr, Gym Work 1hr, PM Swimming 2.5hrs
Wednesday	AM Swim 1.5hrs, Weights 1.5hrs, Body Balance 1hr, PM Swim 2hrs
Thursday	AM Swim 2.5hrs, Spin Class, Gym Core Work 1hr, PM 2.5hrs Swim
Friday	AM Swim 2.5hrs, Stretch Session, Weights 2hrs, PM Swim 1.5hrs
Saturday	AM Swim 2.5hrs, Stretch Session, Cardio Run 1hr
Sunday	Day of Rest

Emma also shares her experiences on http://www.facebook.com/thegamesandme

September's Blog...

Posted by: Emma Wilkins - Thursday 22nd September 2011

Since my last blog I have been informed that I have been selected for the British Swimming National Squad Programme. The objective of the programme is to identify swimmers who are likely to qualify to represent Great Britain in major international competitions, and to provide them with experiences and opportunities that will enable them to fully realise their potential in London 2012. The National Squad comprises of up to 52 swimmers, and yes, it's fantastic to be one of them particularly in this extremely important year.

My dry training programme has increased significantly, my weekly calendar has almost doubled.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

AM Swim 2.5hrs, Weights 2hrs, Gym Work 1hr, PM Swim 2hrs

AM Run Cardo 1hr, Yoga 1hr Gym Work 1hr Pm Swimming 2.5hrs

AM Swim 1.5hrs, Weights 1.5hrs, Body Balance 1hr PM 2hrs Swim

AM Spin Class, Gym Core Work 1hr, PM 2.5hrs Swim

AM Swim 2.5hrs, Stretch Session, Weights 2hrs, PM Swim 1.5hrs

AM Swim 2.5hrs, Stretch Session, Cardo Run

Day of rest

Another date has been added to this year's calendar for National Squad Swimmers, a two-day orientation camp to be held at the Olympic Pool. This is so that we can familiarize ourselves with the environment, it will be fantastic to be one of the first few swimmers to experience the Olympic Pool.

No competitions this month as it's the start of the season, and therefore preparing for competitions during November & December. Its' just constant hard work, pushing my body to the limits.

I did take one day out, a photo shoot for Zoggs Swim Wear, it was great working with photographer, Simon Wright of GB Swim Stars , and cant wait to see the photographs.

Emma also shares her experiences on http://www.facebook.com/thegamesandme

August's Blog...

Posted by: Emma Wilkins - Wednesday 24th August 2011

I have just returned from the World Championships (Shanghai, China) where I attended as part of the 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Team which qualified for London 2012 Olympics. This means Great Britain has qualified for the relay event but swimmers will only be selected from the trial events. These will take place March and June 2012.

I have just taken a two week break, light training only, mainly morning runs and a significantly reduced weight programme. Unfortunately swimmers don't get many holidays due to the continuous training programme, this is the only two week break from pool training in 12 months. Next week I will be attending an overseas intensive training camp in Tenerife, this is so that my 2011/2012 training programme can get a head start. I have been informed by my coach that it's going to be a tough camp, and a hard-hitting start to the season, much more dry land training in addition to an increased pool programme.

I have just been filmed by Inspire Film & Video, documentary film-makers based in Staffordshire www.inspiredfilmandvideo.co.uk, for a production to celebrate the many things and people that will hopefully be a part of London 2012. It was a new experience for me, I had to wear a head camera whilst training and was interviewed, talking about my experiences and my expectation for London 2012. A big thank you to Chris Gibbs and his team for taking an interest in me and my sport, I am so looking forward to seeing the finished result.