Time with the Ispra Kids (Angelo Gargaglione)

Ispra Swim Carnival (Angelo Gargaglione)

Stunning Cathedral in Milan

Inside the Milan Cathedral

On top of the Milan Cathedral

Racing in Monza

Amazing San Marino candle shop

     I’ve now completed my month of racing in Italy, and am ready for the next stage of my Olympic trials preparation. Racing in Italy was great, but also pretty tough! Most of the pool had inadequate warm-up and swim-down pool (if they had one at all!). Sometimes tough racing conditions is the best way to prepare, because they when the big race day comes, and the conditions are fantastic, getting up and swimming fast is so much easier! The month of racing started in Bolzano/Bozen (it's a German speaking section of Italy so it has two names) and was a good start to the season. There was no warm-up pool, so I warmed up in the hotel pool. That was fun and interesting, considering it was only 10m long!! Never-the-less I was pleased to swim only a few tenths slower than World Short Course Trials in late August, and finished 1st in both races. I also broke the championship record, which was a bonus! Considering I 24.6 at World Short Course trials fully rested only 2 months before, it was a good sign!

   Next it was off to the club championships in Monza. This competition had a 25m warm-up pool, but the competition pool had slippery blocks, a very hard to see turning wall, and the lighting in the pool left much to be desired! We spent 13 hours at the pool from arrival until we finally finished… so it was super tough conditions! I still managed to swim nearly the same times in Bolzano, so that was a really good sign!

   The third competition was in San Marino. San Marino was awesome, and the competition pool was really great. but again, we had to warm up with about (no joking) 50 people in each lane, 3-4 hours before we got to race. Ei-yi-yi! I managed reasonable times given the conditions, but nothing to write home about! I certainly gave it my all though, and worked hard to get myself really focused before the race. So even though I may not have swam the times I had hoped for, I still took the opportunity to refine other skills.

   The final competition I attended was the Italian Grand Prix. It was based in three different cities over 4 days, Viareggio, Genoa and Brescia. I wish I could boast that the conditions were fantastic, but they were at least better! Viareggio had a 10m warm-up/down pool and terribly slippery blocks. I ended up having to do a 2 foot start, the first time I’ve done that since about 2001! I managed a reasonable time in my 50, keeping it pretty consistent, and won. Genoa was a much better and faster feeling pool. The blocks were much better, though still not SUPER grippy. Given that my start is the main part of my race, and I put a lot of pressure on the block – if it’s not grippy I lose a lot of my race power and speed! Thankfully the blocks in Sydney for Olympic Trials are good and grippy! I psyched up a lot for my final in Genoa, probably a little too much! I ripped through my stroke a little, but still managed to swim pretty well. I went faster than Bolzano, and thus had my fastest swim for the month. Thankfully Genoa had a 25m 2 lane warm-down pool so I could get the lactic acid out of my muscles after racing. We had a day off from racing and headed to Brescia. Although we were housed in a very strange and creepy hotel with sadistic drawings on the wall, the pool in Brescia was by far the best! The blocks were awesome and there was the usual 10m warm-up/down pool. Unfortunately the 3^rd day of racing didn’t have 50 freestyle so I raced in 50 butterfly instead. It was my first EVER 50 butterfly short course, and I realised when I was behind the blocks about to race that I didn’t know how to do a FAST butterfly turn! I can do it, but only slowly for training. Well, I had to do some serious visualization in a short period of time to get a handle on it! I finally FINALLY got an amazing start off the blocks (which made me feel a lot better!) and raced really fast up until the turn. I pretty much lost all speed at the turn, but hey, I gave it a good go! in hindsight I wished I’d just taken the disqualification and done 50 freestyle in the 50 butterfly final just to get a time. But hindsight can be 20/20 sometimes. I hope I get the chance to race at the Grand Prix again in future – and if I do I’ll rethink my race tactics on the 3^rd day! Although the conditions were tough the tour was really fun, and there were several international swimming friends of mine who were there as well. it’s always nice to see friendly faces and get a chance to catch up.

   I had a wonderful time in Italy, learnt some very basic Italian, and enjoyed the tough racing that I got to experience. I’d like to say thank you to Andrea Di Nino for helping organize everything in Italy. Also, thank you to Fabiola, Diogo, Jonas and Randall (during his brief stay in Italy while I was there) for being wonderful training partners. And finally, thank you to Ispra Nuoto for hosting me during my stay, and being supportive of my training.

   I’ve now arrived in Mexico, San Luis Potosi, for the next stage of my season: altitude training. I’ve been here 4 days and am so far feeling ok at altitude! I’m having a lovely time with my wonderful host Tania (club assistant coach), and with Jack (club head coach) and Meredith. They took me to their swimming club end of season party and there was a real piñata! I got a chance to hit it. When the candy finally broke out the kids all scrambled to get it and fill their pockets. Yes, I did also! It was great fun and a wonderful welcoming to Mexico. Time to try to learn some Spanish!! I’m here for 3 weeks, and am spending the holidays in Chicago with my family who live in the USA. It’s a wonderful way to end the year.

   Best wishes for a happy festive season, happy New Year, or just a very happy month if this isn’t your celebration season!