Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast with Jennie Bucknell - Masters Swimming World Record Holder

Throw everything you thought you knew about preparing for a big swim meet out the window!

Freshly minted dual Masters Swimming World Record Holder Jennie Bucknell joins us on Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast to chat about her 50m and 100m Freestyle WR and I think you will be surprised with what she shares with us about her training leading up to the big swims she posted at the recent Masters Swimming Australia Nationals

Jennie tells us about her training, sets she swims to get race ready and the way she swims the 50 and 100 freestyle.  

Don't miss this episode.  It is a must listen!

Transcript

Danielle Spurling: 0:06

Hello Swimmers and welcome to another episode of Torpedo Swim Talk podcast. I'm your host, Danielle Spurling, and each week we chat to a master swimmer from around the world about their swimming journey. Throw everything you thought you knew about training out the window as I sit down to chat with a freshly minted dual world record holder from last week's master swimming Australian Nationals, jenny Bucknell. Let's hear from Jenny as she discusses her training in the lead up to the 50 and 100 freestyle world records. I think you'll be surprised, Hi, jenny. Welcome to the podcast. Hi Danielle, thank you, it's great to have you here. Congratulations on a really successful master swimming Australian Nationals with two world records last week. How does that feel to be a fresh world record holder in both the 50 and 100?

Jennie Bucknell: 1:09

It was pretty exciting. Yeah, pretty exciting and a bit relieved as well. really, it's a bit of a big builder. Nice that it's over but yeah, it was great, it was good fun.

Danielle Spurling: 1:23

When did you get back from Hobart?

Jennie Bucknell: 1:26

One day.

Danielle Spurling: 1:28

Have you had a swim this week or are you having a little bit of time out of the water?

Jennie Bucknell: 1:31

I've had no, because we've got the relay mate coming up. So I've had a couple of swims, but still feeling very tired actually Yeah, so hopefully next week I'll be feeling a bit better.

Danielle Spurling: 1:42

I know that relay mate just popped out of nowhere. It's not a great time to have it next week.

Jennie Bucknell: 1:49

One more week, and then I can rest.

Danielle Spurling: 1:51

You're heading overseas for a bit of a swimming trek. Where are you off to?

Jennie Bucknell: 1:57

Yeah, going to Turkey and Greece. That's the swimming part, and then on to Sicily and Barcelona with my brother and sister, That'll be beautiful.

Danielle Spurling: 2:11

So is the Greek one. are you sort of situated on an island and then you go off and do swims each day? Is that the way it works?

Jennie Bucknell: 2:18

Yeah, it's an organised one And yeah, we're going to Les Voss and yeah, I think we have swims in the morning and then swims in the afternoon and it's all pretty relaxed.

Danielle Spurling: 2:29

Sounds beautiful. Well, it's a good reward for all the work you've just done. So, before we cover the racing and the training leading up to last week's competition, i just wanted to find out how you first got involved in master swimming.

Jennie Bucknell: 2:44

Well, actually I used to work at ICI and Dorothy Dickey happened to work there, And so she's so Dorothy Dickey, for your listeners. She's one of our oldest and most loved masters women. She's 93 now and she took me into. She said oh, you should go and join PowerPoints down at Peran. And so, yeah, that was in my early 20s And I just did that briefly and then came back after I had kids in my. So I mean like 30s I guess even got a little bit more serious about it when I turned 40.

Danielle Spurling: 3:23

You were a swimmer when you were a kid. But what made you stop? Because you stopped pretty early after having some early success.

Jennie Bucknell: 3:31

Yeah, i stopped when I was 11, which sounds ridiculous. I did a couple. I did about two or three years of pretty intensive training and then one day in the pool my coach thought I wasn't putting in and he said put in or get out. So I thought I was putting in, so I got out And that was. I think my parents made me go back a couple of weeks later, but I'd sort of lost the passion then.

Danielle Spurling: 3:59

So that was the end of that And then it was just school swimming. And when you came back to it in your late 30s and got serious in your 40s, what was sort of the driving force behind that? What motivated you to really start training Well?

Jennie Bucknell: 4:15

my friends talked about how much fun Nationals in. I think it was in Hobart, how much fun Nationals in Hobart was, and so that inspired me to go to. It was more actually about the that went skinny different after the first sensation dinner, yeah. So anyway, that inspired me to go to the next one, which was Canberra. And I think I was just training three times a week at that stage And then, but then when I was there, met someone who was in my age group and she had kids the same sort of age and she was swimming four times a week And I thought, oh, maybe I can do that. And that's when I started improving, when I just did an extra session.

Danielle Spurling: 4:57

So who? who were you training with straight away at PowerPoints back then? Who was coach?

Jennie Bucknell: 5:02

That was when.

Danielle Spurling: 5:03

PowerPoints. yeah, And who was coaching?

Jennie Bucknell: 5:05

back then. It would have been a neater then, i think. Or maybe she was overseas and we had a lot of coaches, a lot of different coaches come and go.

Danielle Spurling: 5:14

And did you ever train with Brenton Ford? Was he there when, in your era?

Jennie Bucknell: 5:21

He came later.

Danielle Spurling: 5:24

He's actually behind one of my favourite sets. Oh, tell us So.

Jennie Bucknell: 5:33

I mean, this is one that I do myself and one that I also give my swimmers. You know, when we've got competitions coming up, and that is, we start with 4x50s, 25x25 easy on the 130. And then we do 50 max on the 130, and another 50 max on the 130. And then 100 easy, and then 100 max, and then 200 easy. And we do that. I think we used to do it three times through with Brenton, but I don't do that many times, it's usually twice, twice through, and that's just a really good one because it's an absolute killer in it. It sort of takes the fear away from doing hundreds in a race because you've done it in training And yeah that seems to help everyone.

Danielle Spurling: 6:24

How far up from competition would you be doing that?

Jennie Bucknell: 6:28

Well, usually, you know, we usually we're in the beginning of the year competing, So I'll try and get that in a couple of at least a couple of times, maybe two or three times So, but not every week. So maybe six, eight weeks, something like that, Or if we've got more time, but it's usually. We usually don't have a lot of time.

Danielle Spurling: 6:47

Yeah, it's not a set that you probably do each week. Give them a bit of time to recover. Yeah, definitely, let's have a chat about the world records. Last week And I know the 100 freestyle was earlier in the meet Can you talk us through your mindset on the day? I know you were aiming for that world record. How did you deal with this sort of the mental preparation?

Jennie Bucknell: 7:12

Well, for the 100, i'd had a few, a few practices. So you know how many times have I done it this year? About four, maybe. This was the fifth time, and each time it was a bit hard because we weren't getting our splits, because we, you know, we didn't have timing pads on both ends. So I actually timed a video that someone had taken and real, you know, i knew that I was going out too slow, so it was kind of all about, you know, psyching myself up to go out fast and, you know, not be scared of the pain coming home. Yes, that was really the main bit. You know, i've done a bit of visualisation of it And, yeah, lots of training, lots of doing. You know 25s at 100 pace. So I sort of my body sort of knew the pace to go out at. Really, i just had to be confident that I could still come home.

Danielle Spurling: 8:10

Absolutely. Are you someone who dives into the race and counts your underwater kicks and your strokes to the wall and off the wall and back to the wall, or do you just let it flow as it goes? What sort of your mindset in the race?

Jennie Bucknell: 8:27

Yeah, different depending on the race. But so for a 50, I definitely count my strokes because I need to know when to breathe. So I'll go 12, 12, 12, and then however long it takes to the end. But the 100, no, it's more. It's more about getting my stroke rate high enough to go fast enough. That's really the main thing. But yeah, I don't count any strokes.

Danielle Spurling: 8:50

And how did you feel when you dived into that race? Did you feel crisp or did you feel a little bit tired? How did you work into it? Give us your sort of thoughts racing through your mind.

Jennie Bucknell: 9:02

I think I felt pretty good, yeah, and I was feeling tired by that stage. That was day two, i think, and that's it for today. Yeah, i can't remember what I was thinking. To be honest, it was just, you know, it was good because I was in front of the two boys on either side of me, so that was just you know, trying to keep in front of them. And then I had to. I did have to focus on the turn, because my turns were often a bit slow, so I had to think, you know, fast, fast into the wall And then, just you know, just try and bring it home with whatever you've got left.

Danielle Spurling: 9:33

I mean, it's all. It's hard for you personally because you you are often just surrounded by men in your races, because you're always in one of the fastest heats. How do you find it dealing with sort of the bow wave that they create in the race?

Jennie Bucknell: 9:46

Well, in that one it worked out well because I was in front of the guys. So that was actually. It was perfect, i think I think in the past I might have entered slower time, no, slower time. So then I'm in front of people And then, yeah, in the 50, yes, i think I used it. I've sort of forgotten all the tactics I used to do because we haven't raced like this for so long, i know. But yeah, it's probably quite a good idea to enter a slower time so you can be in front of them.

Danielle Spurling: 10:15

Yeah. Do you prefer to lead in the race or you chase something down?

Jennie Bucknell: 10:22

In the 100, i like to have people, people there pushing me. But the 50, i don't think it makes any difference. I think, yeah, i'm happy, i'm happy to be out in front and doing my thing, yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 10:36

And what's the kind of race warm-up that you do? So what did you do before the 100?

Jennie Bucknell: 10:42

So I always do. I always start with 200 freestyle backstroke, 53, 50 back, and then I do 100 of a bit of skull and a bit of long dog pedal and a bit of catch up, maybe a bit of fist, and then 400, descending on whatever I can, aiming for 145 because there's often people in the way. And then I do some 25s at race pace, depending on. Yeah, so for the 100, i did some 25s at 100 pace and jumped out. Yeah, that was it. So not a lot, and I actually think I think I forgot to do the skull, i forgot to do my drills, it didn't seem to matter It didn't seem to matter.

Danielle Spurling: 11:33

Yeah, how did you find the difference? Obviously, if you weren't there early in the morning to warm up, you didn't get to use the competition pool, or at lunch break, you did Excuse me. How did you find the difference? warming up in the dive pool, I didn't mind it there.

Jennie Bucknell: 11:52

Normally I do like to warm up in the proper pool if I can, but I'd raced in Hobart in February so I felt like I kind of needed the pool a little bit. Yeah well, i guess because it's a 25-metre warmup pool, it makes you feel a bit faster because the times you get here are a bit faster. So it's a bit of a confidence boost.

Danielle Spurling: 12:18

Yeah, i don't mind that. And am I right in saying that you broke the 50 world record in the lead-off leg for the relay?

Jennie Bucknell: 12:27

Yes, so I did that on the first day and then did it again on the second day, third day, which is often what happens with me. I often get a bit, i have a practice and then I get a little bit faster. I was hoping I'd get a bit faster on the fourth day, but it didn't quite happen.

Danielle Spurling: 12:45

You're probably tired by the end of the week.

Jennie Bucknell: 12:47

Yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 12:48

So do you approach that differently? because it's a relay, i was probably a bit more relaxed?

Jennie Bucknell: 12:53

I think I was probably a bit more relaxed yeah which probably helps, but I knew I was trying for it so that it was still a little bit of pressure there. But yeah, and it was perfect conditions because I had a free lane on either side of me and I was out in front, so there was no wash and it was perfect conditions really.

Danielle Spurling: 13:17

I know you mentioned earlier that you breathe in a 50 every 12. So usually three breaths And when you dive in for the start in a 50,. how many dolphin kicks do you do underwater?

Jennie Bucknell: 13:34

Three or three maybe. I don't do many. I've got a dodgy Achilles So I don't do many dolphin kicks. I just try and get up and get going.

Danielle Spurling: 13:45

So what are you doing? training to get your stroke rate so high for the 50? Like, what kind of things do you do?

Jennie Bucknell: 13:54

I just do lots of 50s, lots of 50s, as 25 max, 25 easy on long rest. So on the 130 say something like that And that's sort of one of my go to sets. I used to do 20 of them. I can't do that anymore.

Danielle Spurling: 14:10

I might do 12 these days And just work on getting the stroke rate up And you've got such a good dive and you get into the race straight away. Do you do anything dry land to help with that start or anything? Do you do a lot of practice of dives in training? No, nothing.

Jennie Bucknell: 14:31

I booked a lane one day at Harold Holt, so we had one day And otherwise it was just the competitions that I did, four competitions. Whatever that we've done, No. I used to do. I used to go once a week in my 40s. But you can't dive anywhere.

Danielle Spurling: 14:51

No, I know Public way you can't dive. No, we can't. Yes, yes, have you moved over there this week?

Jennie Bucknell: 14:59

Yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 14:59

Yeah, How's it going? Oh good.

Jennie Bucknell: 15:02

Yeah, it's not lovely Nice pool.

Danielle Spurling: 15:04

Yeah Well, hopefully they'll fix Peran up so that it's as nice as Harold Holt. Yeah, yeah, but if, when we've been closed down before, if it's anything to go by, it's not going to be the two or three months that they say.

Jennie Bucknell: 15:17

Oh, i know, Yeah, it could be next year. It could be next year, but anyway, we're lucky that we've got lanes Yeah absolutely So.

Danielle Spurling: 15:26

in the last few months you also were a member of the team Of the relay team that broke the world record in the 4x200 mixed freestyle relay. So congratulations on that as well. with your PowerPoint teammates. What did you do in your training, because you generally are a 50-hundred swimmer? What did you do in training to be able to swim such a fast 200?

Jennie Bucknell: 15:47

Well, I started training with Tomo and Crump near two very fast boys men, And so I had to try and keep up with them basically. So, yeah, we did more, Well, I guess more 200s than I. Well, normally I would never do a 200 in my training. I've got 100 as far as I go. So, you know, I threw a few 200s into the warm-up just to get used to it. We did a couple of 200 time trials, but mostly we did lots of lots of 50s at 200 pace, just to get the, yeah, to get the body used to swimming, swimming at that pace, And by the end, you know, after we'd done the 200, then it turned out at 50 at 100 pace. So it sort of we got, you know, got a bit faster, and it became 100 pace. Yeah, that was really. That was really the difference. Yeah, a few 200s in there and more 50s at that sort of pace, Whereas normally I would have just done 25s mostly 25, you know, and a few 100s in the warm-up.

Danielle Spurling: 16:54

And with that difference, was that short rest interval or were you still having long rest?

Jennie Bucknell: 17:00

Yeah, some of them. I depended on how many we were doing, but sometimes we'd do them on the minute And other times, you know, we'd do them on the 115 or we'd start on the 130 and come down to the minute. But yeah, coming out of those sessions and trying to keep up with Cronk doing butterfly, i was just yeah, i had to go home for a nap, so harder training than I would usually have done.

Danielle Spurling: 17:27

So that's what you sort of changed before. these world records the training with the two guys. How often, how many times a week, were you training with them?

Jennie Bucknell: 17:36

Twice a week twice a week with them And then three times a week. three or two or three times a week on my own, just doing my little 45 minute sprinting sessions Yeah, and how long were the sessions with the two boys? Still not long, you know, no more than an hour And mostly, mostly around two k's. Some weeks we did, we did a little bit more. One week we did, I think we did three k's and that nearly killed me, Yeah, but still not not long. Yeah, not long sessions, but intense.

Danielle Spurling: 18:09

Within those sessions do you do a lot of drills, kick, pull that kind of thing, or is it just the sprinting type stuff?

Jennie Bucknell: 18:16

No pull, no kick, it's just yeah. I mean, i'm the only one. I do my 100 meters of drill in my warm up. They don't do any, And yeah, we didn't do any kick this time. And I can't anyway because of my it's not actually my Achilles, it's a little muscle next to the Achilles. I can't remember what it's called. Yeah and yeah, so it was really just yeah hard hard swimming.

Danielle Spurling: 18:43

It must have been hard because you've been swimming so fast. And I know I asked you in Hobart about your dry land and you said you don't do any.

Jennie Bucknell: 18:52

No, no. well, normally I do before a competition, but this time my elbow was a little bit dodgy and I just thought if I start doing weights now, it's going to I'm going to have trouble. So I just thought, oh well, i just won't. I just won't do it And you?

Danielle Spurling: 19:09

know I did have doubts during the cycle should I be?

Jennie Bucknell: 19:11

doing gym. But, yeah, it seemed to be all right, which is interesting.

Danielle Spurling: 19:18

It seemed to work.

Jennie Bucknell: 19:19

I mean, I don't have to do gym anymore.

Danielle Spurling: 19:23

Well, obviously not.

Jennie Bucknell: 19:25

Or could I have gone faster?

Danielle Spurling: 19:29

That's the other way of looking at it, I guess. Well, I mean you broke the world record. I think that you've gone as fast as you need to go. I mean, you still got time in this age group to improve on it, True.

Jennie Bucknell: 19:40

Yeah, true, hmm, i'm not sure if I've got the energy to do that, let's see, that's me in a couple of months.

Danielle Spurling: 19:49

Yeah, well, i mean, look, you deserve a nice break after, after the relay mate, you can have a break.

Jennie Bucknell: 19:54

Yes, yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 19:56

And I wanted to ask you a little bit about your coaching, because I'm a big believer in coaching as a swimmer helps you as a swimmer because you're seeing things in your really thinking about other people's stroke technique And I think it really helps you with your own as well. I don't know whether that's a similar opinion that you have.

Jennie Bucknell: 20:16

Yeah, and it's quite you know it's. I mean, i basically make them do what I do.

Danielle Spurling: 20:22

That was going to be my question. What sort of? what's your coaching philosophy?

Jennie Bucknell: 20:25

Well, I mean this time, you know, often it's directed at sprinting, but you know, one day we do longer, we do hundreds and stuff. But this this year they've all been trained for the 200. Because that's what I was doing. So that was a. They were laughing and saying when can we stop this 200 training? and we finished it. Yeah. So usually they, yeah, they'll, I'll, i'll set the session for them and then I'll get in and do. I don't get to do all of it usually, but I'll do, i'll do something. You know some of it, most of it. And yes, so we, even though they don't all race or they're not all members of master swimming clubs, they, yeah, we still target the competition, the master's competitions, and so they're, yeah, they're all built up for the competition. And then they get to Taipo and and yeah, and they I mean it gives them everyone a bit of variety. Yeah, so after the real I made, it will be a bit of bit of bit of downtime, but still, you know there's still some of them that are aiming for next year. For you know, fast 100 times I think it's next year, it might be the year after at Maccabi Games, and so you know, we're still going to aim, to aim for all of that, so that you know the fitness swimmers get dragged along basically with the, with the races.

Danielle Spurling: 21:43

How many? how many squads do you have a week? You've got the three early mornings. Do you have later in the day as well, or nighttime? The?

Jennie Bucknell: 21:49

930 session as well, 930s till 1030. And then I've got kids just one day or one afternoon a week. So kids come to me, they come to me from learn to swim about you know, eight, eight is probably the earliest, and then I've got up to year 12. But they're just, they're just swimming once a week. So it's not serious, it's just sort of for school carnivals and stroke, stroke correction.

Danielle Spurling: 22:14

And do you give your swimmers many drills or just completely like do the program that you're doing?

Jennie Bucknell: 22:20

Oh yeah, no, we always do drills. We usually do 200 drills not a lot but 200 drills just in the warm-up, not a lot. And I mean now we can do more of that sort of stuff once the competitions are over We can do a bit of different stuff, but usually it's just a couple of hundred in the warm-up to get the feel for the water, sort of thing.

Danielle Spurling: 22:39

Yeah, and in the past you've done a little bit of open water swimming. Is that something that you're going to head back to or you really that's not up your alley.

Jennie Bucknell: 22:48

Probably not. I mean, i love swimming in the open water, but it's just the races. I used to get so nervous for them and then I didn't enjoy the race because it was too long, it hurt for too long. I enjoyed it afterwards And then I thought, oh, this is silly. So I, yeah, I did it. I mean, i did a lot of open water swimming, in the lockdowns obviously, but I'm happy to do it for fun, but not that keen to race anymore, unless it involves a holiday then, I'll do it.

Danielle Spurling: 23:19

Yeah, Well, obviously grace is a little bit different, isn't it?

Jennie Bucknell: 23:22

Yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 23:23

Yeah, I mean we were so impacted by COVID here and obviously it was during winter, so it was very cold in the Bay. How did you cope with that? Did you have gloves, booties, everything?

Jennie Bucknell: 23:37

Yeah, the first year actually first year it was sort of a bit of a challenge and I went as long as I possibly could without a wetsuit. So I think I made it to June. But then my heart started playing up and started skipping beats, and it was always after I'd been swimming and during the day, and I just went and saw the cardiologist and he didn't actually think it was because of the open water, but I felt like it was. So then I just had a bit of a rest and then I put my wetsuits. Then I bought thermal wetsuit, thermal vest, booties, gloves, wood. I went from one extreme to the other and so the next year I just kept all the gear on or the wetsuit. But yeah, that definitely kept me sane. Yes, yeah, definitely.

Danielle Spurling: 24:23

I mean it was a very difficult time and I think swimming in the open water during that time a lot of people found that love and love for swimming, love for swimming again. A lot of people came to it during that time because they couldn't do anything else.

Jennie Bucknell: 24:36

Yeah, well, i had no job either. So my you know, the swimming coaching was obviously gone. So that was my. that was, yeah, we saw a little group of friends and that was it.

Danielle Spurling: 24:46

Yes, yeah, and you mentioned your heart and obviously your ankle as well. How do you deal with any injuries that you have or illnesses coming?

Jennie Bucknell: 24:57

up. Well, the, yeah, the achilles thing, i've been a bit I've sort of just stuck my head in the sand and I've been a bit naughty. I haven't done. I did go to the physio once but haven't done my exercises. So I need to start doing that. And the heart, well, that's fine. Now. I think it was actually the stress of the lockdowns that was doing that, you know, worrying about whether the business was going to come back and worrying about the disease and you know all that, yes, all that stuff, worrying about being fined by the police for going at, you know, five kilometres from home.

Danielle Spurling: 25:35

I know Let's hope no police are listening, because I might have been a bit past that too, but I think I think a lot of people did. But I mean by the second lockdown we were a little bit more confident. I think exercising outside And I think for mental health it was really, really important. And do you see yourself competing in another world championship? Masters, world Championships?

Jennie Bucknell: 26:01

Oh yeah, i think so. Yeah, if, like, i was definitely thinking about Japan, but there's it's been such a big build up to all of this that I can't, can't do anymore. It's all fairly, fairly stressful, but yes, when, when, when one comes up in a destination that I want to go to, then yes, So the destination itself is important as well as the swimming.

Danielle Spurling: 26:27

Yeah, definitely Yeah.

Jennie Bucknell: 26:28

If, like somewhere in Europe would be nice, Like it was so good when it was in Italy, that was brilliant. Yeah, so that? yes, What have we? we've got Singapore and Doha.

Danielle Spurling: 26:39

Doha's next year? I wouldn't consider.

Jennie Bucknell: 26:42

And then Budapest, actually, and then Budapest.

Danielle Spurling: 26:45

Yeah, So Singapore and then Budapest Is. Have you only been to the one?

Jennie Bucknell: 26:52

I went to the one in Perth.

Danielle Spurling: 26:54

Oh, you went to Perth as well.

Jennie Bucknell: 26:57

And then yeah, 2012.

Danielle Spurling: 27:00

Yep, what was your favourite out of the two?

Jennie Bucknell: 27:04

Probably, yeah, probably, richione. That was just because it was part of a lovely long holiday as well. Yeah, i loved Perth as well. That was fun, but that was just. That was just a week.

Danielle Spurling: 27:14

Yeah, i mean it's a long way, obviously to Europe. How did you pull up on the jet lag and everything and get prepared, because you were pretty successful at that World Championships as well?

Jennie Bucknell: 27:25

We went early, so we had. I went with a group of swimmers from Powerpoint and we had, i think we had a week in Rome, which was good, and then another few days when we got over to Richione. So I had plenty of time to recover and my times were yeah, they were pretty good. I think it's hard when you're travelling, then of a not quite as passing.

Danielle Spurling: 27:49

I know, when you end up in a different location I mean, obviously Australia's a little bit different but when you're going overseas you've got to deal with all the different food, the water, find everything that you need to eat. How do you sort of cope with that when you're away?

Jennie Bucknell: 28:04

That would be harder now because I'm trying to do gluten free. I'm trying to do gluten free and dairy free now because I've got a bit of arthritis, so that was I could just eat anything before and now I can, but there might be some consequences. So it would definitely be harder. I guess you just don't be as strict when you're away.

Danielle Spurling: 28:27

What's the idea of gluten free and dairy free behind arthritis?

Jennie Bucknell: 28:32

Well, it's arthritis, it's an inflammatory disease. So my naturopath's got me trying to anti-inflammatory foods basically, and she believes that gluten and dairy and sugar, alcohol, they're all inflammatory. So the less you eat of those things the better, And is it working helping? Oh, no, really, i've still got my little lumps all over my fingers. It's not painful, so Oh, that's good, so hopefully it is working. Yeah, hopefully it is, and hopefully that helps to prevent injuries as well, if you haven't got as much inflammation in your system.

Danielle Spurling: 29:13

How did you injure your ankle?

Jennie Bucknell: 29:16

I don't know, it's just something that gradually happened and I noticed that if I wore fins that would make it worse. So no fins, no kick, no dives, no gym, just swimming.

Danielle Spurling: 29:35

I mean, everyone out there that's listening, that's doing all those things, is going to say, oh my gosh, why was I doing this? You can stop that guys, everyone that comes on the podcast. I like to ask them a few of their favourite things about swimming, and I always call it the deep dive five, so I was going to ask you what your favourite pool is to swim in.

Jennie Bucknell: 29:56

Oh, i love Peran. I love Peran because it's kind of like my home. it's where I've done all my work and so much swimming over the years, but not for speed. I'm not the fastest pool. I think Hobart is now my favourite pool.

Danielle Spurling: 30:14

I bet. Yes, i've been really nice pool in Hobart, but the atmosphere inside was just so hot. Yeah, they need to do something about that.

Jennie Bucknell: 30:26

You have to be careful not to sit there for too long and get dehydrated.

Danielle Spurling: 30:30

And what's your favourite open water swimming location?

Jennie Bucknell: 30:34

The Caribbean.

Danielle Spurling: 30:36

Caribbean. Oh which part.

Jennie Bucknell: 30:40

I went on a swim tour with Gina, with cousins, to St John. It was an island called St John. that was just beautiful. Oh lovely Yeah, in Australia, in Melbourne. In Melbourne, half Moon Bay is beautiful, and Mentone both beautiful.

Danielle Spurling: 31:01

I was going to ask you your favourite kick set, but you don't do kick, do you?

Jennie Bucknell: 31:06

No, when I used to do them 825s, that was enough.

Danielle Spurling: 31:10

825s on the 45 fast Are you someone who would use a kickboard, or, do you like it, just hands in front?

Jennie Bucknell: 31:17

Yeah, i just have my hands in front. Just a bit less pressure on the shoulders, and then I don't have to take my board to the pool.

Danielle Spurling: 31:26

Oh, so good.

Jennie Bucknell: 31:28

Yeah, i used to try and do more than that. I think I do maybe two sets of eight, but not anymore.

Danielle Spurling: 31:35

What about your favourite freestyle drill?

Jennie Bucknell: 31:38

Probably long dog paddle. I think it's good to concentrate on getting your high elbow catch. It's good for that and good for making it push right back.

Danielle Spurling: 31:51

And what about? I think you probably just described this earlier, but your favourite freestyle race pace set.

Jennie Bucknell: 31:58

My favourite is probably the 50s as 25, max 25, easy on the 130. But I also like the 100, so 20, 25 is at 100 pace. That's another one.

Danielle Spurling: 32:13

But that hurts a bit more. Are you doing those on one minute or?

Jennie Bucknell: 32:18

No, those ones I do on the 35 if I'm fit, start on longer intervals if I'm getting fit. So I might start on the 45 if I'm not fit and then go down to 40 and then 35 once I get a bit fitter. That hurts by the end.

Danielle Spurling: 32:35

Just another bonus question I was going to say do you change your stroke between the 50 and the 100 or are you doing it at the same stroke rate?

Jennie Bucknell: 32:43

Oh, definitely longer and slower for the 200. It's just a bit more of a glide and there's not so much gliding in the 50.

Danielle Spurling: 32:55

And how about for the 100? Is it different again between the 50 and 100, or just a mix between the 50?

Jennie Bucknell: 33:02

Somewhere in between, I guess it's more. yeah, exactly in between.

Danielle Spurling: 33:07

Fantastic. Well, jenny, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. It's been really lovely hearing about your lead up to the two world records and the relay world record as well, and obviously just reward for all the work that you put in. So congratulations, thanks.

Jennie Bucknell: 33:26

Danielle, yeah, it's kind of it is good fun. It's good fun even though it hurts. it's good fun doing the hard training.

Danielle Spurling: 33:32

Absolutely. I think you've got to love training to be a swimmer. Yeah, that's right, yeah, absolutely. Well, i'll see you at the relay meet.

Jennie Bucknell: 33:44

Yes, Thanks.

Danielle Spurling: 33:45

Jenny. Thanks, jenny, take care. Take care.

 I found it so interesting chatting to Jenny and hearing about her preparation for these world records. I hope you're able to take something away to include in your own training and that you get as much from this podcast and all our podcasts as I'm hoping that we put out into the universe. Don't forget to check out our website at torpedoswimtalk dot com because it's got everything you need to know about master swimmers and we're updating it all the time. Till next time, happy swimming and bye for now.