Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast with Jo Corben - British Masters Swimming WR Holder

Today's guest is vibrant British Swimmer Jo Corben.  She is a three time Masters World Record holder and owns many British and European records as well. I was really interested in chatting about what motivates Jo to continue racing and producing world class swims over a nearly 20 year career in masters swimming. 

We talked about what type of training she does; her great working relationship with her first masters coach; and her interest in the "Be Activated" physiology program, which she credits for the longevity of her career.

In these Covid times and while pools have been closed, Jo found other ways of keeping fit, namely the quest to conquer the three peaks in the UK! 

This is one masters swimmer who flourishes when she sets herself a goal and I am sure you will gain many insights from Jo to use in your own training.

You can find Jo on socials at:
Insta - @jocorbenswim
Facebook - Jo Corben

You can find Torpedo Swimtalk on socials at:
https://www.torpedoswimtalk.com/

Transcript

Danielle Spurling 0:29

Hello and welcome to Torpedo Swim Talk. Today's guest is British swimmer and masters world record holder Joe Corbyn.

unknown 0:38

There you go, Mark.

Danielle Spurling 0:41

Hi Joe, welcome to the podcast. Hi, thank you so much for having me. Oh, you're welcome.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Where are you coming to us from today? So I am in Ferrum in the UK, which is on the south coast. Okay. And it's very sunny today. Oh, beautiful.

Danielle Spurling 0:58

Oh, where I am coming from today, it's actually first day of winter, so it's pretty cold.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Did you get a swim today? Um I'm not swimming in the pool today, but we are going down to the beach to swim later on this afternoon when my husband gets in from work. Oh, lovely. Okay, so what's your local beach that you swim at? Um we we're really lucky, we're surrounded by beaches here. So um the one that's very local to us is Hill Head, um, which is two minutes' drive down the road. Um but the one that we will go and swim at is Stokes Bay, which is not quite so tidal. It doesn't matter really whether the tide's in or out. Whereas Hill Head is very tidal.

Danielle Spurling 1:41

Okay, so we're and that's probably that's probably five minutes away. Oh, beautiful. And what's the water temperature there at the moment?

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Um it's about 13. So I'm I'm not very good at cold water. I'm a bit of a wimp. But we have crazily entered um a lake swim in Snowdia at the bottom of Mount Snowden. Um, and it's in the end of July. Um, and um there's a group of us that are doing the Three Peaks Challenge, which is climbing Ben Nevis and then um Scarfell Pike and then Snowdon, which are the three highest peaks in our country, they're mountains in our country. Um so we're gonna try and do that in 24 hours. Wow. And then we are doing a 2.4 um mile swim in a lake at the bottom of Mount Snowdon. Oh wow. So I am frantically trying to um get acclimatised to cold water because it is gonna be really cold.

Danielle Spurling 2:48

It will be cold coming off the mountains, yeah. So can you can you do that one in a wetsuit or are you just in with it?

SPEAKER_00 2:55

Definitely I wouldn't do it, I wouldn't do it in skins.

Danielle Spurling 3:00

Oh you can have that one to yourself, it sounds a bit too cold.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

Yeah, it's um I'm I'm just realizing now how cold it's gonna be. So we'll see, we will see. Hopefully, I'll be so numb from climbing the mountains um that I won't feel how freezing it is.

unknown 3:20

I hope not.

Danielle Spurling 3:22

Oh, so when you're not swimming open water, what what pool do you train at?

SPEAKER_00 3:27

Um we train at um there's a school pool called Broom Park School, which is just down the road from us. Um so we train there. It's very short, it's 20 yards long, which for us here in the UK is really short because we are 25 metres or 50 metres usually. So it's 20 yards, um, and then we train at Gossport Leisure Centre, which is a 25-meter pool, and then me and a group of uh my friends train at David Lloyd in Port Solemn, which is also a 25-meter pool. So I do two sessions in the 20-yard pool, and that's with um my club, Trojan, um, and we do the Gossport Leisure Centre with the club, and then we do David Lloyd um by ourselves. Okay. So yeah, it's a varied, a varied mix of swimming pools.

Danielle Spurling 4:20

Yeah. And do you um when you're with the club, do you have a coach there on deck coaching you? My husband is our coach, yes. Oh, lovely.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

Yes, it's all very, it's all very new. Trojan is um new to us, so I swam for a very long time for Ferrum Nomads, which were my childhood club. Um, and I gave up when I was 16, and I went back when I was 26. Um, and I had um um a man called Stuart Crow who coached me when I went back as a master swimmer, um, and he was actually a dad of one of the girls that I used to swim with as a child. And um, so I went back and swam there, and Stuart coached me for oh many, many, many years, actually until the first lockdown last year. Um and we had just so much success together. Um, and yeah, really amazing, amazing times, and he managed to get this old woman swimming faster than I did when I was a child, when I was 16 at my best. Um, yeah, so there were they were really good times. Um, but last year I left Fareham, Stuart retired, and then there were various reasons that um I left Fareham. Um, and I was clubless, and it was right in the middle of the first lockdown.

SPEAKER_02 5:42

Right.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

And so it was really hard, and it was a the hard such a hard decision to make. Um, but I knew that I I had to do it really. Um, and then a guy that we used to swim with at Fareham, Clive, had started Trojan as it was a paper club, so he it was people affiliated to Trojan and they did competitions together, they went and did swim camps and stuff together, and he said, Well, join Trojan, and then you know, at least you're affiliated to a club, so you can go and swim competitions, right? So I did that, and I was thinking, I'll just have to go and swim in public sessions or whatever. Anyway, he together we found pool time and formed Trojan Masters. Oh. And we've I it I mean, it was an incredible thing to do during such a horrendous time for the whole world, you know. Absolutely. And so we have now got, I think we've got about 22, 25 swimmers, something like that. Um, master swimmers, who range from people like me who are just absolutely insanely obsessed with swimming to people that want to swim one session a week for fitness and some stroke correction. And my husband Tony has been a master swimmer for many, many, many years. That's how I met him. Um, and he had a catastrophic neck injury in 2016, right? Which meant that he had to have um spinal surgery, which has left him with um something called Brown Seckard syndrome, which means on his right hand side he has no power, and on his left hand side he has no sensation. So it's yeah, it's been crazy. It's from sort of his waist to downwards. Um he's still mobile, you know, he's he's okay, it's just that it has had quite a profound effect on how he thinks and what he does, really. So he um stopped swimming um and decided that he would become a coach. So when we left Ferum, he became our coach. So yeah, he's our coach, but he does still swim, he swims with us at David Lloyd. Um and he was a 200 butterfly. Wow when he swam. So during lockdown, lots of crazy things happened. Yes, we challenged each other to a 200 fly race. Why?

Danielle Spurling 8:20

I don't know. Why does anyone do a 200 fly? Exactly. Why?

SPEAKER_00 8:26

So now we're having to train for 200 fly. Oh no! Oh yeah, and poor old Mark and Claire, who we swim with at um David Lloyd, have been dragged into this crazy 200 fly world. Oh, along with some of the people that we swim, some of our team members at Trojan have also embraced the 200 fly training.

Danielle Spurling 8:52

Right. So yeah, that sounds good. Take us through a typical session that he gives you. So what do you do?

SPEAKER_00 9:01

Aside from Well, at the moment, so we the pools reopened here on the 12th of April. The indoor pools. So outdoor pools opened on the 29th of March. Um, and because we swim at David Lloyd, do you have like David Lloyd uh in Australia?

Danielle Spurling 9:17

No, but I do not I do know of it when I didn't pay for a while.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

Oh okay. So they're really lovely um centres and they have outdoor pools. So we went back on the 29th of March to the outdoor pools in David Lloyd, which was amazing because I just have never done any um outdoor pool swimming here in this country because our weather is so rubbish, you just can't really guarantee that it's gonna be warm enough, of course. But we were lucky, we had some really nice weather, so we went back um on the 29th of March and just sort of tried to get a bit of pool fitness back, and then we went back to indoors on the 12th of April, and so we started our 200 fly training with just a really basic 825 sply. So we do our warm-up and then we do 825 fly with loads of rest, yes, just to try and get our heads around it. So, since then we have then condensed that. So at the moment we're on 450s fly, um, going off of a swim rest time of 110. So we'll do our warm-up and we've sort of incorporated rather than doing it straight after our warm-up, we'll do a set and then we'll do our 200 fly. So it's nothing, you know, it's not anything too horrendous at the moment, although we did kill ourselves yesterday. Um did loads of medley work plus 450s fly, plus 450s fly after the medley work. So our shoulders were a bit dead yesterday. Um, so yeah, it's nothing crazy. We're just easing into it gently. Yeah, okay. So how far do you swim in a normal session? Um with Trojan, we probably swim. We have we our sessions with Trojan are one hours, so we just we probably swim between two, six and three K. Yep. Um at David Lloyd, we can be there as long as we want, so we'll probably cover between four and four and a half thousand each session. Yeah.

Danielle Spurling 11:26

And is that different to the kind of training you did back before lockdown when you had your other coach?

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Yeah, I have taken a lot from what Stuart has done with us and incorporated that with um we've looked at the uh have you seen any of the Dave Salo um stuff? Any of his yeah, yeah. So we looked at that during lockdown and we were like, wow, this looks really cool. Yeah. Um and so we incorp it, it's an amalgamation really of stuff that we have done in the past with Stuart and then a bit of Dave Salo thrown in. Yeah. So it's interesting, it's good.

Danielle Spurling 12:06

Yeah. So I know you're sort of a mainly uh a backstroke swimmer, and obviously you're a 200 fly swimmer. What's a tip what's a typical set that you do for your um 100 and 200 backstroke? Like do you do the sprint or the middle distance type stuff?

SPEAKER_00 12:23

I 200 backstroke has always been my thing. That's been my my event. And I sort of because I was um I could get out on a 200 in a reasonable time, then that then defaulted into a you know an okay 100, 50, nah, rubbish. I've my starts and turns are absolutely my downfall, they are so so rubbish. Um, so I am playing catch-up from the moment the gun goes. Um so long course for me is great. I love long course, yes. So sessions, we do a lot of race pace when we're fit. Um and I absolutely love 50s at pace, whether it's 100 or 200. I really enjoy training for both distances. Yes. I haven't really, now that I'm a bit older, I haven't really got a preference. Um, I just I love the 100 because it's over so quickly and it doesn't hurt as much. Yes, true. 200 is I've got to be really prepared to put myself through a whole world of pain to swim a decent 200. Yeah. Um, but the satisfaction after I've done that is amazing. So yeah, I love race pace sets, do lots of race pace. Um, I also really enjoy just threshold, you know, just churn it out, minimal rest, just at that, you know, just starting to be uncomfortable pace. Yeah. Um don't enjoy it at the time, but afterwards I love it. Yeah. And I love the feeling of right, I've done that, I know that I've done it, and I know that it's made me stronger, yes, mentally and physically. Yeah. Um, so yeah, I think swimming is so it's so much of a mental game. Absolutely. Yeah. Completely.

Danielle Spurling 14:21

And were you an asterisk swimmer when you were a um youngster? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:25

Yep, yeah, I was. I was a backstroker. Um, I gave up when I was 16. Um, but yeah, 100 and 200 back were my events then. Um I wasn't, I probably did a little bit of medley and a little bit of freestyle. But um, yeah, it was backstroke really. Since I've come back, I mean backstroke is definitely my thing, but I really enjoy medley. Yeah. Um, and I enjoy sort of two and four hundred free.

Danielle Spurling 14:58

Okay. And why did you why did you quit when you were 16?

SPEAKER_00 15:02

Uh, just the age-old story, really. 16, done it, you know, it was hard work, early mornings, exhausted, stank of chlorine all the time, goggles marks, absolutely horrendously frizzy chlorinated hair. All right. Had a far better time down the park with all you know, all my friends, yeah. Of course, stuff that we shouldn't have been doing. Yeah. Um, yeah, just had enough. Just you know, just completely went from a hundred miles an hour to, nah, I'm done. You're finished. And I stopped, did not get in a swimming pool, not even to mess around until I was six twenty-six.

Danielle Spurling 15:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:41

And what made you get back in? Um, I'd had my son and just didn't enjoy the feeling of being a little bit, you know, overweight, yeah. Um, and knew that I was unfit. And I think your your mindset just changes a little bit when you've had a child. Um, and a friend of mine that I had gone to school with but also swum with, um, her dad had a little squad going in a tiny pool which was in Gossport, which is just down the road from us. And she said, Why don't you just come and swim with us once once a week?

unknown 16:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:16

So I was like, Yeah, okay. Um, went down and swam with her, Nikki Reese, her name is. Um, and her dad coached me a little bit when I was a child. Um, went down and swam once a week and just absolutely loved it. Just completely got the bug. And I was like, I need to do this more. Once a week isn't enough. Um, and so I went to Ferrum Leisure Centre in the mornings, did early morning training, which is where I saw Stuart because Farrum were training there. They had three lanes and the public had three lanes. And Stuart was like, Is that him? Yes, come and swim with us.

Danielle Spurling 16:54

And that's that's how I got back to it. That's how it started. Wow, that's that's great. I love that. Yeah, it's it's often the story that I hear in talking to people on this podcast that have um been swimmers when they're teenagers and they've stopped for whatever reason, yeah and had a huge amount of time out of the water, and then discovered it again and just have that absolute passion and all joy for it.

SPEAKER_00 17:18

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I just yeah, I love it more now than I ever did as a child because I think when you're a kid's being taken to sessions, it's not actually you making that commitment, it's your parents, you know, it was my dad. He was the one that would come into my bedroom and get me up and drive me to the swimming pool and then come back and pick me up, and my mum would be at home making sure that I had enough food to eat. Do you know what I mean? It was like they it was them that was committed to it, it was me that was just rocking up, getting in the pool and swimming. Yes, um, and I was really competitive as a child, but I never lived up to my own expectations, which was really hard, right? Um, and I always felt like I was never doing well enough for my dad because he was really, really competitive. He never said that to me at all, but I just didn't feel like I was living up to his expectations, yes. Um and yeah, in the end it's hard, you know, you just think just can't do it anymore. Yes, but when you go back as an adult, yeah, it's just you, isn't it? You know, you're getting yourself there. That's right.

Danielle Spurling 18:32

You're funding it, yeah, exactly. Yeah, so yeah. I was just gonna talk to you a bit about your um your records. I know you've got multiple British and European records, but I wanted to chat about your three world, well, master's world records in two in the hundred backstrokes and one in the two hundred backstroke. Yeah. What was your what's your most memorable of the three?

SPEAKER_00 19:02

It's really hard to answer because each of them really does hold a place dear in my heart. Um in my previous the first one was the 45 to 49 200 backstroke. Um, and that was the one that I was really focused on. Right when I started master swimming, there were various people that I really aspired to be like. So in this country, um, when I was a kid, I used to see the results of masters competitions in Swimming Times, which was a magazine that we had over here. Right. And there was a lady called Jane Admins who was swimming as a master swimmer when I was sort of 16. And I looked at her times and I was like, how can she swim that fast when she's an adult? You know, she's she's a grown-up. Um, and so she was a real inspiration to me as a child, actually, realizing that you didn't have to give up when you if you gave up when you were young, it didn't mean the end, you know. You could go back to it. When I started Master Swimming, there was a lady called Kate Veal, who I still see from time to time, who was just the most incredible swimmer, right? She was absolutely my inspiration. Um, and she she was in my age group for one year, she's four years older than me.

unknown 20:27

Right.

SPEAKER_00 20:27

She was just brilliant at backstroke, medley, fly, amazing. And then Carlin Pipes-Nielsen. And so when I started breaking British records and then European records, of course, you then look at the world records. And I was looking at Carlin Pipes-Nielsen's world records, and I was like, she is just phenomenal. And it was always in my head that I would just love to break just one of millions of world records that she had. Yes, and so I tried, I sort of focused when I was 30 to 34 on the 200 backstroke world record, and I just missed it. Right. And I put my heart and soul into it, and it really knocked me that I didn't achieve it because I just couldn't have done in my mind. I was like, I don't know what else I could have done. I just am not good enough. You know, I'm just pure and simple, I'm not good enough. Yeah. Anyway, I carried on swimming, I took a few breaks here and there, and then I went back to Fareham at age 44 because Stuart had gone back to Fareham from a different club, and I was like, I reckon if I really go for it, I might be able to break the Long Course 200 backstroke world record. Yeah. Spoke to Stuart about it, he's like, yeah, okay, let's do it. And leading up to the 2015 long course championships here, the GB championships, everything was looking amazing for it. You know, I was swimming only marginal. Slower, but I was not rested, you know. I and then yeah, it was just looking really good. Went to Manchester, swam the slowest 200 backstroke I'd swum. That's always the case, yes, in ages, and I was devastated. I like, no, I can't believe that this has happened. There was no rhyme or reason for it, it just didn't happen. Yes. Anyway, I picked myself up and just carried on, and then it was the following January, went to this the just the regional long course masters championships, swam 200 backstroke, broke the world record. Oh wow. Well, the pressure's on. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, how have I just done that? Completely did not expect it. Wow. So that one probably was the most, I don't know. That was the first one that I'd done. Yeah. And so that was cool. But then I went on to break that record about four times. Okay. So the time that I actually hold now, 224-0, whatever it is, um, was about nearly two seconds faster than the first world record I broke. Right. So the that world that 200 world record is memorable because I did it at Europeans in London, which I don't know if you heard about, but it was barcical.

Danielle Spurling 23:24

I did hear there was um, do you know Kirsten Cameron?

SPEAKER_00 23:27

Yeah. Well I don't know her, but yeah, I I know her name, yes.

Danielle Spurling 23:30

So she's uh she's a um even though she's New Zealander and she hasn't actually lived in Australia, she's a member of my club. Okay. Obviously living in um the UK now, but yeah, I remember her talking about how terrible it was.

SPEAKER_00 23:43

Um It was just the most ridiculous competition I have ever, ever been to. Yes. How people weren't killed in the warm-up, I don't know. It was honestly, it was it was crazy. Oh wow. So they had so many entries that they had to use the 50 metre main 50 metre pool, but they also had to use the 50 metre training pool. Right. Um, and there was no spectators in there. So you literally turned up to swim your race, you had you and the seven other people and the officials, that was it. Wow. So, like just rocking up to a time trial. There was nothing, no atmosphere, nothing. Oh, and that's where I broke the world record that I still hold. So that for me was the most surreal experience because I got in, swam, and it was so flat that when I looked up at the clock, I was like, oh, I went to 26. Oh well, with no atmosphere, that's not so bad, blah blah blah. And then I looked again and went, oh no, I've gone 224-06, I think it is. Oh, that's a world record, right? So that was the most bizarre one, right? And then the hundred backstroke in that age group was very memorable because I just did not expect to break that record. I hadn't swum 67 long course, I've only I'd only ever swung 67 long course once, I think, before that. Right, yep. Um, and that was in my 30s. So to go 67, 7, 4, 7, 5, I just yeah, I was just couldn't believe it. Yeah. So shocked. Amazing. Um then, but then I broke that world record in a relay. Oh, okay. In my last year, in my in the 45 to 49 years, my um the Pharaoh Nomads team went to um the Nationals and we swam the 4x100 Medley relay.

SPEAKER_02 25:42

Right.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

And that 100 backstroke was right at the start of the weekend, and so I thought, right, because um Cindy Mabby had broken the record that I set in London. Yes. So I really, really wanted it back before I left that age group. So I focused purely on the 100 and I thought I'm gonna give it a go in that relay. Yes. And I just knew that I was gonna do it. I don't I don't know, I can't describe it. I just can't describe the feeling. I just knew that I was gonna do it, yeah. And yeah, I swam a lifetime PB in my 49th year. Wow, that's amazing. Absolutely incredible. Yeah, and then the last world record that I broke was last year, just before lockdown. And again, that is close to my heart because I'd broken my elbow only in I broke it in broke the record in March, and the previous December I had broken my arm. Right, wow.

Danielle Spurling 26:46

So I didn't expect to do that at all. Yeah. Sounds like you swim a bit better when the pressure's off, maybe, and you're not expecting as much from yourself.

SPEAKER_00 26:57

Yeah, maybe. I don't know. I mean, I have swum some good times um when the pressure's been on, but yeah, I I think that everyone, if the pressure's off, if you can get into that mindset, that's just the place to be, isn't it?

Danielle Spurling 27:12

Absolutely. Do you have a certain routine that you um follow leading up to a swim like that where you you're from the you know the the ready room out to behind the deck? Um do you do the same?

SPEAKER_00 27:26

I do a lot of faffing. Do you think I mess around a lot with my goggles? Right. Um yeah, I generally go through the same sort of um mobility routine. Yeah um before um we are actually leading up to the record in the relay, um, a guy that I have known for a long time, Stephen Tomlinson, he um introduced me to something called be activated, which is all about using your diaphragm to breathe and activating your nervous system so that you are operating at your very best. Yeah. Um, and it's very in-depth and very complex. And if anyone wants to go and Google that, it's really interesting, and I could literally bore you for hours about it. Anyway, I worked with him for a really long time and hope to again once all of this COVID nonsense is done. Yes, um, and he really helped me amazing, absolutely amazing, and opened my eyes to how much our bodies deteriorate because we are overusing them, you know, and we're not using the right parts of our body. Right. Um and so yeah, it he really, really, really helped. So with swim training, a lot of focus on land training, and um be activated, I think that that and so you go through I go through um a certain routine, an activation routine before I compete.

Danielle Spurling 29:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

And that yeah. Sorry, you use the same one all the time that works yes, yes, it's a certain um um pattern that you would use that Steve has um taught me. That's awesome. And it makes a huge difference. It's yeah, really good.

Danielle Spurling 29:34

And what what kind of you mentioned um dry land work, what kind of dry land things do you do in preparation?

SPEAKER_00 29:41

Um well, I have Tony, my husband, bought me um built me a gym in the garden. Right. So I'm really lucky that I've got loads of equipment out there. Um I do some some weights, um, but mainly I use um resistance. So I use something called K08, which is similar to TRX, but it's not only a suspension, it's also got resistance bands on it. Um so I have followed a program that they have set, um, but I really mix and match, to be perfectly honest. I sort of choose different things. So during this last lockdown that we've just had, I went through a Ross Edgely 15-week workout program, um, but mixed and matched it with stuff that I had done previously. Um so yeah, I just pinch bits from here and there, really. Um I watch a lot of stuff on like everyone does online and just pinch bits from there. Yeah, yeah. But I I I've always hated doing lamb work, but I I have grown to enjoy it, and it has really, really benefited me.

Danielle Spurling 30:59

So yeah, it's good to do, yeah. Do you do a lot of work on your core, for instance?

SPEAKER_00 31:06

Yes, I do. Yes, yeah, yeah. I I I do all over body, but generally it will be something like a pull session and then a leg session, um, and then a push session and then a whole body, um, but all of that is interspersed with core.

Danielle Spurling 31:22

Yeah. Oh, that's awesome.

unknown 31:24

Yeah.

Danielle Spurling 31:26

What I was going to ask you was um what goals have you got for the next few years? So when we get out of this whole COVID situation and we're able to travel again and and do competitions, what what are you sort of um gunning for in the next few years?

SPEAKER_00 31:41

Um I well, we were going to go to the um Europeans in Budapest, but that was cancelled. Um so I think I think there's something, I can't remember if it's Euros or Worlds, that's awful, isn't it? Going on in Rome next year.

unknown 32:00

Right.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

But whether that will happen or not, I don't I just don't know. I don't know where we are with the whole COVID, because the world is all at different stages, isn't it? Yes. Like in the UK at the moment, things seem to be fairly good. I've had both of my vaccinations. Okay. Um and in our area, there's a really it's really high percentage of people that have had both vaccinations.

Danielle Spurling 32:26

Right.

SPEAKER_00 32:26

But I think it differs throughout the country. We've got the Indian variants, which seems to be in pockets of our country.

SPEAKER_02 32:34

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 32:35

Um, they're saying that we 21st of June was the date that we were gonna be free, but now I have no idea if that's gonna happen or not because of the Indian variant. Yeah, I don't know. So I don't I don't the answer to your question is I don't really know. I don't know. I will as soon as there's competitions available in this country, I will be there. Yep. Um and if there's something happening in Rome next year, I would love to go to that. Yeah, but again, it depends on the travel, really. Yes. Um so I'm just fiding my time really. I'm ready. I you know, I I desperately want to race, I can't wait to get back into racing. Um, but when and where that will be, I'm not sure.

Danielle Spurling 33:26

And in your training, do you follow a certain nutrition plan? I'm powered by Shiraz.

SPEAKER_00 33:35

I like that. Um no, not at all. I try and I try and eat healthily, and I think that I think our diet is okay. Um but I also think I don't want to be a slave to do what I mean. I love food. Yeah, I want to be able to enjoy it. I don't want to put myself in a box and and say, bash myself over the head with you can only eat this. So, no, not really. I think my swimmers do love food. Oh, I think every swimmer loves food, don't they? It's just, you know, you burn it up, don't you? So fast. Absolutely.

unknown 34:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:20

So no, not really.

Danielle Spurling 34:21

And have you got any predictions with the uh British swimmers for the upcoming Olympics?

SPEAKER_00 34:26

Oh well, we just had a brilliant European championship. Yeah. So oh, I'd love to see our guys do well. Really, really love to see them do well. I mean, Adam Peatie is amazing. Yep, he's um, yeah. I think Duncan Scott has been awesome. Yep. Um Kathleen Dawson, 200 and 100, uh sorry, not 200, 100 backstroke, uh just mind-blowing. Yeah. Um, but I also think that Cassie Wilde, who swims the 200 back and the 100 back, um, she might be an outside burner. She's just got the most beautiful backstroke. Does she? Mmm, gorgeous. But yeah, fingers crossed. Freya Anderson, she's swimming really well.

unknown 35:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:18

Um Molly Renshaw, breaststroker, looking good. But yeah, just fingers crossed for all of them.

Danielle Spurling 35:25

Yes, I mean, I hope it goes ahead. And I just saw actually today that one of the first Australian teams just landed in Japan. Oh, have they? Australian softball team. So they've gone into a bubble. So let's hope that our swimmers can get over there. Our trial our Australian trials are not even for another week and a half.

SPEAKER_00 35:44

Right, okay. So yeah, well, we always seem to have our trials way sooner than you guys and um the USA.

Danielle Spurling 35:53

Well, we we used to. We used to have it three months before. Okay. And then they flipped it around to try what the US does to see if that makes a difference because they found that people did great times at our trials, and then three months later weren't hitting those times. So I think that's the reason they did it.

SPEAKER_00 36:11

Yeah, I think that that is um very similar to us in the UK. I'm just hoping that we can keep that momentum going from um Euros. So yeah, it's hard, isn't it? Yeah, really hard, yeah, very, very hard. Yeah.

Danielle Spurling 36:26

And what I was gonna ask you too was, and I ask all of my podcast guests this, what is your favourite all-time um training set?

SPEAKER_00 36:35

Um I I really enjoy, as I've said before, race pace 50s. Yeah, so some something like maybe 450s at pace and then an easy swim, um, repeated several times, or maybe even four fifties building to race pace and then a fast 200 um three or four times. Um I think the I've got two sessions, not saying that they are my favourite, but they're two that stay in my mind. Um from a long time ago. So this is when you know, distance, distance, distance was the thing. Um, we used to do five four hundreds um fairly regularly. Um and I did five four hundreds backstroke on a swim rest time of five thirty. Wow. Um, and and I held five tens five fifteen for each of them. That was a long time ago. I wouldn't be able to do that now. Um so that's one that really stands out in my mind. As I say, it's not necessarily my favourite, but it's a memorable one. It's different. Yeah, and then we did 3100s off of 130 in a 33 and a third meter pool, which I did backstroke. So again, that's just one that I'm like, yeah, that was hard, but a good achievement. But again, that was a really long time ago. But my favourite sessions probably are race pace 50s.

Danielle Spurling 38:06

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:07

Oh, awesome.

Danielle Spurling 38:09

Well, Joe, thank you so much for talking to us today. It's been lovely to get to know you and to hear all about your swimming journey and um wishing you all the best for coming out of lockdown and finding some competitions that are. Let's hope, let's hope it happens. Yeah, absolutely. Well, take care, and hopefully we'll get to meet on the pool deck one day. Yeah, definitely. That's lovely.

SPEAKER_00 38:30

Thank you very much for having me. That'd be great to see you.

Danielle Spurling 38:33

Yes, same. Okay. Thanks. Take care. Thank you. Bye.