A Life Less Ordinary/Lycra Still Looks Awful!!

Jo Mitchinson

Team Aqua Sphere UK athlete 2017 

I’m starting to look ahead to my first OW races of 2017, which inevitably also involves a bit of reflection on the preparation that I’ve had so far. In 2 weeks time I’ll be celebrating the end of a very busy half term at work, saying ‘Goodbye’ to my incredible form of 16 year olds as they start study leave for their GCSE’s (that ironically start on Monday!) and then flying out to compete in Majorca at BestFest Open Water Festival.

Anyone that knows me will already know that I’m a bit of a planner. Not in every area of my life – that would be far too useful, but certainly when it comes to packing, preparation and training. So, it won’t come as a surprise that I’ve already started packing. The essentials are already in the case. The essentials, as I see it, are the things I need to race. Unfortunately, sometimes the ‘what if’ gremlin gets in the way and this can lead to what can only be described as 'Severe Over Packing Syndrome'. Already in the case are 5 pairs of goggles (I will add the ones I really intend to wear the day before, when I’ve finished training in them!!). All of my goggles are identical (MP K180+), though I have both mirrored and ‘what if the weathers bad and I need’ clear ones! I’ve also packed swimming hats, race suits, training suits and my many inhalers to help keep my breathing under control (or even just going!!), along with several ‘what if’ versions of all.

Then comes the food packing. Much to the annoyance of my husband (because it takes up lots of room in the case) I have to pack food despite having been to the same place 4 times now and knowing that the shop in the resort is fab and that we are staying in a Half Board Hotel. I always pack a fair few pot noodles and lots of bags of Hula Hoops. This means that if, the night before (or more commonly for breakfast on race day) there’s nothing I fancy, I can always stick to what I know and get a pot noodle down me, even at 6am. This time I’ll also be taking out with me Huel (both powder and bars). This stuff is great. It’s simple, nutritionally balanced and functional food. Most importantly it is also a product that I’m used to including as part of my diet.

Packing is the last bit of my preparation – I just do it in very good time!! In reality, the preparation for this season really started 4 years ago when I first dived (or ‘flopped’) back into a swimming pool after far too long out of it! Everything that I can do now in terms of training and racing, the places I’ve been lucky enough to race in, the people I’ve met and the incredible opportunities that I now have through my swimming are because of the work that has been done in that that time. I’ve been very lucky in that time to have achieved something that I never managed as a junior swimmer – consistency. Despite the odd few days out of the water usually because of breathing difficulties I’ve strung together months upon months of solid blocks of hard work.

Behind this consistency is a large group of people. Swimming is not my job, I have a full time one of those, it’s ‘just’ something that’s important to me and that we work hard to accommodate into our families’ increasingly hectic schedule. I’m really lucky that I met my husband, Dave, at Loughborough University and that, because of the level we both competed at, we totally understand that continuing to take part in sport is not optional for us. Sport is a huge part of who we are. Our lives are certainly busier because of our training and racing schedules, but we are also both happier. The costs, both financial and in terms of time, just don’t come into it.  I might nag about a 3^rd bike appearing in my lounge, in the same way I used to whinge about the 53^rd pair of running shoes arriving and I’m sure that constantly wet towels and drying swimsuits draped unceremoniously over the chairs at your dining table and the smell of chlorine throughout the house must grate on him a little from time to time – but that’s just us!!

Ellie has amazed me recently with her understanding of how sport becomes part of you. On several occasions, with Dave away, I’ve planned to take her training then come straight home again. I don’t even mention my own session, just assume that I won’t train that evening. She has had other ideas and has insisted on sitting poolside while I train exclaiming “I want to. You take me to training because it’s something I love doing, you love training too, so I’ll wait for you to finish”. It helps that she’s sometimes given a stopwatch or told to hassle me about my lack of leg kick – but it’s great to know that she ‘gets it’.

Along with Dave and Ellie, I’m really fortunate that my parents are A) as supportive as they have always been and B) local. If it’s one of the days when the 3 of us are racing in different places, they’re on hand. They’re always there if we have logistical problems, happy to ferry Ellie about in exactly the same way that they did me. When it became apparent that, with my breathing problems, I shouldn’t be travelling and racing alone they have both traveled with me and stayed with Ellie so that Dave can travel with me. 

Then there’s the ‘sport specific’ support network that is crucial to staying fit in the pool, and, over the years I’ve picked this group of people very carefully. I value a ‘no nonsense, no fuss’ approach. I’m a typical athlete when it comes to be being patient - completely impatient, if I have a niggle I want it sorted. Having an excellent Sports Masseur and Physio both practically on speed dial helps massively. Whether it’s to be told to ‘stretch more’, ‘get on with it’ or to get the best possible advice and treatment it’s great to know that back up is there when I need it.

At the pool, my bit is the easy bit. I just turn up and train. It’s the coaches that have to do all the thinking. I’m honestly not sure what my coach would say about me as a swimmer to coach, I imagine somewhere between ‘stubborn’ and ‘motivated’. I do ask lots of questions and I have very high expectations of both myself and others in the pool. Sometimes I need someone to challenge me in terms of races to enter and goals to set and sometimes I need someone to put the reigns on me when I’m pushing too hard. I think having a coach that is as stubborn and as motivated as I am definitely helps!!

I’ll approach this race season with cautious optimism. I’ll race knowing that the seemingly endless hours of brutal training that I’ve completed this winter have been done to the best of my ability and that I am incredibly fortunate to have such a brilliant group of people supporting me. But, OW swimming by its very nature is unpredictable and sometimes, despite the most meticulous planning, a decent helping of luck is also necessary.