2019 - the one that nearly got away!!

Jo Mitchinson-  Aqua Sphere and MP Ambassador

Perfect training setting in Lanzarote in October

Towards the end of the year, I always start to reflect on the past 12 months and make plans for the new year. This frequently then overspills into a December blog about how the year’s gone. Over the past few years, having read my blogs back, I see lines like “one of those amazing seasons where everything just went right” and “my top 10 races of 2017”. 

If I was going to summarise 2019 it would be ‘brutal’. Emotionally and physically. It’s been a year of massive change, setback after setback and, a taste of what life will be like when swimming is no longer part of it, courtesy of a 4 month break.

The year started well, with a swim that astounded me at the County Championships. From that point on, it all started going downhill, with my goals changing from getting a swim at the English Nationals to simply completing a session.  The breathing issues I’d managed for 3 years began to worsen and I suddenly became acutely aware of the risks of falling unconscious in water. I’ve always been able to reassure people that I’m OK, but actually, being unable to breathe in the water is terrifying and during one session, I finally scared myself to the point at which something needed to change. I needed to step back, take stock and feel in control of the situation again. So I stopped swimming until I felt safe enough to try again.

Fortunately, I was able to be referred to specialists at The Royal Brompton and have been working with them since May. I’ve had to change pretty much everything on their advice; diet, technique, backstroke turns, breathing patterns, training times, intensity and in order to accommodate these changes – even my swimming club and county.

East Region OW success in July

After very nearly 4 months out of the pool almost entirely, I was missing the routine and the fitness. I had entered some Open Water competitions and was happy to do these unfit, just to be able to swim in OW, supervised and with no expectations. I had to get medical confirmation that I was safe to compete and take reasonable precautions (have a ‘spotter’, wear a different coloured cap and introduce myself to the race referee, who would inform the other officials). I am so incredibly grateful to the staff at BESTFEST, SE East Region and Swim England for their efforts that enabled me to race this summer. These events were very important to me and although my fitness and confidence were not where I’d have liked them to be I was thrilled to be competitive at BestFest, win both the 2km and 3km at the East Region OW Championships and win a National OW Gold in the 2km at the National Masters Championships. They gave me the motivation to embrace the huge changes that were needed if I was going to get back to training confidently.

Approaching the start of the National OW

Change is never easy. And changes that you’d rather not have to make are even harder. And I definitely didn’t want to have to change swimming clubs. But - I’ve known for a long time that my breathing prefers cooler pools/environments and that my breathing is often worse in the evening compared to the morning. So firstly, to continue swimming at all long term I needed to try and find a relatively local club that would take on an ageing, unfit, Open Water swimmer with some potentially serious medical conditions. In addition to this, the club needed to train predominantly mornings (I now do 4 or 5), be able to offer me about 6 sessions a week and have a masters section so I could have company at competitions if I ever got back in shape. It was a big ask!! I approached 2 clubs, one was very accommodating and after a few weeks trial I knew that Team Luton was a great option for me. I’m now very happy and settled training there with both the main squad and the masters.

200m fly - some medals mean a huge amount.

There have been many mistakes and learning curves along the way; I raced too soon and stopped breathing, I’ve pushed too hard in training and stopped breathing, I’ve not pushed too hard and still stopped breathing. I’ve learnt that while most of the time things will be fine, sometimes they’ll go wrong and it really upsets me when it does. For much of this year it’s felt like I’ve had very little back from the time and effort that I’ve invested in it – but I’ve also realised how much I simply love to swim.  I love training and I am genuinely that person that doesn’t need to set an alarm for 04:30 because I’ll wake up excited to go to the pool!! Recently, things have really started looking up. I’ve raced and felt more like myself again with times that have made me think “maybe I still can”, I’m training consistently well finally and hitting times in training that I’ve never hit. Most importantly I’m still swimming and I’m swimming confidently again. My last race of 2019 was a 200m fly - which I not only completed, but completed in 2:38.35 (my fastest time this century!!). It's progress like this that helps me accept the races and sessions that go wrong.

Analysing my stroke to make changes at SwimCube

2019 has been a total rollercoaster. But, with a lot of support from medical staff, family and friends, I’ve reached the following conclusion – I will take control of what I can and let other people control the things they can on my behalf. What can’t be controlled, can’t be changed – so I have to accept it and learn to live with it. This means that I’ll sometimes enter competitions and then have to withdraw, or train ‘well within myself’ when my breathing isn’t great and is making me nervous or miss training altogether. But – for the times when I can still lose myself in training, or surprise myself when it all comes together in a race, it’s well worth it!!