O'Donnell emphasises importance of school sport in Scotland

Callum O'Donnell was speaking to Ryan Bangs on day five of Bank of Scotland National School Sport Week 2011

I HAD a lot of questions aimed at me when I went to Edinburgh for the last day of Bank of Scotland National School Sport Week - and you wouldn't believe the cheek at some of them.

SWASHBUCKLING: Callum O'Donnell dropped in on the final day of the Bank of Scotland National School Sport Week

I was invited along to Edinburgh's Meadowbank Sports Centre to help inspire and support 250 kids, who were taking part in a whole host of sports on the day.

My being there is through the Bank of Scotland Local Heroes programme, which has been a great support network for me and has even allowed me to train more in Edinburgh myself.

And I got asked a lot of questions from how many times do you train a week? As well as how hard do you actually train? I don't think they quite realised how hard!

The kids were great though and they do ask the best questions and they were so happy and so ready just to give everything on offer a go.

Sport really can be the spice of life and there were so many different ones going on - but above all it gives them something to aim for and more importantly is getting them active.

I learnt to fence while I was at primary school and it escalated from there. It was the usual thing I had nothing to do and nothing much going on and I wasn't too special.

But I soon started training more and that led to me getting time off school to be able to fence and without my school I wouldn't be where I am today.

They allowed me to have time off and they were very, very lenient and allowed me to combine my studies and my sport and I almost had to be an octopus.

I had to have so many arms with balancing fencing, my school work and a social life too but they tried to help make everything that little bit easier for me.

And currently, not being at school anymore, I am in the one of three phases as I like to call it - the preparation phase with the competition phase and rest phase the other two.

I am doing a lot of strength work and trying to build up a solid base in an attempt to reduce injuries before soon moving onto the more technical side of things.

My first competition isn't until September so that is quite a long way away and I am hoping to get to the World Under-20 Championships and the European Under-20 Championships.

Longer term I am thinking of the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and then the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Fencing isn't a Commonwealth sport, which means I won't be part of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, but we have our own individual competition at the same time and I am hoping the two get dragged together and it almost gets more involved.

It is going to be a great time for Glasgow and the nation and it would be great as a fencer not necessarily going to be part of it to actually taste a bit of that atmosphere.

Bank of Scotland National School Sport Week, in partnership with sport  scotland, uses London 2012 to inspire children to achieve a personal best in Olympic and Paralympic sports.  To help your local school carry the Olympic Flame in the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, or to win tickets, visit: www.bankofscotland.co.uk/nationalschoolsportweek

© Sportsbeat 2011