JAMES GODDARD: It’s training hard now all the way to the Games

Champions of TomorrowSummer Sports

By James Goddard

IT’S been a rollercoaster couple of weeks but it feels so good to have qualified for London 2012 and have my place on the team confirmed by the British Olympic Association.

FOCUS: James Goddard will be part of a five-strong British team at next month’s European Championships – but the Olympics is the focus (Getty Images)

It will be my third Games but, of course, but no-one has any experience of what it will be like to compete in a home Olympics, so it’s very exciting.

I was very worried about the trials because I was really not feeling good when I got there.

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I knew I could do it but some doubt crept in because I had picked up an illness that had really knocked me back.

When I touched that wall and realised that I’d finished in the top two, then a massive sense of relief swept over me.

I can go hard at training now but I’ve still got a few competitions before the Olympics, although they are really just stepping stones to the main event.

I will be competing at the European Championships and thankfully British Swimming has agreed to fly us in and out just for our race days, which means we can keep training through the event. It’s all about peaking at London.

After all the emotions of the trials it was great to come back to London for the launch of the Team GB Olympic kit.

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I know there has been some criticism but I think it’s really classy and Stella McCartney and Adidas have done a brilliant job. It’s a fantastic fusion of old and modern.

Whenever I pull on a Great Britain kit I feel a sense of pride but this one is extra special.

This will be the third time I’ve collected an Olympic kit and it really makes you feel the Games are getting closer.

It’s a bit like Christmas, opening the packets and seeing all the kit you’ve been given. It’s quite easy to get swept up in the hype but I don’t think I will get overwhelmed, I will use that to my advantage.

The Games will be with us before we know it so it’s about training hard now. I still don’t know whether I will take part in the opening ceremony.

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We are going to sit down as a team and decide what to do. Some won’t be able to go because they are competing the following day and you wouldn’t get back to the Olympic Village until the early hours of the morning.

My event is a few days in and I’d love to be in the athletes’ parade because I’ve never been to an opening before. However, it’s a long day on your feet and performance must always come first.

Overall it’s been a great few weeks, although having Sean Kelly, our coach in Stockport, admitted to hospital has been hard on all of us.

He’s still in hospital receiving treatment and he’s taking it slowly. We all miss him but it’s been a no contact situation and his health comes first.

Hopefully he will be back in a few weeks but we’ve got a great programme in Stockport and Lars Humer has stepped in and he knows exactly what we have to do.

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* James Goddard is a member of Team Kellogg’s. To celebrate fifteen years of support for British Swimming, Kellogg’s is offering a ‘Free Kids Swim’ on 30 million packs of cereal to encourage families to take the plunge together. Collect a voucher on pack and take it down to your local participating pool.

For more information, please visit www.kelloggs.co.uk/freeswim

©  2012

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