Jazz Carlin launched her British Championships campaign in Sheffield on Tuesday, clocking 2:00.99 as she won her 200m freestyle heat. Before the championships, Liz Byrnes of SwimVortex spoke to the Welsh swimming star.
For Jazz Carlin the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro were the culmination of the blood, sweat and tears that had marked her career in the years prior to 2016, in and out of the pool.
Illness had dogged the Welshwoman who subsequently missed out on a home Olympics in London in 2012 and a year later there was an agonising fourth place in the 400m freestyle at the worlds in Barcelona.
Coach Bud McAllister, with whom she had worked for seven years at Swansea, took up a new role in Perth, Australia, in early 2014, leaving her without a guide and mentor apart from training trips down under.
McAllister had described Carlin as “pitbull, rottweiler, whatever”, such is her tenacity, and she made light of her difficult training circumstances that year with Commonwealth 800m gold and 400m silver in Glasgow, backing that up with double gold at the European Championships in Berlin little more than a fortnight later.
Carlin moved to Bath National Training Centre to work under Dave McNulty and months later bounced back from fourth in the 400m at the worlds in Kazan a year later to take bronze over the longer event before heading to Rio.
There she showed every bit of the determination that led to McAllister’s moniker to take double silver behind Katie Ledecky.
They were especially sweet moments for Carlin, given what had gone before.
“I think you really get to appreciate your journey once you come out the other side and really get to enjoy the high moments,” she said.
“I think it makes it that bit more special when you’ve gone through quite a tough time and obviously there are just so many different things. It had felt like a lot of things all at once but to come out the other side feels so special and I am so happy that it came into place at the right time really.”
Belief made a difference going into the Games, knowing there was nothing else she could have done in her preparation:
“It felt very natural to be there. I felt like I had been waiting for it for so long to come around. It just felt natural racing there, I just wanted to enjoy the whole experience. And I did and made the most out of it, it just felt so special, it felt different to anything I’ve experienced before and I knew I had done the work – it was just about making sure I did it on the day.”
She adds: “I have got a great group of staff I get to work with and the amazing people every day that put in so much of their time to help me improve by that half a second or 0.1 second. I knew I had done absolutely everything, it was about going in and believing I could do it.
“It’s really hard to describe. I had done absolutely everything I possibly could, as in training, I knew standing on those blocks I couldn’t do any more and that I wanted it the most – it just all came together at the right time.”
On her return home the 26-year-old became the proud owner of kittens Millie and Poppy and was introduced to the crowd at Old Trafford at half-time of a Manchester United game, a real thrill as a Red Devils fan.
She also sat down with McNulty to talk about her future but intent on improving and having identified areas where she can make gains, Carlin is intent on continuing in the sport.
She recalls: “He said ‘are you going to carry on? I think you’ve still got more to give, I think you can still keep improving’. In Rio I still felt great when I was racing and I was still enjoying it. I will always love that racing environment so for me it was like I just want to keep competing and keep trying to challenge myself every day.
“I am so lucky to be involved in the sport that I love and I am passionate about and to do something like that every day you do feel very lucky to be able to say that.
“I think it was one of those things where I could easily have said that’s it I’m done but I have still got more things that I want to do, more things I want to achieve and still be competing at the highest level because that is where I feel most natural and that is what I enjoy the most.”
In Sheffield this week she will look to book her spot on her fifth world championships team after making her British debut in Rome in 2009 where she was part of the 4x200m freestyle relay that took bronze.
For the full article, go to:
http://www.swimvortex.com/jazz-carlin-has-a-taste-for-more-after-hard-times-made-olympic-silvers-all-the-sweeter/