I picked up a knee injury after overdoing it in the gym and the cartilage was rubbing which consequently prevented me from using my legs for the majority of the week.

However, this didn't stop me training altogether; I did exactly the same volume and intensity of work, around 80k, but I just had to use my arms more to compensate for the lack of leg power.

I'm pleased to report that after a couple of sessions with the physio who is based at the school, my knee is healing nicely and I'm building back into using my legs at maximum effort.

Last weekend I went to a local swimming carnival for the school squad at The Southport School (TSS) where I train and boarded for the last two years.

The event revolved around one length fun races as well as events like SKINS (where a number of lengths are swam and the slowest person after each one is eliminated – until there is a winner).

Unfortunately one length isn't really my speciality thus I crashed out in the forth round.

Afterwards, out of the blue, I received an award in recognition of qualifying to the Olympics from TSS alongside one for the most FINA points (closest to their respective world record).


After chants from the crowd, I was forced to give a speech without preparation, but was able to encourage the younger swimmers and give them a message that with self-motivation, determination and enthusiasm, anything is possible. A great morning was had by all.

As part of the Olympic preparation, I was also emailed by British Swimming a couple of weeks ago to arrange booster inoculations that were started back in the UK.

Not quite knowing how to go about this, I put it off for a week or two but after a serious reminder from home, I set-about visiting a couple of health centres to arrange it in Aus. All done now and just waiting for the side-effects, if any!

My focus is now on getting my knee back to 100 percent as well as building on the work that I've done both in the pool and the gym.