The 2018 GO GOLD Podium Athletes aim to blog about their competitions and training sessions at least once a month to keep LRS updated on their progress.
Clicking on an athlete will also give you access to their individual profile and updates.
I am so happy and honoured to attend the award night to receive my grant. I haven't been able to train for 2 weeks due to hamstring injury and competition starting soon I feel disappointed having a injury because it means that I can't train hopefully I learn to hydrate my self to prevent injury
I have recently returned from the World Championships held in Wagga Wagga NSW, Australia. I was part of the England U21 Team. We were unlucky that when we were shooting on the first day, the wind picked up and badly affected our scores, putting us behind some of the other teams on the end of the first day. The second day was better for us, and we managed to gain back some points on the other teams, getting into a shoot off for third place. Unfortunately we lost the shoot off, and ended up coming in fourth place. However, it was a really good experience and I have come away with some great memories
Thank you Go Gold for such a wonderful evening. I truly appreciate your continued support and am extremely grateful for being chosen for the Chairman's Award 2018, it was unexpected and means a great deal.
Thank you Go Gold for the wonderful presentation evening - I really enjoyed it and really appreciate the continued support.
Thank you Go Gold for your generous hospitality this evening. I felt honoured to be nominated for the Chairman's award for the second year running. The support that I receive from the Go Gold funding programme is very welcome and I will use my money wisely. I will need some new goggles for the European Junior Champs for example. So thank you once again.
The British qualifying window started on the 1st March and runs until the end of May. I was pleased That I got into British Championships in Edinburgh, early March, as I secured solid times early in the window, in a few of my main events. Last weekend I raced at the East Midland Championships and improved two of my times in the window while retaining my 100m and 200m Regional Breaststroke title and gaining a silver medal in 400IM for the 15 years age group.
Excited to be at my first Go Gold presentation evening.
Well, the European cup didn't go exactly to plan, with a crash in my first heat caused by another rider hitting the deck hard. No lasting harm done, but it left me unable to perform at the level I had trained to. Still, some good laps put in over the weekend and lots of video to analyse and learn from. It's back to regional racing next in 2 weeks' time at Doncaster
The tournament season is coming to an end now and the summer period is fast approaching - this means spending a lot of time in the gym, and less on-court time until August when the season starts again. Already looking forward to it!
Having recently returned from my first ever warm weather training camp in tenerife I am feeling in really good shape mentally and physically for the outdoor season ahead! I loved the experience of warm weather training, I really felt I progressed in terms of where I was at in my training.
Last night I had my first race since moving to my new coach; I ran 200m down in Watford.
The conditions were ideal sprinting conditions and I was pleased to open my outdoor season with a pb and a very solid race.
I'm really looking forward to my next competition now!
I'm just back from Baku in Azerbaijan where I've competing in the European Championships. It's been an intensive two weeks. This is a qualifying event for the Youth Olympic Games. So the pressure was on. I'm happy to say it went well. I qualified the YOG place! Won an individual bronze medal and a team medal in the junior team event.
Disappointingly I have picked up bit of a niggle whilst at altitude training. It's meant that I've had to pull out of the race in Bailbo but thankfully it should only be a short lay off with some cross training before I get back on it.
My Name is Rafferty Booler-Stewart and I am a Trampoline Gymnast .
I am very honoured to have been selected as a GO GOLD Athlete at the age of 12 .
My Trampoline training has been going very well recently after a difficult period when I was suffering with lost move syndrome . Through perseverance I have managed to build my skills back up in time for the start of the competition season . I am hoping to build on those skills throughout the season .
I have moved up an age group this year so I will be against some competitors who are two years older. This gives me a good idea on how to push myself further .
My birthday weekend was spent swimming in Sheffield all weekend, however it was a really good meet for me. The main aim was to get solid times to qualify for nationals in the summer, as i hadn't done in Edinburgh. I achieved all of my main 5 times to qualify for nationals and even swam some different events which was nice. Finished off the weekend with a really strong 100fly just off pb pace which is great as we're in the middle of a tough training cycle.
Unfortunately Edinburgh was not the meet I had hoped for. I was off my pb's which meant i just missed out on selection for European Juniors. However I still managed to make a couple of finals which is a good achievement as there were international swimmers there too. The prep for the meet wasn't the best and I've learnt a lot, mainly about my taper, so I'm looking forward to changing a few things and really going for it at Nationals.
I travelled to Sweden on Tuesday 3 April to compete in the Stockholm Open Meet.
I had really been looking forward to this meet but I was ill whilst I was there. Although I had entered five events I only swam in three and qualified for two 'A' finals. I was disappointed with my swims but must move on.
Stockholm is a lovely place, my accommodation was superb and the people really friendly.
Eventually arrived home at 1.30am today after a weekend racing for Swim England in Marseille. The aim of the meet was to concentrate on process goals, to identify areas for improvement and to receive feedback from coaches who are not part of my home programme. 5 events entered, no final for the 400IM and finished 4th in the open age group, qualified for 3 more finals improving my entry position in all. Was a bit off my personal best times but it was a great experience racing again in France.
It's been a great two weeks training hard in the gym and on the bike, good progress and measureable results. But for now, it's back to school for a few days' rest. There are two big races this April with the UEC BMX European cup in Zolder (Belgium) and round 3-4 of the HSBC BMX National Series in my home city of Leicester. Thank you Leicester-Shire & Rutland Sport for helping to make this possible!
More Information: britishcycling.org.uk
A 3 stage race with a 5km time trial, 105 kms rolling course and 80 kms hilly race on day 2. The Mendips are brutal. Harptree hill led up to the "rolling" stage was 1.5 kms at 10% - max grade of 14% - We would finish up Harptree on day 2, add Barrington Coombe and Blagdon Hill and thats a lot of climbing. 2nd in the TT on day 1 (very pleased with this). 2nd stage sat in the bunch and got 8th (3rd overall 6 seconds down on the leader into the last stage). I attacked with a group of 8 after about 25 kms and we made it to the base of Harptree with 30 seconds on the bunch. 4 minutes later and I lost the stage by half a wheel - but won the overall by 10 seconds. Very pleased.
More Information: britishcycling.org.uk
The youth nationals this year were hosted by the Scottish national sailing institute in Largs Scotland. We travelled up there last Friday to complete fitness testing and boat measurement. We then trained and prepped the boat for the weeks racing on Saturday and Sunday. Sadly Monday and Tuesdays racing was called off due to a strong easterly breeze with -6 wind chill. Wednesday also posed the same conditions however we were all sent out in fleets and managed to get 2 races in. Thursday was a long day we managed to get 5 races in and had a 6 hour day on the water. Sadly Friday was breeze on and we could only get one race in. Overall I was really pleased with how Dilly and I sailed, however I'm looking forward to getting back with my normal partner and training ready for the European Championships in the summer.
Last week we travelled down to Hayling Island Sailing cub to compete in the Grand Prix 4. I sailed with Dilly Ala who is standing in for my normal helm while exams are on. We had never sailed together before and were really pleased with our results. We were also using the event as training for the youth national championships the next week in Scotland.
Yesterday was my first outdoor competition in Kingston upon Thames.
Having some problems with my back had less mobility i was a bit apprehensive about if I am able achieve a better result. But i am determined to put it right.
It was a disappointing result, I felt that I want to improve myself by refining new technical drills.
My next competition is on 28th April in Loughborough University where I hope to improve.
I had a difficult time in Edinburgh, it was a treacherous, long journey through thick snow and ice, we arrived at 01.30am and were very pleased to eventually find the hotel after sliding down some very icy roads. I had 3 races, the 200Im, 400Im and 200 fly, I was slightly over my pb's in all my races, but it was difficult walking to the pool through the thick snow as there was no buses or taxi's due to the weather. It was also difficult at night finding somewhere to eat as all the restaurants were closed. It was great to see members of the Olympic squad swim and it was the first time I had qualified for the British Championships. I would like to swim in Edinburgh again to try to improve my performance but not until the summer!
I am really pleased to receive the Go Gold funding this year. I have had a very mixed start to the year with a shoulder injury in January but it has been a great learning curve for me.
Recently I took part in the Scottish national age groups where I received bronze, silver and gold medals in my age groups for various events. I managed to PB my 50 breastroke which is a great pleasure for me especially since I managed to break 34 seconds for the first time. I am also pleased with my 400 IM where I swam my fastest time this season and it has given me a confidence boost in this event.
This has been a really good competition for me as it has helped me to regain confidence in my swimming after having a rocky start.
I'm currently training at altitude in Font Romeau in France. Things are going well and I have been invited to race in Bilbao, Spain in a road race in a couple of weeks time which should be a great experience.
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