Swimmer Siobhan-Marie O'Connor on making GB squad for Rio Olympics
By Mark Ashenden
Last Updated: 14/02/17 11:53am
Making an Olympic team is a gruelling and often painful business.
Rising British swimming star Siobhan-Marie O'Connor can vouch for that.
The Sky Academy Sports Scholar was named in the British squad for this summer's Rio Olympics last week, but illness has made it a bumpy, albeit joyous, journey to Brazil.
Here are Siobhan's thoughts on securing a spot at her second Games, London 2012 lessons and how she'll face the next three months....
Making Rio didn't sink in until the day after the Olympic trials. When I made the time in the 200m individual medley I thought ' yes, I'm going to Rio' but it didn't feel real until I woke up the next day. I can get really excited about it now.
You try not to think about it during the build-up to a trials. You think about the process and not the outcome. How am I going to get there? The processes of a race and times. It properly sunk in I was going to another Olympics when I got loads of messages from friends and family.
I knew I had made the team because I got the qualifying time, but 18 other swimmers [in the 26-strong squad] had to wait for an email on the Thursday - four days after the trials. The email would say if they were going or not. They were all refreshing their inbox for that email and so I'm so pleased I didn't have to go through that!
I was really confident going into the trials, though. I had made the times in training and that always helps your confidence when you're standing on the block, thinking about all the work you've done.
I needed make 2 minutes 10 seconds and I knew if I had a good race I could swim that. I was nervous but I just wanted to get into the team. I was over the moon to make it but it was a tough week.
There were lots of highs and lows. Swimming is an individual sport but you do feel for everyone else. I try to focus on my own racing but I care so much for the others. They are my team-mates, but that's the emotional side of it.
Sport brings so many challenges. It's great because four of my closest friends in Bath made the team, although two missed out. That's sport but it means we're going to the Olympics and they're not.
It's so tough. I'm very happy with the British team they picked. I reckon it's the strongest team we've ever had.
Being in Australia in the lead-up to the trials was amazing. It was really nice to get that consistent block of training in the sun and being all together. The coaches love it because we are only there to train and they have complete control!
But it was still pretty stressful and it's that time of year you can get ill - that can be quite disruptive.
I really struggled with illness when I got back. I didn't account for that at all and that was very frustrating. I know that's sport and I made the team and that's brilliant but I now want to move on and minimise the illnesses.
I am struggling with that. We have stepped up the training so much this year and when you are training hard your immune system is slightly depleted. And there are other stresses like travelling to competitions everywhere.
I got back from Australia and five days later we were competing in Edinburgh. I want to reduce those stresses on my body and stay free of illness.
It will be so amazing going to another Olympics. London was the best two weeks of my life. The process to get there was very challenging.
I missed out (initially) on qualifying this time four years ago and I was trying so hard to ignore the hype because I was so gutted at not going.
But it was such a whirlwind because then I made the team in June. The lead-up was crazy but it was the best experience. I was really young and although I only swam a couple of sessions and I wasn't in contention for finals I got to see my team-mate Michael Jamieson get a medal having worked so hard.
Being part of Team GB was a dream come true. I thought at the time, in four years I want to come back and be amongst it…that's what I want to do now in Rio.
London gave me the hunger to be there and put in performances. Everything that's happened in the Olympic cycle, I have been through before. We have World Championships and Commonwealth Games but nothing is the same as an Olympics. London and Rio will be very different.
It's just under 100 days to go and it's come around so quickly. I just want to give myself the best opportunity of swimming well in Brazil.
I've had disruption to the trials but I will try to minimise that over the next three months. I'm just so excited. We have the Europeans in May in London. That's my favourite pool and it should be a full crowd.
Exciting things are coming but I'm just trying to do things right and give it 100 per cent.
WHAT'S COMING UP FOR OUR SCHOLARS
MARCH 19 - MAY 2: Holly Bradshaw, training in USA
19-27 MAY: Savannah Marshall, World Championships in Kazakhstan
22-30 MAY: Sam Oldham, Europan Gymnastics Championships in Switzerland
