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| Human Interest | |
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Further Personal Information | |
| Residence | Loughborough, ENG |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Club / Team | Bath ITC: England |
Further Personal Information | |
| Higher education | Sport Studies - Loughborough University: England |
General Interest | |
| Hobbies | Playing tennis. (English Aquatics Team Media Guide, 2010) |
| Injuries | In March 2010 he suffered severe lacerations to his left hand and fingers after dropping a dumbbell during a weights session in the gym. (loughboroughswimming.com, 08 Mar 2010) |
| Memorable sporting achievement | Winning a bronze medal in the 200m individual medley at the 2010 European Championships and silver medals in both the 200m and 400m individual medley at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. (loughboroughswimming.com, 11 Aug 2010; thisisleicestershire.co.uk, 11 Feb 2011) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Why this sport? | His parents signed him up for swimming lessons. |
General Interest | |
| Hero / Idol | British swimmer Steve Parry and US mixed martial artist Randy Couture. (ASA, 30 Aug 2006; loughboroughswimming.com, 19 Apr 2012) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Name of coach | Dave McNulty, GBR |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | He began swimming lessons at age six. |
International Debut | |
| Year | 2006 |
| Competing for | Great Britain |
| Tournament | European Championship |
| Location | Budapest |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Athlete, Coach, Director |
General Interest | |
| Other information | DIRECTOR'S CUT He is a Director of Swim Swift Elite, a company that supports swimmers to improve all aspects of their performance. (Twitter profile, 02 Jan 2015; swimswiftelite.co.uk, 01 Jan 2015) MOTIVATION He narrowly missed qualification for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, finishing a quarter of a second outside the qualifying mark at the British trials. "I just missed out by a few tenths of a second, it was a massive blow." He used the disappointment to re-evaluate himself, changed his training routine and started to work harder in a bid to avoid a repeat and earn a place at the 2012 Games. (thisisleicestershire.co.uk, 11 Feb 2011) WARDROBE MALFUNCTION A ripped swimsuit cost him a medal in the 400m individual medley at the 2009 European Short Course Championships. Despite finishing fourth, and setting new British and Commonwealth records in the process, he was still disappointed with the result. "If it wasn't for the swimsuit ripping, I'd have had a medal. I'm convinced I would have got silver at least. Right from the start something went in the suit and it was just filling with water, there was nothing I could do." (morethanthegames.co.uk, 11 Dec 2009; loughboroughswimming.com, 12 Dec 2009; thisisleicestershire.co.uk, 15 Dec 2009) |
Further Personal Information | |
| Languages | English |
General Interest | |
| Ambitions | To win a medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (thestar.co.uk, 07 Oct 2013) |