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My reflection:
I practiced my finishing strokes in the first week and week 5 of my training. I felt like it was a suitable introduction to my training as safety in the water is vital. I wanted to ensure I was aware of my surroundings (the walls of the pool) and as you finish a length or a race, you must always reach the wall to finish. This is why I found this to be a suitable place to start. The key points for me were to be aware of the floor of the pool. I was able to recognise which lines on the floor indicated I was near a wall, and this certainly helps.Another key point to note is to look up briefly when you think you are near the wall, this allows you to get a sense of the amount of strokes you have left before you have to reach out for the wall. The final point that I practiced in these weeks was to ensure the palm of my hand was hitting the wall first, and then my fingers grabbed the wall. Ensuring your palm hits the wall first is vital and then it allows you to take your head out of the water without hitting the wall, avoiding injury at the same time. I found the training to be a little tedious at times in these weeks and I found that sometimes my fingers were hitting the wall first and bending back. However, with some concentration, this was quickly rectified.

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My reflection:
In weeks 2 and 6, I practiced the starting position and entry into the water from my knees. There is a safety point involved here, and that is to ensure my hands always break the water first. I worked on this consistently during these weeks, trialing with my fingers entering first and with my palms breaking the water. I found that I was more confident when my fingers broke the water first and it added to the streamline position I was looking for. In terms of completing this training, I had to ensure the pool was always a suitable depth for head-first submersion and this had to be checked prior to any training. In these weeks, I focused on attaining and maintaining a streamline position as soon as possible after starting my entry to the pool. This meant lengthening my body immediately after take-off and getting my legs as straight as possible. I felt like my training in these two weeks went really well and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It posed a challenge to me as my habit of letting my legs fall in behind my body proved difficult to overcome. I was happy with my progress in these weeks and it improved my confidence in the water also.

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My reflection:
In weeks 3 and 7, I focused on one of the more difficult elements of my training, the standing start. This involves starting in an upright position, diving into the water at and angle and trying to attain a streamline position as soon as possible. I really enjoyed this challenge. At the beginning, as stated in my initial performance analysis, I had to focus on not straddling my feet and legs, and try to keep them together. This took lots of practice and repetition but I feel like I am now at a much higher level than I was at the beginning. The main benefit of attaining the streamline position before you enter the water, is to reduce resistance. As a result, my speed when entering the water increases, and the glide I get off the dive allows me to gain distance under water before breaking the surface and going into freestyle. I feel like my confidence improved with every dive and my ability level went in tandem with this. The difference in my initial practice in trying to keep my legs together and the level I am at now is noticeable and it has improved my overall proficiency in the water. I also took this practiced this element outside of the Arena swimming pool as can be seen below. Clonmacnoise is close to where I live and I often spend Friday evenings out there practicing my swimming and the pontoon offers the perfect chance to practice my diving(standing starts).

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My reflection:
The final element of my training was worked on in weeks 4 and 8. The tumble turn is a difficult skill to master and although my skill level has improved, it still needs some work. In terms of safety, I had to be aware of where the walls of the pool are, and when I should begin the tumble turn, which is quite close to the wall to ensure I can get a good push off the wall. In week 4, I practiced the forward roll motion in the pool without the wall. Constantly performing this skill allowed me to build confidence and improve my technique. The key points to work on were tucking my body and rolling forward. I had to bring my legs to my chest and then subsequently I had to tuck my head down to my neck also. Attaining this position was not the easiest thing to do and often the water went up my nose. I then knew I had to add another element, which is to exhale throughout. Luckily enough, I never hit my head off the wall as my training from weeks 1 and 5 meant I was pretty confident of how close I was to the walls at all times. Putting the tumble turn together with the push off the wall was a good challenge for me and although I improved, I still know there is further room for improvement and I will gain more and more confidence as I improve.

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My reflection:
In week 9, the final week of my training block, I focused on combining all of these elements together. I swam two lengths at a time, starting in the standing position, diving in, achieving a streamline position, freestyling the length of the pool, performing a tumble turn and swimming back to my starting position, ensuring I follow my safety points for finishing the swim. After 8 weeks of practicing all of these elements, I can now swim two lengths much quicker than I could before my training block. I am very happy with how my training went, and with the guidance of my coach Eamonn, I was able to pinpoint my faults and rectify them to the best of my ability. This training block was hugely beneficial to me and it has improved both my skill level and my confidence in the water. After this training block, my starts, turns, and finishes whilst doing the front crawl are now much better than they were 9 weeks ago.

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In initial practice, my legs were split

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Notice the difference in my legs here

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My improved tumble turn.

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My improved standing start

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A safe, fast finish.