The Road to Athens: Nicola Jackson
SubscribeNicola Jackson 30 May 2001
In her second Road to Athens diary, swimmer Nikki Jackson, recently back from a training camp in Australia, talks about participating in the World Long Course Trials in Manchester and being interviewed with her younger sister by the BBC.
"BACK TO sunny old England now after a five-week training camp in Australia, which also means I am back to the usual routine of my mum and dad taking me up to Derwentside. This takes up a lot of their time as it is an 80-mile round trip, 5 times a week and so they have to finish work early just so that they can take me. Not only do my parents have to take me to training every night and on mornings but they also have to take me all around the country to numerous competitions and to airports etc.
"After returning from Australia I had 4 weeks of solid training ahead of me before the 'World Long Course Trials’ at the new 50m pool in Manchester. They soon came around and I was very pleased when I qualified as part of the 4x200m freestyle team. I was not 100% happy with the way I swam during the week though. My time in the 200m freestyle wasn’t brilliant and I know that I could have swum much better. I don’t know whether it was the fact that I had just recently come back from Australia and my training was so much different out there to back at home. I was very pleased with my 200m butterfly though, as I did a 6-second PB I don’t usually do that event - I just thought it would make a change. There are a few more chances left for me to qualify in an individual event where I am hoping to swim much better, but the main thing is that I have qualified!
"When I was in Manchester I had an interview with the BBC as there was going to be a programme on about some of the elite swimmers in Great Britain. They thought that it would be a good idea for my sister Joanne (who also swims) to be in the interview too. I have never had an interview with Joanne before and so it was strange, but funny at the same time because she hasn’t done any TV interviews before. She was really nervous and this reminded me of what I was like when I first had my TV interview. I told her to get used to it, because hopefully if she carries on the way she is swimming there will be many more to come for her."
