Brenton Rickard

Back to the grind after a week of chaos

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 01:46:20 -0800

After an exciting and (for the sport) a well publicised couple of weeks, life is starting to get back to normal.

The trials ended very well for me, with some fast swims and the joy of being named on my first ever Olympic team. My final two events (the 200m and 50m Breast) were both real confidence boosters. My 200m time of 2:09:51 makes me the third fastest swimmer in the history of the event and my 50m time of 27:30 places me second all time. ...

The most exciting national trials ever!

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 05:08:23 -0800

Hello again, as I write this we are halfway through the third day of what has been one of the most exciting national trials ever. There of course were the great world record swims of Steph Rice, Emily Seebohm, Sophie Edington and Matthew Cowdrey. On top of these great swims there has been a really big improvement in all round depth as well as quite a few national records set.

For me personally, it has been a very satisfying week so far. ...

New swim suits make all the difference

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 06:36:38 -0800

Hello again, well it has been a busy couple of weeks again in the swimming world. Speedo released a new swim suit, Australia had a new world record holder and one of our champions announced she would not be attempting to defend her title in Beijing.

Two and a half weeks ago, Speedo released their new LZR swim suit, and results have pretty much spoken for themselves. Three world records were swum in the new suits within a week of their release. ...

Just a bump in the road to Beijing

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 01:35:03 -0800

Hello again, well my road to Beijing hit its first bump this week. A case of the flu had me laid up in bed for the second half of this week. It was nothing serious because thankfully my coach and I noticed things weren't right early enough to change the training accordingly.

Honestly, it could work out to be a good thing for me (I know that sounds strange) because three days out of the water now, might help freshen me up mentally for the challenges ahead. ...

Cricket debacle!

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 04:37:06 -0800

Welcome back, it has been a while since I have last written an entry so there is plenty to say. Firstly I hope everyone had an enjoyable festive season, I was lucky enough to go home to Brisbane for nine days to relax with my family and friends. My new years, was quiet since we had to back into full training on new years day. This was however a special occasion because the Beijing Olympics were no longer next year, they are getting very close. ...

All-Star team

Sun, 25 Nov 2007 23:40:47 -0800

So it has been an eventful couple of weeks, world cup, the AIS meet and Swimmer of Year Awards as well as a series of personal events. So lets get through the swimming first, as I said in my last entry, I wasn't really expecting to swim overly fast, which is why I am so happy with the couple of weeks. The world cup was a great way to blow out the cob webs, like most sports, match or race practice is vital. ...

Training schedule

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 21:55:45 -0800

Welcome back!

After introducing my background last week lets now look at the present and the future. This Friday and Saturday I will be kicking off my racing cycle with Sydney's leg of the Swimming World Cup series. Swimming is a sport dominated by training. We train for months in preparation for one major race that will hopefully last less than one minute in my case. Training may dominate our time in the sport, but it is racing that we are judged on. ...

Brenton Rickard - Swimmer

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 03:12:42 -0800

Hello, my name is Brenton Rickard and welcome to my blog, where I will be taking you into the day to day life of a swimmer preparing for the Olympics. Before we look forward to what is coming up, since my story is not well known, now might be a good time to look back at the journey traveled so far.

I was born the 19^th of October 1983 and showed some potential as a breaststroker at a young age. ...