Swim to Stratford: Team GB's swimmers like Gemma Spofforth have work to do in the next few months (Photo: GETTY IMAGES)
With the Shanghai World Championships firmly consigned to history, now is when it gets serious for swimmers contemplating a spot at the London Olympics.
Eleven months may remain before the world's best congregate in Stratford, but in the pools and gyms of Britain the hard work has already started for those harbouring ambitions of joining them.
Most of Britain’s swimmers have been enjoying some downtime after their exertions in the Far East, taking advantage of the one part of the year when they are not expected to be training.
For most this has meant three weeks out of the pool and the opportunity to take a holiday to recharge the batteries for the journey ahead, knowing this could be the most important training cycle of their careers.
That journey takes Britain’s swimmers to the Aquatic Centre in March 2012 for the British Championships and their one chance of securing Olympic selection.
The meet is an all or nothing race for qualification, so getting it wrong in March will prematurely end Olympic ambitions. Some events are sufficiently competitive that just qualifying could prove as challenging as competing in the Games themselves.
With that thought in mind, the hard work has already started and in many places has begun out of the pool. Much was made of the introduction of ballet to the Loughborough University squad’s training regime earlier this year, but since their return to training they have also been trying out badminton in combination with their swimming.
In a similar vein, Glasgow’s swim team have taken up judo and Bath’s group spinning, all in order to explore any avenue to improve pool performance.
The cross-training approach has its own hazards. One hundred metre backstroke world record holder Gemma Spofforth recently headed out on a 15-mile cycle ride as part of her efforts to get in shape only to find herself face down on a concrete pavement and in need of a trip to A&E.
Fortunately the damage was limited to a broken nose, a broken toe, and cuts and bruises, so Spofforth expects to back in the water imminently, but the fragility of the athletes’ lot was brought into sharp focus.
Expect to see swimmers being wrapped in cotton wool the closer that trials get and again before the Games.
Some have also been trying out new training bases to kick start their Olympic campaigns. Notable amongst these is Beijing open water bronze medallist Cassie Patten, who has moved across the Pennines from Stockport Metro to train with the City of Sheffield squad.
As a result of the world title won by her team-mate Kerrie-Anne Payne in Shanghai and the strict selection criteria laid down by governing body FINA, Patten is now no longer eligible to compete in the 10km open water event in London.
Instead, she is widely expected to turn her attention to the 800m freestyle in the pool, an event she also contested in Beijing.
At trials, that means she will cross swords with World and Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington and rising star Jazz Carlin who were Britain’s representatives in Shanghai.
Selection is therefore far from assured. Just as the great Ian Thorpe found himself disqualified from the Australian selection trials of 2004, leaving places open for others, anything can happen on the day.
It really is a case of having a lane and having a chance and Carlin in particular will not be taking Patten’s challenge lightly.
British Swimming has also joined in the search for any possible advantage, installing a state of the art traveling overhead camera into the pool at Loughborough that allows a swimmer’s stroke to be monitored directly from above so flaws can be identified and corrected.
Not to be outdone, Australian Swimming has installed an altitude training simulator into their training facility in Sydney to allow swimmers, including world champion James Magnussen, to reap the benefits of training at altitude without having to fly around the world to do so.
Whatever approach is taken, and whatever technological assistance is provided, the next few months will be pivotal.
This will be the one opportunity for Britain’s current crop of swimmers to experience a home Olympics and no-one will want to miss out through a lack of dedication or preparation.
The swim to Stratford really has begun.
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