Belgrave South swimmer Kelly Stubbins is aiming to qualify for the Olympic Games in Beijing for the first time.By Marc McGowan
AT 23 years of age, Belgrave South swimmer Kelly Stubbins is a veteran of the pool.
Stubbins has experienced the extreme highs and devastating lows that elite swimming provides.
The breathtaking climax of winning gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay was followed by shattering disappointment when Stubbins failed to qualify for last year’s World Championships.
After missing out on several national teams throughout her career, Stubbins had been there before, but it was all the more difficult having reached such a crescendo in her career.
So what did Stubbins do?
She dived back into training as enthusiastically as ever to return to the top.
And that is exactly what happened, with Stubbins slashing more than a second off her best time to finish second in the 200m freestyle at the Australian Short Course Swimming Championships in September.
The performance qualified her for next month’s World Short Course Swimming Championships in Manchester.
But when the Australian Swimming Championships in Sydney begin on 22 March, Stubbins will be focusing on one goal – qualifying for her first Olympic Games.
“Everything has been pretty normal and we’re just getting ready to go,” the Victorian Institute of Sport champion said.
“I’ve been a little bit faster in training and I’m more balanced in the water than previously, but pretty much everything has been the same as any other preparation.
“I guess this year I have a better chance than any other year and I have a bit more expectation on myself – I don’t think it gets any easier.”
The heats and semi-finals of Stubbins’ main event, the 200m freestyle, will be swum on 24 March – her birthday – before the final is held the following day.
“I have a little bit of nerves at the moment, nothing too bad, but I guess that will change as soon as I’m on the blocks,” the Deakin University biological science student said.
“I’ve been doing a fair bit of work with a sports psych to keep my head straight. I have to concentrate on what I’m there to do and not worry about everyone else.”
Stubbins, who trained up to 12 sessions a week before Christmas, expects her greatest competition for an Olympic spot in the event to come from Bronte Barratt, Linda MacKenzie and, if she contests the 200m freestyle, Libby Lenton.
The lead-up to the competition will involve some sharpening of Stubbins’ technique, but a vital part of these final days will be ensuring she remains relaxed.
“I’ll just be making sure to have fun all the time. When I get in a bad mood I swim like crap, so I have to make sure I’m in a good mood beforehand,” she said.
“I’ll go to the movies and just chill out before competing and just do what I want to do. Definitely the times I do in training over the next few weeks will be a good show of how I’m doing.
“In the warm-up on the day, you can feel crap and still swim fast or you can swim good in the warm-up and do crap. It’s hard to tell how you’re going to go until you’re actually in the race.”
Stubbins will compete in the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle and the 100m backstroke.
“I probably won’t swim the final of the 100m backstroke because it’s the day before the 200m freestyle, so I’ll just use the heats to take the nerves away.”
