2008 Olympics Updates

Having competed at the last five Paralympic Games it will be a new experience for me to be a spectator in Beijing. However, as a commentator I will still be close to the action and be able to speak to the team each day.

Trying to pick out ones to watch from the incredibly strong British swimming team is difficult.

Just to qualify onto the team you had to be ranked at least sixth in the world and it is a team that topped the medal table at the 2006 IPC World Championships.

There will be some familiar faces in Beijing who seem sure to medal - swimmers such as Sascha Kindred, Nyree Lewis, David Roberts, Jim Anderson and Natalie Jones.

However 45% of the team are first time Paralympians and they are likely to be in the mix too.

The GB swimming team have maintained their success for the same reasons cycling and sailing were so successful at the Olympics - funding, planning, attention to detail and focused athletes and staff.

Since the release of National Lottery funding to cover more than just capital projects, British Swimming has been able to invest in the development of talented athletes.

Simply throwing money at something will only get you so far. Team members like current head coach Lars Humer focus on getting all of the detail right all of the time and this doesn’t happen by chance.

There will already be a four-year plan in place to move the team on far beyond Beijing.

As with most sports, the athletes put in all the hard work required to get into physical shape but here there is a real sense of team in the broader sense.

Each component of the support team from strength and conditioning to sports psychology, from sports science to the office admin support, everyone is focused and passionate about helping the swimmers be the best they can be.

However, the British team will not have it all their own way. Ukraine has a very strong team of predominantly visually-impaired swimmers and, with stars like Erin Popovich and Jessica Long, the USA will accumulate a substantial medal haul.

Few swimmers will be as dominant as South Africa’s Natalie Du Toit in the women’s S9 events and of course there will be a very strong team representing the host nation China.

There are a couple of races that I am particularly looking forward to.

The Men’s 34-point freestyle relay is always very exciting and although GB won gold in both Sydney and Athens they are likely to be pushed very hard by Australia, with Matt Cowdrey leading the charge.

However, my pick for the entire competition would be the Men’s S8 400m freestyle which will be on 12 September.

It will feature Britain’s Sam Hynd, who is the world record holder for the event and, despite it being his first Games, he will be favourite.

He will face one of the most talented swimmers in the world Xiaofu Wang who will have the home crowd behind him. It is sure to be an exciting contest.

Just a small part of me is envious of this year’s Paralympic swimmers. To race in such a beautiful pool like the Water Cube will be an incredible experience for them.

Thankfully, the larger part of me has come to terms with the fact that my time as an athlete has been and gone and now I can just enjoy commentating on their endeavours.

It was like Tyson Gay running the 100m on a treadmill - going nowhere fast. That was how one of the sailors summed up the conditions here.

The warning signs were there on Wednesday when a number of fleets had their races postponed, but Thursday was the first full day of racing lost.

Stronger winds are forecast which should be the best of the regatta so far.

There’s only so much badminton and frisbee you can play in the dirty sweaty murk. Even the flags were struggling - and they’re made out of super dooper material to make it look like there is more breeze than there really is.

It’s frustrating for everyone, not least for the sailors who can’t afford to switch off. No-one wants the pause button pressed because you’re only as good as your last race.

If you’re winning you want to keep on winning. If you’re not, you want to get straight back out there and put things right. Waiting around for the right conditions feels like pure procrastination.

Because of its uncontrollable factors, sailing is a very complex sport. It’s about building your game. You can go crazy - beating yourself up over the ifs the buts and the maybes.

The British team operate as a pack. It’s about getting the balance right and that’s when sports psychology kicks in. On days like Thursday they switch down, not off.

I was talking to team psychologist Ben Chell last night. It’s all about conditioning the mind to deliver the right skills at the right time, no matter what the circumstance.

“The sailors know each other relatively well and they’re all in this together. I think they draw on strength within the team that everybody in it is routing for each other and wants them to do well,” he said.

“Equally, if some sailors have had a stressful day they can come back into that environment, be part of that team and in control. That in turn helps them to switch off and de-stress.”

Chell’s psychology is about keeping it simple. It’s about fact, logic, and truth no matter what kind of day you’ve had on the water.