Jemma Lowe is one of the hot-properties in British swimming. An Olympic finalist in Beijing, she took 100m butterfly Bronze in 2010 at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
Along with her colleagues from the Swansea Performance Centre, Jemma took part in the high-class USS Grand Prix event in Austin, Texas, recently.
The competition was the final part of their three week long USA training camp as they stepped up training for the GB trials at the London aquatics centre in March.
She took an impressive second place in the 100m fly in 58.16 and another second place in the 200m fly in 2.07.39.
Now back in Swansea she says:
“We all travelled out the day after Boxing Day so it felt as if we didn’t have a Christmas. Although it was nice to catch up with family in the short time we did have.
“I really enjoyed the competition in Texas. It was tough competing after the training camp but I raced pretty well.
“The competition venue was at the University of Texas and it was very impressive. The massive American football stadium was even on the campus.
“The change of scenery was nice as well. It was quite warm at our camp in California and we were training outdoors. Training outdoors means there’s so much more clean air to breathe during sessions and it makes some of the very hard work a bit easier to take.
“We had some really tough sessions but we’re in 2012 now so we’re all really focused.
“We hoped we could do a bit of sightseeing while we were there – including Las Vegas – but it would have been a 16 hour journey in the bus that would have been a bit too much.
“There were a few shopping mall trips instead. I think Bud (Jemma’s coach) bought more than any of the swimmers though.
“The intensity of training is the same now we’re back Swansea. Next up is the trials in London in March. I know it’ll be tough and there are some great swimmers in my groups so I’ll need to swim fast times.”
For more on Welsh and British swimming visit http://www.welshasa.co.uk/ or www.swimming.org/britishswimming.
