London calling: The James Goddard Column – Full steam ahead as Team GB swimmers unite for 2012 Olympics

TEAM GB: In the run to the Games

By Mancunian Matters Sports Staff

Kellogg’s ambassador James Goddard was talking exclusively to Mancunian Matters...

I have entered the ASA Nationals at the weekend but I am unsure if I will compete yet, but even if I don’t I will still have a lot riding on it.

Having already qualified for the Games in the 200m individual medley the pressure is off me a bit so I will have a sit down with my coach Lars Humer nearer the time and decide whether to do the second trials in Sheffield or not.

But even if I am not competing in Sheffield I will definitely be at Ponds Forge in a supporting capacity, cheering on all the other guys still hoping to get in the squad for London 2012.

The one guy I will be giving special attention to is David Carry who like me is looking to get to his third Olympics this summer and is still in with a shout.

But more importantly I want him on the team so that I am not the oldest guy in squad this summer.

I have just got back from a training session in Majorca where I went out with the Bath ITC guys like Andrew Willis and Michael Jamieson which has been great.

It is a good opportunity to top up the tan but more importantly it is just nice to get out of the bad weather and into the sun because the better you feel the better you train.

I am the kind of guy that likes a bit of variety and I knew the coach Dave McNulty already and the opportunity to train with top guys like Andrew and Michael was just too good to pass up on.

And I am really glad I went out because it went a little bit better than I expected and I have definitely built on what I did in Barcelona.

Barcelona was great for me because I recorded a personal best time of 2:13.68 minutes in the 200m breaststroke and I was pretty happy with that, to add to my 200m individual medley silver medal from the European Championships.

In Barcelona I finished second to Michael Jamieson but did beat Andrew Willis and that is a bit of a scalp to take and it has given me a lot of confidence moving forward.

To beat Andrew is a good scalp and I just need to keep the momentum up now with the Games less than 50 days away.

We are pretty much in the run in now to the Games and I will be heading back to Spain for another training session, this time with the Stockport boys.

I have done this before having been to two Olympics but London 2012 is obviously going to be really special and a bit of a different challenge.

We have all swam in front of 15,000 but normally only about 100 are supporting you.

But this summer we will be in front of 15,000 people and 90 per cent of them will be cheering you on and I hope to do them proud.

James Goddard is a member of Team Kellogg’s. To celebrate fifteen years of support for British Swimming, Kellogg’s is offering a ‘Free Kids Swim’ on 30 million packs of cereal to encourage families to take the plunge together. Collect a voucher on pack and take it down to your local participating pool.

For more information, please visit www.kelloggs.co.uk/freeswim