Training Day with James Kirton (Olympic Swimmer) Blog by Olly Somerset (Member of the Cycle Academy)

The R-evolution Cycle Academy met James Kirton (an Olympic swimmer) who put his heart and soul into his sporting future from a young age and despite setbacks such as injuries close to his event in the Olympics and after too, he still finds a love for sport.

We had a long, challenging day with James and surprisingly it was more of a mental challenge than anything. We did some skill games as a warm up and introduction throughout the morning which tested our mind power and team skills. Teaching us to use the skills with the people around us and put our heads together more than we would before. This proved frustrating and entertaining.

Heading towards the afternoon we were warned about, we were introduced to a set of challenges consisting of memory, skill, strength, speed and team efforts. After being told the rules of each challenge and how failure of any single challenge we will have to start over. We set out to practice the challenges in the 45 minute time limit we were given. Some heading logically towards the memory tests and others heading to less important challenges - not mentioning any names! After the practice we managed to complete the first challenge on our third attempt and failed on the second one straight away. Persevering we continued and passed to then fail on a challenge again. After a long effort in a 40 minute time limit we managed to hustle ourselves up to get in some good teamwork, mental skills, strength and a vital sprint at the end…we passed!

Previously being told that only 33% of people pass we could class ourselves as a minority. James had taught us some very vital life skills about how we should take advantage of team members and keep pursuing the targets we wish to achieve no matter how far away they may seem. He also told us more about his challenging career but also how he enjoyed every bit of it.

In summary, a really great day that we all enjoyed thoroughly. I would like to thank James for the opportunity to have this day despite it being his day off. In general I personally think that James and Tim deserve many thanks for organising this for us…thanks a lot and I hope to have a day like this again!