had my first race this morning the mens 100m Fly didnt make the final but got 2 PB's in the frist 50m and overall for the 100m took 3 seconds off my current personal best and came away with the NZ record.
Friday, 31 August 2012
Paralympic opening
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| Walking in |
well of there is to say about the opening to the Paralympics is wow the show was amazing the crowd was huge and it was all topped of buy a hell of a fireworks display
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| Inside the stadium |
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Kiwis to make a medal winning splash in the 2012 Paralympic pool
The New Zealand Paralympic management team make no bones about the expectations of the 2012 team, with both Chef de Mission Duane Kale and High Performance Director Malcolm Humm reaffirming their desire for eighteen medals to be boarding the flight bound for the other side of the world come September the 12th.
Whilst eighteen medals might seem like a steep ask for a team of just 24 athletes, both men are confident the selection criteria means that’s a calculated expectation.
“Our selection criteria was pretty black and white to be honest, it was put up a medal winning performance here in London or put up a top 6 and be a medal prospect for Rio, we’ve got no tourists here”, said Humm.
What colour they might be hasn’t been discussed but one of the seven sports New Zealand will compete in stands well above the rest in expected deliverables.
The Aquatic centre should see the kiwi flag hoisted more times than any other venue during the games, as many as 12 times if Kale and Humm’s predictions are to come to fruition.
19 year old Sophie Pascoe is without doubt the headline act, but the supporting crew are worth the ticket price alone. Rebecca Dubber, Cameron Leslie, Daniel Holt, Aine Kelly-Costello, Daniel Sharp, Mary Fisher and even thirteen year old Nikita Howarth are all capable of a podium spot in London.
High Performance director Malcolm Humm believes it’s by no accident that New Zealand’s swimming contingent are in the strong position they’re in, “It’s a known fact that the bulk of our medals are likely to come from our swim team, we have a group of 8 who are all top 5 in the world and swimming really well, so there is the expectation that the bulk will come from them, backed up by our bike team who are all in form and have competed well at the last world champs."
“I don’t think it’s any fluke we are in the position we are in now, we have a talent identification programme, development programme that’s seeing young athletes from the age of five, six and seven, and we're targeting them for four to eight years down the track."
Humm also believes Pascoe’s 4 medal heroics in Beijing have contributed significantly to the increased interest in the discipline. “We had Sophie Pascoe win her four medals in Beijing, she was the only female athlete and now we have five female athletes [competing in the pool] so it comes back to inspiration as well."
Whilst eighteen medals might seem like a steep ask for a team of just 24 athletes, both men are confident the selection criteria means that’s a calculated expectation.
“Our selection criteria was pretty black and white to be honest, it was put up a medal winning performance here in London or put up a top 6 and be a medal prospect for Rio, we’ve got no tourists here”, said Humm.
What colour they might be hasn’t been discussed but one of the seven sports New Zealand will compete in stands well above the rest in expected deliverables.
The Aquatic centre should see the kiwi flag hoisted more times than any other venue during the games, as many as 12 times if Kale and Humm’s predictions are to come to fruition.
19 year old Sophie Pascoe is without doubt the headline act, but the supporting crew are worth the ticket price alone. Rebecca Dubber, Cameron Leslie, Daniel Holt, Aine Kelly-Costello, Daniel Sharp, Mary Fisher and even thirteen year old Nikita Howarth are all capable of a podium spot in London.
High Performance director Malcolm Humm believes it’s by no accident that New Zealand’s swimming contingent are in the strong position they’re in, “It’s a known fact that the bulk of our medals are likely to come from our swim team, we have a group of 8 who are all top 5 in the world and swimming really well, so there is the expectation that the bulk will come from them, backed up by our bike team who are all in form and have competed well at the last world champs."
“I don’t think it’s any fluke we are in the position we are in now, we have a talent identification programme, development programme that’s seeing young athletes from the age of five, six and seven, and we're targeting them for four to eight years down the track."
Humm also believes Pascoe’s 4 medal heroics in Beijing have contributed significantly to the increased interest in the discipline. “We had Sophie Pascoe win her four medals in Beijing, she was the only female athlete and now we have five female athletes [competing in the pool] so it comes back to inspiration as well."
Sunday, 26 August 2012
Updates from London
Since my last update a lot has happened we have now finished
at our holding camp. We departed from Swansea yesterday, so most of the day was
spend driving from Swansea to London the trip to the Paralympic village ended
up taking around 5 ½ hours, so it was a long trip. We didn’t get into our rooms
until around 6 last night, it is fair to say we were all a little tired by that
point.
 |
| My Room |
 |
| View from my room |
Today I had my first day off from training since last week,
which has been nice as it has been a good chance to get to know my way around
the village. This morning after breakfast I finished off rearranging my room so
that I am now able to open my window. Once we were all settled in a bit better
the three male swimmer’s Cam, Dan, and myself took the team trikes and went for
a ride around the village. Apparently the Paralympic village this time is much
smaller the pervious games but in my opinion its still pretty big. There are
lots of things to see and do so still finding out new things that I don’t know
about.
 |
| Paralympic village |
I have just got back from the aquatics center where we had a
tour of the venue. All I can say is that it is one of the most impressive pools
that I have been to so far and am really looking ford to racing in it.
 |
| Aquatics centre |
Sunday, 19 August 2012
Updates from Swansea
Today marks day five of our holding camp in Swansea. So far
we haven’t really had the chance to look around the city all to much, the
weather has been shifty at best. The first day that we were here it was sunny
but we were all to tired from our flight to go out and have a look around, we
were more interested in getting settled in and having a bit of a rest before
our training session in the pool that afternoon. Since that one day of sun the
weather has been mostly overcast when I first woke up this morning it was sunny
so I decided I would go and have a bit of a look around the town. But by the
time I had had breakfast it was to wet to go out.
Last night we were invited to be guests at one Swansea’s rugby teams preseason matches between Osprey and Bath at the Ospreys home stadium the Liberty Stadium. Unfortunately the Osprey lost but it was still nice to get out for the afternoon. After the match we were invited back up to the Players Lounge where the team went after the game.
 |
| At the Osprey |
 |
| Liberty Stadium |
Training here has been good the Swansea pool staff have been
extremely accommodating for us all and have giving us loads of lane space to
use. Today I have the day off with no training so am making the most of the
brake.
 |
| Training Pool |
Saturday, 11 August 2012
Pre Departure Update
Website Developments
Over the past couple of weeks things have gotten pretty busy
here is a quick update of some of what’s been going on in my life as I prepare
to head off to London tomorrow. Firstly I have been doing a lot of work to my
website www.danielholt.co.nz so that
it is now much easier for people to follow me while I’m away. I have added a
new section called “London 2012” under this tab you will find information on
the Paralympic village, aquatic center, but most importantly I have but up a
list of all my events in both UK time and NZ time so there is less confusion as
to when I am racing. Also under the news and updates section you will find
links to live racing footage, my facebook and twitter feeds, and my blog, which
will be updated regularly while I am away.
Secondly I spent a morning working with the awesome team at
Massey University to put together a video promoting both the university and
myself if you haven’t yet seen this video it is well worth the watch you can
find it here.
School Visit
Thirdly I returned to my old primary school. Sunnynook Primary
who invited me to speak about my swimming and the upcoming Paralympic games. I
Spent the afternoon showing them lots of photos and after I had finished
talking there were lots of questions asked before I was presented with a card
that they had made wishing me luck to my upcoming trip.
 |
| Sunnynook Middle School |
 |
| Talking to Sunnynook Senior School |
As well as this I have still been training as normal. For
the last few weeks we have been conducting regular time trials to track my
progress as we approach the games. These have all been going well, I
have been steadily getting closer to my Pb, which at this stage in our
preparation is ahead of our targets. So things are all looking good so hit out
some blinding swims once the games begin. I am now packed; I am starting on my
journey to Swansea tomorrow, where we will be based in our holding camp until
the 25th of August. After which we will be moving into the London
Village to finish off the rest of our preparation before the Paralympics start
of the 29th August.
Wednesday, 8 August 2012
SKY SPORT ANNOUNCES UNPRECEDENTED LONDON 2012 PARALYMPIC GAMES COVERAGE
SKY SPORT ANNOUNCES UNPRECEDENTED LONDON 2012 PARALYMPIC GAMES COVERAGE
Sky Sport’s strong commitment to showcasing the feats of Paralympic athletes is set to continue with extensive coverage of the upcoming London 2012 Paralympic Games.
From the end of August through to the Closing Ceremony on September 10, SKY Sport will broadcast both the Day Session and Evening session highlights from the Paralympic Games hot off the satellite from the London. SKY Sport will also feature live coverage of both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. The highlights from each day will feature in prime-time where at all possible, and on the SKY Sport Highlights Channel, replaying every three hours.
iSKY will feature Paralympic Games highlights for SKY Sport subscribers and Video-to-Mobile will feature the Opening and Closing ceremonies live as well as highlights.
Prime News: First at 5.30 and The Crowd Goes Wild will also feature Paralympic Games coverage in their bulletins.
The New Zealand Paralympic Games team features 26 athletes including 16 debutants competing for Gold against the world’s best. Kiwi athletes won a total of 12 medals in Beijing four years ago including five gold medals – three of those to swimmer Sophie Pascoe who is returning for her second Paralympic Games.
Paralympics New Zealand Secretary General and Chief Executive, Fiona Allan is delighted that New Zealanders can witness the inspiring performances of the amazing kiwi athletes competing at the Paralympic Games. As the Olympic Games draw to a close, she encourages the nation to get behind the New Zealand Paralympians.
SKY Sport HD Broadcast details:
Sky Sport’s strong commitment to showcasing the feats of Paralympic athletes is set to continue with extensive coverage of the upcoming London 2012 Paralympic Games.
From the end of August through to the Closing Ceremony on September 10, SKY Sport will broadcast both the Day Session and Evening session highlights from the Paralympic Games hot off the satellite from the London. SKY Sport will also feature live coverage of both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. The highlights from each day will feature in prime-time where at all possible, and on the SKY Sport Highlights Channel, replaying every three hours.
iSKY will feature Paralympic Games highlights for SKY Sport subscribers and Video-to-Mobile will feature the Opening and Closing ceremonies live as well as highlights.
Prime News: First at 5.30 and The Crowd Goes Wild will also feature Paralympic Games coverage in their bulletins.
The New Zealand Paralympic Games team features 26 athletes including 16 debutants competing for Gold against the world’s best. Kiwi athletes won a total of 12 medals in Beijing four years ago including five gold medals – three of those to swimmer Sophie Pascoe who is returning for her second Paralympic Games.
Paralympics New Zealand Secretary General and Chief Executive, Fiona Allan is delighted that New Zealanders can witness the inspiring performances of the amazing kiwi athletes competing at the Paralympic Games. As the Olympic Games draw to a close, she encourages the nation to get behind the New Zealand Paralympians.
SKY Sport HD Broadcast details:
| Aug 30 | Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony | SKY Sport 1 | 7.30am | |
| Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony | SKY Sport 3 | 5.30pm | ||
| Aug 31 | Morning Highlights – Day One | SKY Sport 1 | 8.00am | |
| Morning Highlights – Day One | SKY Sport 3 | 2.00pm | ||
| Evening Highlights – Day One | SKY Sport 1 | 5.30pm | ||
| Sep 1 | Evening Highlights – Day One | SKY Sport 3 | 2.00am | |
| Morning Highlights – Day Two | SKY Sport 2 | 9.00am | ||
| Morning Highlights – Day Two | SKY Sport 2 | 3.00pm | ||
| Sep 2 | Evening Highlights – Day Two | SKY Sport 2 | 1.15am | |
| Morning Highlights – Day Three | SKY Sport 3 | 10.00am | ||
| Morning Highlights – Day Three | SKY Sport 1 | 6.30pm | ||
| Evening Highlights – Day Three | SKY Sport 1 | 7.30pm | ||
| Evening Highlights – Day Three | SKY Sport 2 | 11.00pm | ||
| Sep 3 | Morning Highlights – Day Four | SKY Sport 3 | 10.00am | |
| Morning Highlights – Day Four | SKY Sport 1 | 4.00pm | ||
| Evening Highlights – Day Four | SKY Sport 1 | 7.30pm | ||
| Sep 4 | Evening Highlights – Day Four | SKY Sport 3 | 12.00am | |
| Morning Highlights – Day Five | SKY Sport 2 | 8.00am | ||
| Morning Highlights – Day Five | SKY Sport 1 | 12.30pm | ||
| Evening Highlights – Day Five | SKY Sport 2 | 8.30pm | ||
| Evening Highlights – Day Five | SKY Sport 1 | 11.00pm | ||
| Sep 5 | Morning Highlights – Day Six | SKY Sport 2 | 7.00am | |
| Morning Highlights – Day Six | SKY Sport 1 | 10.30am | ||
| Evening Highlights – Day Six | SKY Sport 2 | 7.30pm | ||
| Evening Highlights – Day Six | SKY Sport 3 | 10.00pm | ||
| Sep 6 | Morning Highlights – Day Seven | SKY Sport 2 | 9.00am | |
| Morning Highlights – Day Seven | SKY Sport 2 | 1.30pm | ||
| Evening Highlights – Day Seven | SKY Sport 3 | 7.00pm | ||
| Evening Highlights – Day Seven | SKY Sport 3 | 10.00pm | ||
| Sep 7 | Morning Highlights – Day Eight | SKY Sport 2 | 7.30am | |
| Morning Highlights – Day Eight | SKY Sport 1 | 12.00pm | ||
| Evening Highlights – Day Eight | SKY Sport 3 | 6.55pm | ||
| Evening Highlights – Day Eight | SKY Sport 3 | 10.10pm | ||
| Sep 8 | Evening Highlights – Day Eight | SKY Sport 1 | 5.00am | |
| Morning Highlights – Day Nine | SKY Sport 2 | 8.00am | ||
| Morning Highlights – Day Nine | SKY Sport 3 | 4.30pm | ||
| Evening Highlights – Day Nine | SKY Sport 3 | 7.30pm | ||
| Evening Highlights – Day Nine | SKY Sport 3 | 10.10pm | ||
| Sep 9 | Morning Highlights – Day Ten | SKY Sport 2 | 9.30am | |
| Evening Highlights – Day Ten | SKY Sport 2 | 9.00pm | ||
| Sep 10 | Evening Highlights – Day Ten | SKY Sport 1 | 3.00am | |
| Morning Highlights – Day Eleven | SKY Sport 2 | 6.30am | ||
| Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony | SKY Sport 2 | 7.30am | ||
| Morning Highlights – Day Eleven | SKY Sport 1 | 11.00am | ||
| Evening Highlights – Day Eleven | SKY Sport 1 | 7.30pm | ||
| Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony | SKY Sport 1 | 8.30pm | ||
| Sep 11 | Evening Highlights – Day Eleven | SKY Sport 1 | 3.30pm |
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