Getting back on the boards!
Maddy Hopson
So what happened this week?
Well….. On Wednesday I had a driving lesson – first one
after 3 weeks so I was a bit rusty! I have them after school so I have to drive
around Plymouth in the dark – I’m not that keen on driving in the dark, I
prefer to drive in the daytime when I can see clearly where I’m going and I
drive faster than 10MPH!!!
Then Friday finally arrived! I was very nervous when
I got to the Plymouth Life Centre, I had seen my new stand in coach Drew around
but I’d never actually spoken to him. I told him I was nervous and he reassured
me saying that he was just like Charlie – that made me relax a bit! As I am
doing Diving for part of one of my A-Levels, I showed him what I was doing and
then we got started.
If you ask someone if the water in pool is cold and
they say ‘no’ don’t trust them!! Anyway, I had a great session – pike falls off
1metre platform without help and doing somersaults in the water after the dive
and jumps off 3metre and 5metre without help. The first jump off 5metre was a
bit nerve-racking but Drew kept encouraging me and so did Olympic Coach Andy
Banks, who was sitting next to him coaching Olympians Tonia Couch & Sarah
Barrow. Once I resurfaced, Andy Banks was very pleased with what I did and said
well done. My 3rd jump off 5metre didn’t go to well – I looked down
at the water when I jumped instead of looking in front of me which resulted in me
doing a bellyflop! It was very painful and I have lovely bruises today!
All-in-all it was an amazing session and I can now say that I can confidently
jump off 5metre on my own which was one of my targets!
Me on 1metre platform before doing pike fall.
I finish school next Friday & then I’m off to
London for a few days so I’ll probably update when I get back either on Wednesday
or Thursday.
Maddy xox
