No rest for Hannah Miley
‘I had to get back training’
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HANNAH Miley was back in the water less than 24 hours after winning her fourth gold medal at the Scottish National Championships.
The 19-year-old gave herself the luxury of a morning off after competing in 18 races over just four days in Glasgow.
But by noon, Hannah was in the gym at Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University for a strength and conditioning session.
The Inverurie swimmer then hit the water to focus on technique and recovery.
Hannah insists that rather than taking time off, the way to stop her body breaking down is to get back to work.
She said: “From having such a heavy four days of racing I need to make sure I don’t stop.
“It was such a great event in Glasgow, firstly because I did so many races and secondly that some of my times were quicker than I thought they would be.
“To make sure that I maintain my fitness and don’t compromise things I just had to get back to training.
“From noon until 1.30pm I was doing strength and conditioning.
“That involves squats, Olympic lifts and core work.
“The swimming wasn’t hard, more like a recovery session.
“That for me is just being able to feel nice and comfortable in the water.
“I don’t want to push my heart rate up too high.
“It’s not a plod because that would be just too slow and I wouldn’t benefit from it.
“I focus on my skills, such as making sure my turns are good.
“It’s like when you come off a really long haul flight and feel groggy.
“For us, when we feel like that, we get in the pool and do a couple of laps to shake it off.
“It helps speed up my recovery and prevent my body from breaking down. I don’t want to have several days of feeling tired, so I acted on it.”
Hannah was in terrific form at the Tollcross Park Leisure Centre, winning four titles.
She finished first in the 200 metre and 400m individual medleys.
Gold followed in the 200m breaststroke and the gruelling 1,500m freestyle.
Hannah is now preparing for the World Championships in Rome, which run from July 17 to August 2.
Her training schedule is decided by her dad, and coach, Patrick, pictured left, who works as a helicopter pilot.
The RGU sport and exercise student said: “It’s up to my dad and it depends what he puts down for my planning.
“If he is unable to make it in the mornings, he will leave his logbook out with the session written in.
“I have to write it out on a piece of paper and take it to the pool.
“The coaches there will then run the session, or if not I just have to write it up on the board and get on with it.
“In the afternoon sessions, nine times out of 10 it is just me there.”
But if Patrick is unavailable, then Hannah’s mum Carmel can take on the role of coach.
Hannah said: “Sometimes my mum comes and she will make sure I do it right.
“If anything, my mum is a tougher coach than my dad.
“She has helped a lot because doing training sessions on your own is hard mentally.
“Having somebody on poolside helps keep you going.
“It is nice to have someone else there.
“My mum is good at timing and making sure I do everything perfectly.
“She knows the benefits and rewards I get if I do it right.”
