Jodie Swallow

Jodie Swallow (born June 23, 1981) is a triathlete from Loughborough, in the United Kingdom.

As a schoolgirl, Jodie began competitive swimming when she was eight years old and won her first national age-group medal at the age of 12. After this, many national junior titles followed in a variety of strokes and she won the senior nationals 400 IM title in 1996. At the same time, Jodie began cross country running and went on to win the National Schools Cross-Country three times, national schools 3000m track twice, and many other national and international titles.

She attended Loughborough University, where she studied physical education and sports science. Her training schedule of around 30-35 hours per week consists of a rest day on Mondays (perhaps a steady run sometimes). Tuesday is a 6km sub-threshold swim in the morning, an hour hill cycle at lunch and a steady run followed by track drills and strides. Wednesday is a 6km pull set in the pool, a two-hour pack ride with other cyclists and an hour's conditioning work. Thursday is a 6km race-pace swim followed by an hour's turbo session and an hour's tempo run in the evening. Friday is a 6km threshold swim, a hills running session, a massage and conditioning for an hour. Saturdays is usually a swim and long cycle day and Sundays a long run and two-hour cycle. Obviously this varies in the training cycles.

After contracting glandular fever in 1998, Swallow thought the set-back may end her sporting career. She decided that, in order to excel, she had to concentrate on just one sport and chose swimming, but missed running desperately. Triathlon was suggested by a friend and seemed to be the answer to her problem.

Despite initial problems getting used to the cycle discipline, she made remarkable progress at the event winning four out of her first five races and has now reached a level where she is a regular on the ITU World Cup series. On the 3rd August 2003, she won the Michelob ULTRA London Triathlon for the second time.

In October 2003, Swallow took second place, behind Michellie Jones, at the Athens world cup event that was to test the course for the following years Olympic Games.

A rash of injuries during the early part of the year looked likely to make her miss the 2004 Summer Olympics and she was given a deadline by her athletics federation to prove her fitness. At a televised race in Salford, Manchester she had a good swim and looked fit again but on the cycle section of the event a BBC camera-motorbike clipped a traffic cone which flew up and caused Swallow to crash out.

As she had not been able to complete the course there were still doubts over her form. Nevertheless, the British Triathlon Association decided that Swallow would be among the three triathletes representing the nation at the 2004 Summer Olympics rather than the alternate, Andrea Whitcombe.

Swallow competed at a race in Tiszaújváros, Hungary where she placed 15th place.

At the Athens Olympics, Swallow placed thirty-fourth in a race which took place in sweltering 30 degree heat. Her time of 2:15:06.78 was more than three minutes slower than the thirty-third placed contestant's and slightly more than ten minutes behind the gold medallist's.

Between 2001 and 2004, Swallow was amongst the best in the world, regularly placing top ten in World Cup events, but she suffered a stress fracture in late 2004.

Having taken the whole of 2005 for rehabilitation, Swallow has now returned to triathlon adopting a new approach to her sport. She is now being coached by double Olympic Champion Daley Thompson, together with Livio Salvadore, a former international athlete - a move away from the more traditional triathlon coaching with an emphasis on strength and conditioning to reduce her pre-disposition to be injured. She is teaming this with input from experts at the key triathlon disciplines and a top level medical support team and has her sights firmly set on a medal in the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

----Significant Results:

Swimming
1996 Gold Schools International Winner 200.I.M. (new record) included in Great Britain Junior squad 200.I.M. and 400.I.M
2000 7th World Cup 400.I.M
Cross-Country
1994 Gold English Schools and Home International Champion
1996 Gold English Schools and Home International Champion
1997 Gold English Schools and Home International Champion
2001 Silver BUSA Long Distance X-Country, Manchester
Athletics
2001 Gold BUSA Track and Field Championships
Triathlon
2000 Gold European Junior Championships, Holland
2000 Gold World University Championships, Hungary
2000 Gold National Junior Championships, Salford
2000 Gold National Senior Championships, Brighton
2001 Gold National Junior Championships, Market Bosworth
2001 Gold Euopean Junior Championships, Carlsbad
2001 Bronze World Junior Championships, Edmonton
2001 Gold National Senior Championships, Salford
2001 Gold London Triathlon Elite Championships
2003 9th ITU Points Race Swansea
Silver ITU Points Race Holten
Gold ITU Points Race Echternach
5th World Cup Salford
7th World Cup New York
7th World Cup Nice
5th World Cup Madrid
5th World Cup Madeira
Silver World Cup Athens

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References

* [http://www.ifollowtheswallow.com Jodie Swallows Website]
* [http://www2.triathlon.org/profiles/prof-elite-women/jodie-swallow-gbr.htm Profile] ----