Fitness health centre

London 2012 Olympics: The athletes' countdown

By Jenny Scott
Boots Feature

Medically Reviewed by Dr Rob Hicks

With less than a year to go before the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, how will the British athletes be filling their time in the build-up to the Olympic Games?

London Olympics 2012: The countdown begins

Preparation for any major competition, such as the Olympics and the Paralympics, starts early.

"It's come around really quickly," says Olympic swimmer Jo Jackson. "Four years ago, it seemed like ages away. Now it's suddenly here."

Jo Jackson, Olympic swimmer: Olympics training

Jackson won a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and is hoping to do even better at London 2012.

Not that Jackson's sporting career hasn't been without its challenges. In 2010, not long after she'd broken the world record, she suffered several bad asthma attacks. "I had a couple of ribs pop because they were so severe," she says.

Since then, Jackson has recovered and has managed to regain her fitness. "This year, I am training far longer and I can forget about all that," she says.

In November, Jackson and the British swimming team will visit the Aquatics Centre at the Olympics site, being developed in Stratford, London.

"We visited the Olympics site in 2009 and there was nothing there then back then," says Jackson. "Now it looks impressive. It's really exciting to be swimming in the pool where the Olympics are going to be held."

The Olympic pool is where the British swimming trials will be held next March to determine Olympic qualification.

"We have a few competitions and international meets before then," says Jackson. "It's good to go and race against people who you're going to be racing against in 2012."

In the Olympic trials, Jackson is just aiming to make the qualifying time to allow her to compete for Team GB.

"It's really important to set yourself up by posting a good time in the Olympic trials," she says. "When we set goals, we're trying to hit realistic times. You can say, 'I want to get a gold' but that may not be realistic. What you aim to do is try to get a time you're happy with."

Along with other stars of the pool, such as double gold Olympic medallist Rebecca Adlington, Jackson's name is becoming increasingly well-known.

"Swimming is definitely more popular than every before," she says. "The profile has definitely gone up. I train with a lot of the British team in Loughborough and we spend so much time together, we're like one big family. We get the impression lots of people are very excited about the Olympics."