Olympic medallist George Bovell is not confident in his ability to medal at the XX Commonwealth Games which begins in Glasgow, Scotland tomorrow.
"Lately my form has not been as great as it needs to be. I came into this season inspired by my success last year and with this intensity I actually managed to over train and (became) too broken down. I have gained some impressive endurance that has come at the expense of my speed.
"To counter this, over the last two weeks, I have really dropped the volume and kept some of the intensity in my training in an attempt to let my body recover. The gold medal in the 50m freestyle is still far from my grasp. There is a lot of competition in this race," he said.
This is Bovell's first Commonwealth Games.
"I have always been injured. Fortunately, this year, I am healthy and grateful to be in attendance."
Bovell is eager to swim against Australian James Magnussen and South African veteran Roland Schoeman.
The local champion predicted that the Australian would be a threat, citing his proven speed and ability to finish strongly.
The Games are among two major events on Bovell's 2014 calendar. The other is the FINA World Short Course Championships in December where he is hoping to challenge the world record in the 100m IM.
He said, "To win in Rio, I will have to drop from 21.51 that won me the World Championship bronze in 2013, to the vicinity of 21.28. It's very possible. This year I am technically more proficient, but my raw speed is yet to be seen. A lot will depend on whether I have been able to recover from the substantial workload under my belt in order to regain my blistering speed. As a realist, I will admit that it won't come easy."
Bovell also had some good words about fellow swimmer Dylan Carter, whose enthusiasm he lauded. "I am excited to see him swim. Dylan reminds me of myself when I first started representing T&T at the open international level under the mentorship of Sebastien Paddington. Now my role is reversed. I am the mentor to the next generation and I hope to help him break my 200m freestyle open record, which has stood for too long. I expect to see him in the finals, potentially on the podium." (SN)
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