Episode 11 British Olympic Dreams

-COMMENTATOR:

-Here comes Kelly Holmes! The crowd are on their feet!

'Good footwork by DeGale, what a start!'

'Denise Lewis, Olympic champion!'

'Rebecca Adlington is bringing it home for Britain!'

'Great Britain get the gold medal!'

'Yes! Kelly Holmes for Great Britain! What a performance!'

'James DeGale is the Olympic champion!

'You are absolutely brilliant! Great Britain takes gold!'

'All my dreams came true.'

'Representing your country in a major event,

'especially at your home Games,

'there's no words to describe the feeling, to be honest.'

'Representing your country, you should be very proud of that.'

'To put it into words, this one's going to be breath-taking.'

'To be part of Team GB, full stop, is just amazing. Add on another ten "amazings" to that!'

'I feel I'm ready to compete now. It definitely builds anticipation for the Olympics.'

'We don't lack motivation. We're just preparing ourselves 100%.'

'It's got me in the mood to get in there and get the job done. I'm very motivated.'

'I'm really looking forward to that moment when I'm sat on that start line, ready to do my very best.'

'Very anxious and a little bit excited, yeah.'

'This is what I'm about, what I train for.'

Welcome to British Olympic Dreams. In this edition,

I'll be joining some of Britain's brightest hopes

in the iconic Tower of London,

as they get their first chance to showcase the kit that they'll be wearing in action this summer.

And I'm here at Loughborough University,

where the athletes will collect that coveted kit

and truly become Team GB.

It's also where several sports will base themselves for their final preparations ahead of the Games.

But first, we head to Cardiff, to visit a swimmer who,

despite having won a medal at two successive Olympic Games,

is having a tough time preparing to win a third.

Nick Hope caught up with David Davies.

-COMMENTATOR:

-'Magnificent swim by David Davies. He gets silver.

'But my goodness me, that should have been gold!'

'Since Beijing, it's not been the best of times. I got myself in a bit of a mess and over-trained.'

It was a vicious circle then

because I was unhappy that I was training poorly,

so I'd come back the next day

and try and perform and try and train harder.

And ended up swimming even worse and being even more miserable.

It was this vicious circle.

I had to accept that what I'd done for a couple of years

was the wrong type of work and my muscles were completely shot.

My body wasn't really coping with it and I couldn't do any type of work to progress.

And in the end the best thing to cure it was to clear the slate

and start from scratch and have that big six-week break.

I did question whether, you know, have I had my time,

I've got two Olympic medals I've had success.

I didn't want to be turning up to swim meets and not making British Champ finals, for example.

It was almost embarrassing for me, I didn't want to be remembered and go out like that.

So I thought if I've had my peak, maybe I should walk away.

< Off you go, then. 200 easy. Stretch it out.

'It's definitely had the right outcome of what I wanted to happen.

'My coach, Dave, was brilliant through the whole thing.

'For a coach to say, "Take two months off, bypass the World Championships" is a massive call

and it takes guts to say, you know,

"We'll be OK, we'll get it right. We're looking long term."'

Last summer, the reason why I pulled him out was because he was really hurting physically and mentally.

He was on a treadmill to nowhere, basically. To extinction.

I said, "Look, you've got to get off this treadmill

"and just take time out and reflect and relax and just build yourself back up."

'Just by looking at me, he's got a very good eye for knowing what's right and wrong.

'He doesn't say a great deal, he doesn't need to shout and wave his hands around.

'He just says the right things at the right time.'

So I've been working an awful lot on restoring his technique,

the fluidity of his stroke.

And trying to make sure he's not stressing too much.

He tends to try and prove that he can do it, you know.

And I know he can do it.

There you are. Enjoy.

'If I was listing down factors of what makes a successful athlete,

'I'd put parental support right up there.'

Took him swimming from quite a young age.

He started then with Barry Swimming Club about seven.

Saw he had quite a good talent and he moved over to Cardiff at nine.

He was just fearless in the water.

Yeah, he won no end of races all round South Wales,

eventually into England. Heavy, wasn't it?

Mum and Dad don't talk about swimming every time I come home.

They obviously ask how it's going and they can often tell by the mood if it's going good or bad.

And last summer, they knew something was up

and I did open up to them about it and they were the first ones I went to in terms of advice.

It was heartbreaking to see him go through that period of time.

And he stuck with it and he stuck with it, but he was going backwards.

I've probably been as low as it's ever going to be, last summer.

And I'm on the way back now and I'm excited to be on the way back.

'This will be my third Olympic trials and I'm almost like I was when I was 19 again.

'I'm a bit of a dark horse, I don't really know how I'm going to perform.'

'Things have been going better, but I have no idea how I'm going to swim.'

-COMMENTATOR:

-'Last few minutes. Daniel Fogg's going to beat David Davies. Quite a rare thing.'

'Now, come on, David. 15:07 is what we need. Yes! 15:073!'

'Two men on the 1,500 team for the Olympic Games.'

'I do this sport to win and I don't like coming second.'

But I've been beaten by a fantastic performer, I can't complain.

I would like to have pipped him at 15 minutes. I was close to it.

So any time you're round that mark, it's not shabby.

So I'm not turning my nose up at it, but I want to go better

and I'll look to see how I can improve for the summer.

But three Olympics in a row is a fantastic achievement,

something I never thought I'd do when I was growing up.

So it would be a dream to go there and be successful again.

David Davies was himself a Loughborough athlete

as he prepared for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing

and the University is where many of Britain's swimmers prepared

as they got themselves their Olympic spots for 2012.

Including, now double Olympian, Kate Haywood.

It was never in doubt, was it, Kate?

Well, to be honest, you never know.

We all have to go to trials and compete for a spot

and, you know, I just worked so hard and I won it and I'm on the team.

You know all about wearing that badge for Great Britain.

What's it going to be like wearing it in the London pool, at the Olympics?

Oh, it's going to be amazing.

I think there was about 3,000 people at the Olympic pool when we were there for trials

and there's going to be 17,500 people at the Olympics.

So it's just going to be amazing walking out in front of that crowd

and pretty much everyone is going to be cheering for us.

So I can't wait and I'm really, really excited about it.

Fantastic. Kate, look forward to seeing you in London.

Now it's time to hear from Britain's most successful ever Olympic sprint canoeist,

and hear his tip for success at the Games.

My name's Tim Brabants, I'm Olympic gold medallist from Beijing in 2008.

-COMMENTARY:

-'Gold for Tim Brabants and Great Britain!'

'First gold medal in canoe, kayak sport. That is brilliant.'

And my one to watch for London 2012 is Rachel Cawthorn.

Rachel is an amazing athlete.

She's like a bit of a fairy off the water, a really soppy thing.

But on the water, she's got a real fire in her belly.

For Rachel to win in London 2012, she's going to have to have the race of her life.

She's got a lot of talent behind her, her training, her experience at major competition.

And it's just putting all those things together and making sure it all happens and works on the day.

And I'm pretty confident that Rachel will achieve that.

Rachel isn't Britain's only sprint canoeist in the medal hunt.

Some of the team are taking a high-tech approach to their campaign

inside a giant Naval testing tank on the South Coast.

This used to be a top-secret facility.

They're testing out more important things and then we get on with our little boats!

It's a 260 metre lake, indoors.

No wind. Perfectly flat water.

It's a bit awe-inspiring.

It feels like you're going really fast, as well.

'Ready, set, go!'

It's over in a flash. There's no real strategy going into the racing.

Be as fast as you can.

-I'm Liam Heath.

-My name's Jon Schofield.

-We are reigning double European champions.

-And second in the world.

They're very interesting guys. They're the kind of people you want to get to know more.

They're into all their little gadgets.

Normally there's a camera fitted to the boat.

It's just something to occupy your mind other than the training, otherwise we'd probably go mad!

We do get flown around the world, which is a perk.

We went south of Durban in Port Edward, it's a starting place.

It's something that makes training a little bit easier,

changing your surroundings, being somewhere it's a joy to be.

# And it feels like this new life can start

# And if feels like heaven... #

There aren't that many distractions around, except for the wildlife.

Big spiders, monkeys, deer walking around.

Birds, lizards. Big lizards! Geckos.

Johnny freaked out a little bit

with the spider that was the size of a place mat in the boat!

We had to rinse the boat out several times!

We train as hard as we can all the time,

we know that's just going to be what you need to do to maintain pace.

The Olympics is going to be where everyone brings their A game.

We're planning to do the same.

Rule number one, you have to look good before you start performing!

So when you get on the start line and you look good, that's one thing out of the way!

It's not just a kit, it's a kit that we've helped develop, with Stella McCartney.

And what better person would you want to develop your kit with?

To put it on today and just to feel a part of it and looking at everybody else's kit

and just to think we're all going to enter that Village

being super prepared and, you know, looking good.

Everyone was in their competitive kit so I think we all looked really smart

and we're really happy with how it's turned out.

It makes you look forward to wearing it and being on the podium, hopefully, and wearing the kit.

Just seeing everybody together on the stage, in the kit,

from all different Olympic events, it's a great feeling.

Now, one athlete on a fast track to success is Helen Glover.

Despite having never rowed before,

she was spotted by the Sporting Giants scheme in 2008

and has since stormed to the top of the rankings.

When she's not training with pairs partner, Heather Stanning,

Helen likes to get away from it all at the family home in Cornwall.

Some days, it's hard to get my head around the fact that just four years ago I wasn't a rower.

I wasn't going to the Olympics, I wasn't competing.

And here I am.

It's happened through hard work, with the help of brilliant, brilliant coaches.

But it's just exciting. It's a dream that I've had since I was tiny.

I've wanted to be an Olympic athlete and wanted to compete in the greatest sporting arena.

My mum saw an advert

which was in a newspaper and it was looking for tall people.

And Steve Redgrave, I think,

had spearheaded something called Sporting Giants.

He was looking for people over 5'9" for girls,

to try different sports that you need long levers for.

And rowing was one of them, so I got tested.

And Paul Stannard was my first coach and he asked me to move to Bath,

drop everything and try to become an Olympian!

I was training to be a PE teacher, so for the first six months,

I carried on training and got a teaching job, which helped me fund my training for my rowing.

Now, looking back, I don't know how I did it.

I was teaching all day and then having to get up

at about five in the morning to do my first session training.

And then after school I would do my second session late into the night.

And it was really, really tough.

I've got a really, really supportive family. They're absolutely brilliant.

There's my mum and my dad and I've got two brothers and two sisters.

My gran, who's 92, she lives at home with us now

and she's probably the most excited out of everyone about the Olympics.

My boyfriend, Paddy, is a canoeist and he trains in Nottingham.

I don't think they train as hard as the rowers!

No, they do. He trains really, really hard!

THEY LAUGH

Nana!

We're a very competitive family.

It's my husband - he's the sportsman, the competitor,

but I think it's brought it out in all of us.

We played lots of games together.

It's something they always accepted as a big part of their life.

Oh, I'm stuck between two!

'I've always, always been really competitive.'

Everything was made into a competition when I was little!

I ran international cross country, played hockey for my county.

I did everything. Every sport I did, I did to be the best I could be.

When I first watched the Olympics,

I watched the rowing and I hadn't really taken much interest until then.

And it was a bit of a wake-up call because I realised,

"OK, wow, I've got four years to beat these people,

"to be as good as these people and to make it onto the British team

"and hopefully go to the 2012 Olympics."

Heather Stanning and myself, who I row in a pair with,

We got invited onto the team in 2010, so it was two years after I started rowing.

Heather's just brilliant to row with, she's phenomenally strong and fit

and she's got a really good racing head.

We pretty much live in each other's pockets,

so it's important to get on, although we're quite different.

I'm the messy one and she's in the army, so she's very tidy!

'It's an incredible achievement

'to do what she has done in such a short time.'

I don't think anyone really expected them to do so well.

We were definitely the underdogs that season.

From coming ninth and fifth in two separate regattas in 2012,

you know, I don't people were really looking at us for medal potential.

We had no idea how well they'd do. My daughter Ruth and I were sitting

surrounded by it seemed like thousands of New Zealanders, cheering their New Zealand boat on.

And we seemed to be two lone voices, shouting for Helen and Heather.

COMMENTATOR: This is very impressive from the British pair. They've got great strength.

I had a lump in my throat. Even when I think about it and talk about it now,

I get very emotional.

COMMENTATOR: Holding on for a well-deserved silver medal. Well done, Great Britain!

We just both cried when they crossed the finishing line.

And we both had very sore throats!

It was just an incredible feeling. We had said the night before, that's what we wanted.

That was a very realistic goal for us, but doing it, and doing it in such a short time frame,

I think the fact that we surprised so many people as well, it was just a really nice feeling.

The next season was very different for us because nobody knew us in 2010.

2011, we were the ones that were going to be hunted down.

And I think we really relished that. We went out to the first World Cup in Munich and won that really well.

We won it like the best crew in the world.

We said, "We've really set the stakes high for ourselves, we have to deal with that."

I mean, we went into that race as World Cup winners

and unbeaten that season.

-COMMENTATOR:

-It's going to be a photo finish, right on the line!

I was pretty devastated after that race.

However, looking back at where I've come from,

I think another silver medal, two times World silver medal,

this is actually a really, really good title that I'm proud of.

In 2012, everyone's going to be going for the same thing.

It's the dream, it's Olympic gold.

But I think I've got to take it back to today and tomorrow and next week

and the training that I do now is going to create that performance in the summer.

And if I train hard and if I train well, and if Heather and I keep progressing,

then we're going to be in a brilliant place on the start line.

And if we put together a good race, we've got to be pleased with that.

Now, as well as its famous alumni and current crop of elite athletes,

Loughborough will also be a holding camp

for the Great Britain handball teams ahead of the Games in the summer.

And today the women's team is getting a taste of things to come,

with a Euro qualifier against Poland.

It's not quite what it will be like in London, but I can tell you,

the atmosphere... is incredible!

We heard from Helen Glover earlier

and Great Britain's handball teams also have products from the Sporting Giants scheme,

including goalkeeper, Laura Innes.

-Hi.

-Hi. Tell us what your journey's been like to where you are now.

Well, if you'd asked me five years ago if I'd be playing a Euro qualifier against Poland today,

then I would not have had a clue. I didn't even know what handball was.

So I found out from the radio about the Sporting Giants campaign

and applied and then I got a letter from the Handball Federation,

saying, "Would you like to have a go at handball?"

Quick homework on YouTube, and then turned up at a trial and I was like, "Yes, definitely."

And within eight months I had my first cap for GB and I'd moved out to Denmark to play full time.

I'd left school, left home.

To compete in front of a home crowd at the Olympic Games,

it is the pinnacle of every athlete's career.

And it's really exciting.

Well, we're excited for you, Laura. Good luck at the Olympics.

Now, though, let's hit the road

and find out what makes sprint specialist, Mark Cavendish,

one of the finest road cyclists in the world.

From the Tour de France to the World Championships,

he's literally swept the rest of the field away.

# You shout it loud

# But I can't hear a word you say

# I'm talking loud, not saying much

# I'm criticised

# but all your bullets ricochet

# You shoot me down

# But I get up

# You shoot me down But I won't fall

# I am titanium!

COMMENTATOR: Mark Cavendish has won the world title for Great Britain!

# I am titanium! #

We stay on two wheels for the story of a remarkable athlete

who is currently in training for a sixth consecutive Paralympic Games.

Having started out as a swimmer, she's since enjoyed cycling success

in both Paralympic and able-bodied competition.

It can only be Sarah Storey.

'The island of Majorca, with it's rolling hills,

'often pretty favourable climate, and a healthy respect for those on two wheels by those on four,

'which means it's the perfect place for Sarah Storey

'and British Para-cyclists to put in some serious road miles

'at their endurance training camp.'

I love training. I think hard work is part of what gives you the confidence

to get on the start line and be able to say,

"I might be able to win this race, you know!"

A lot of the confidence I've had over the years

has been because I've sat on a start gate or stood in the blocks in swimming

and known that I've done more work than anyone else who's going to be racing against me.

If you train hard, then you can race easy.

Racing isn't easy, but it makes your life easier

because every pedal rev in training is towards that competition day.

The training plan for today is two two-hour rides.

And this morning it's based on this bike, a time trial bike.

So I've been mainly down on the skis here, just getting some power down.

This afternoon, I'll be using this bike here, my road bike.

This is what you do most of your training on, this kind of road bike.

It's a slightly different set up, obviously.

That will be some hilly ride, putting some power down towards the end

just to do a little bit of overload.

'Sarah is training to compete in potentially five events at the Paralympics

'and narrowly missed out on a place competing for Team GB at the Olympics as well.'

Yeah, at one point the Team Pursuit was on the cards as well.

I'd had an amazing run, I'd not been beaten in the Team Pursuit in any of the events I'd done.

But I wasn't wanted within the squad, they didn't need me,

they had four riders that were already concentrating on the Olympics and only the Olympics.

So I had to take a side step away from that

and just concentrate on the Paralympics, which, for me, is fantastic

as it's going to be tough enough as it is with the Paralympic Game events.

You know, it's just one of those situations.

I'm potentially better as a cyclist than I was as a swimmer.

And, you know, if I can continue to build on that beyond London,

then the chances are people will remember me more as a cyclist than as a swimmer.

Which seems crazy, because I was obviously on that swim team for 13, 14 years.

Now she's in the running for five gold medals,

in the five events which she's competing for,

which is absolutely phenomenal. You know, one or two of those events

are going to be incredibly challenging for her to return that gold medal.

And one of those is the Team Sprint where we have just such depth of talent within our own squad.

Part of the battle is going to be actually getting in the team.

So that's going to be a big challenge.

It's great that we've got a home games, but the most important thing

is that we win the gold medals and we're, you know, very business-like about what we do.

We're very fortunate to have it at home, but that's not the only thing that's important.

It's for the spectators and the supporters to get excited about,

and that emotion is for them, really, now.

And the emotion for us will come out once we've done the job.

Believe it or not, a few years ago, this was a very familiar sight...

That's right. I used to be a hockey goalkeeper on this very pitch.

It's been re-laid to be exactly the same surface

on which Team GB compete in London in the summer.

And today, I roped in a couple of the players to show me what I've been missing since my retirement.

Take it easy on me, guys, will you?!

Let's do this thing!

Well, that went better than planned!

But I'm not the only one who's been rolling back the years.

The Duchess of Cambridge recently relived her days as captain of her school team at the Olympic Park.

But it's another Kate we're focussing on now.

Kate Walsh, captain of the GB Women's Hockey side who, unlike me,

have a very realistic chance of a medal in London.

I'm 31 years old, I'm the England and Great Britain Women's Hockey Captain, have been for the last nine years.

In 2004, when I was captain, we failed to qualify for the Athens Olympic Games.

I still get upset about it now. Now, things are looking much rosier!

We've now risen to fourth in the world rankings.

It's a Friday morning in April, and I'm here at the pitch by myself

to do some extra drag-flicking practice.

Squirrel!

Oh, he's loving the pitch!

Maybe he thinks it's water!

Hopefully we won't have this problem at the London Olympics,

when the whole pitch is going to be this colour!

Squirrels coming down for a drink!

That was my tenth training session of the week.

And I've got two games this weekend.

So now it's time to go home and get some rest and get ready for the weekend.

I'm pretty tired, to be honest, and drag-flicking on your own can be quite demoralising.

Initially, when I was captain, I thought it was about, you know,

rousing speeches and making quotes and really getting people going.

And sometimes it is about that. But actually, not very often.

And at this level, players often can motivate themselves and they should motivate themselves.

And for me, it's just, you know, making sure the icing's on the cake,

just making sure everybody's where they need to be at the right time.

But it has taken me a while to learn that!

And how often are you going to swap on your subs?

It's making sure that I'm being the best that I can be and everybody else is doing the same thing.

The thing that I love about hockey,

the thing that I wouldn't change for the world is just being part of a team.

Hi, girls!

Being part of this team has been one of the best experiences in my life.

First to tee off on the Great Britain Women's Golf Day... Ashleigh Ball!

Loud and proud, Dave, loud and proud!

The very famous iPod game..

# Today this could be the greatest day of our lives! #

You're on the coach, you put your noise-cancelling headphones on and belt it out as loud as you can!

# Can you see it in my eyes? #

So, here we are in Bisham Abbey gym, which you can just see there.

So this is where we do our weight training.

If we crack, it'll be in the gym.

That can be the time when you just break.

I might be having the worst day of my life, but I need to just crack on

because it's not good for the other players to see that.

They need to see this is where we're going, what we're doing. Not, "What's wrong with Kate?"

I don't want them to be thinking about that, I just want them to be thinking about their job.

It's the first time I've ever done this exercise.

It's hurting my groin and my abs.

Champions Trophy in January 2012, we cracked it and we beat Germany in the semi-final.

It meant everything to the team to win that semi-final and to get into a final.

We knew that we could do it and we believed that we could,

but it was almost to prove to the outside world

and the other teams that this team is good enough to win a semi-final.

And good enough to get in a final and good enough to compete in a final.

And now we have that belief instilled in us and I've heard the opposition say it about us now.

And so it gives us a lot of confidence going into the Olympics in the summer.

The support we had on Twitter, and watching the hockey on the Red Button, was just phenomenal.

You know, I started the tournament trying to reply to my tweets.

And by the end, I was like, "Sorry, there's just no way I can do it!"

The support was amazing.

And just to come to schools and talk to the girls,

they think it's some magical way that you've managed to play for England and Great Britain,

and it's not, I started exactly the same as them.

I was 11 when I first picked up a hockey stick.

And I was in the Olympic Games in 2000. It's like nine years.

You know, and to try and pass that one and pass that message on

and say, "Girls, you know, this can be you."

You know, it doesn't have to be hockey. Anything. Just go out there and believe in yourselves.

Right, I think I'm with you.

Time to hear from one of the more fashionable members of Team GB, I think.

Philips Idowu. What was the kind of vibe like backstage?

Everyone putting the Team GB kit on together. Was there a real buzz?

There definitely is. Just seeing everybody together on the stage,

in the kit, from all different Olympic events, it's a great feeling. I feel like I'm ready to compete now.

I'm looking around and seeing the guys in the kit, and it's amazing.

I think Stella's done a great job designing this.

It definitely builds anticipation towards the Olympics.

Well, we're looking forward to seeing you compete.

That is almost it for this edition of British Olympic Dreams.

Head to our website on bbc.co.uk/olympics for more information

and to keep up with everything that's happening in the world of Olympic sports.

So until next time, it's goodbye from the Tower of London.

And it's goodbye from me, here in Loughborough. See you!

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