Recently by Julia Wilkinson

• CBC Sports Fear: An Olympic athlete's best/worst friend No matter what level of competition you're at, whether it's a tiny regional meet or the Olympic Games, I believe one thing is certain: you cannot win unless you believe you can win.But, as the London Games approach, I've found that belief comes with a friend: terror. Posted: Thursday, May 17, 2012 | 12:03 PM
• CBC Sports When swimming becomes a team sport For all intents and purposes, swimming is an individual sport. Even when you're part of a four-woman relay, no one can help you but you once you stand up on those blocks for your leg. During a race, it's just you against the other seven lanes, and that's the way it's been for your entire career. So it's sometimes hard to feel like a "team" when you arrive at a meet as team-oriented as the OlympicsSo how do you take a bunch of "individual sport" athletes who are used to racing for a spot on the team against one another, and make them become a team together? Posted: Monday, April 30, 2012 | 01:13 PM
• CBC Sports Giving up my 'baby,' the 200 IM For about as long as I can remember, the 200-metre individual medley has been my "best event." The 200 IM was the first event I ever won at the Canadian championships, the event that got me into an Olympic final, and my first individual international medal.That's why people are so surprised that I've decided not to swim it at the Olympics this summer. Posted: Tuesday, April 24, 2012 | 07:03 PM
• CBC Sports Randy Starkman was the athletes' voice Just as I was about to get in the pool on Tuesday afternoon, I heard the sad news that Toronto Star journalist Randy Starkman had died.In a media world where journalists sometimes like to blur the facts and turn their backs on athletes when we fail, Randy stood alone. When people ask me why I want to be a journalist when I retire from swimming, I say it's because someone needs to stand up for the athletes. Someone needs to be their voice. But if all journalists were like Randy, I guess I never would've had that as my answer, because he was our voice.  Posted: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 | 12:37 AM
• CBC Sports Ecstasy and agony at Olympic swim trials The Canadian Olympic trials are unlike any other swim meet I've ever competed in. My teammate, Olympic bronze medalist Ryan Cochrane, firmly believes that the trials are way more stressful for swimmers than the actual Olympic Games themselves.For me, all the hours in the pool and weight room coupled with the amount of work I have done on my mental fortitude came to fruition last week. I won three events - the 100-metre backstroke, 200 IM, and 100 freestyle - and finished my week with a bronze in the 200 backstroke.This was not the case for everyone, however. Posted: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 | 10:57 AM
• CBC Sports Breaking the 1-minute barrier Every year, I spend countless hours training, but I am only in peak race preparation maybe twice every season. That is why, after four long years of waiting, it was so sweet to finally break the one-minute barrier in the 100-metre backstroke en route to qualifying for my second Olympic team. Posted: Friday, March 30, 2012 | 10:30 AM
• CBC Sports Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials just days away I woke up with a few more butterflies in my stomach this week. There's only a few more days to wait until my first race at the Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials in Montreal: the 100-metre backstroke. Posted: Friday, March 23, 2012 | 09:44 AM
• CBC Sports Why I almost quit swimming, and why I didn't As the Canadian Olympic swimming trials draw closer, I find myself reminiscing more and more about the 2008 Games in Beijing.I was so excited, so naïve. I think I believed that the skies would open up and my life would all fall into place now that I was "going to the Olympics," the single goal I had chased to my entire life.So you can imagine my shock when I returned from the Olympics and found my life to be essentially the same as it was when I left. Only this time, I had no concrete life goal. I felt lost. Posted: Monday, March 12, 2012 | 11:29 AM
• CBC Sports Back in backstroke The highlight of a recent meet in Texas for me was my 200 backstroke, an event I swam frequently before I injured my shoulder in 2008. In fact, I was slotted to swim it at the Beijing Olympics but opted to scratch it because it conflicted with a relay.This season, my coach has been pushing me beyond my perceived "limits" (my injury was initially due to swimming backstroke) so that I can add the 200 backstroke to my list of races at the Canadian Olympic trials and, hopefully, the Olympics. Posted: Thursday, February 23, 2012 | 11:52 AM
• CBC Sports Big news for the new (Olympic) year I'll be honest with you: normally, New Year's Eve is not very exciting for me.This year, however, ringing in the new year was special. It's now officially the Olympic year: 2012. Oh, and I'm engaged! Posted: Tuesday, January 3, 2012 | 02:03 PM
• CBC Sports Life after swimming Since graduating from Texas A&M University in the spring of 2010, my focus has been solely on swimming. Instead of rushing to classes, I can spend more hours in the pool. Time I spent studying has been replaced by trips to the recovery room, perfecting my diet, and most importantly, finally getting an adequate amount of sleep. This past week, however, I had the chance to relive my college career and consider what will become of "Julia Wilkinson" after I decide to hang up my swimsuit for the final time. Because let's be honest: I can't swim forever (although we can dream). Whether I retire after 2012, 2016, or somewhere in between the two Olympics, I need to have a plan. Posted: Thursday, November 17, 2011 | 07:33 PM
• CBC Sports Got to get better There are less than 300 days left until the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. On one hand, that seems like an eternity: about 42 weeks, and at a maximum of 14 workouts a week (10 in the water and four in the weight room), I potentially have just under 600 workouts to go. And I thought sitting in the ready room was scary.I achieved my dream in 2008: I represented Canada at the Olympic Games, even qualifying for the final of the 200 IM. But I came home empty-handed, and the bronze medal was more than two seconds beyond my grasp. What does that mean for me this year? Well, obviously I'm going to have to do what I did leading up to 2008. Only better. Way better. Posted: Thursday, October 13, 2011 | 07:49 PM
• CBC Sports My response to a journalistic slap in the face Last week, a former swimmer forwarded me a link to a story by Paul Gains on CBCSports.ca with the headline "Canadian track athletes have a lot to learn." The swimmer was offended by the author's tone and wanted to know my opinion since I'm both an international-level athlete and a writer. I have to say that, when I read the article, it was the journalistic equivalent to a slap in the face, even though it was a commentary about Canada's track and field team, not the swimmers.When criticism bordering on belittling comes from within our own country, from our own media, we don't have a hope to succeed. Posted: Wednesday, September 7, 2011 | 08:07 PM
• CBC Sports Olympic year begins now At 7:15 a.m. on Monday, I officially started the Olympic year. That's the exact time my clock radio burst into a song - midway through, obviously - to let me know that it was time to stumble out of bed for my morning workout. Although waking up after 7:00 in order to be in the water by 8:00 is a sleep-in compared to practices during the regular season, the fact that my short-lived summer vacation was already over was somewhat depressing. However, this is more than overshadowed by the excitement about what lies less than one year ahead of me: the Olympic Games in London. Posted: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 | 02:59 PM
• CBC Sports Good times, (but mostly) bad times at worlds If one of my teammates has a disappointing swim meet, I always tell them this: the good wouldn't be so good if the bad weren't so bad. Occasionally, I have to take my own advice. Don't get me wrong: swimming in two individual finals at the world championships was thrilling, and hard to classify as a "fail" - especially since I have never been in more than one top-eight final at a competition of this magnitude. However, as those that have been following my blog for the past few months know, I was not shy about my goals and expectations for worlds. I wanted to win medals for Canada. Posted: Wednesday, August 3, 2011 | 09:03 PM
• CBC Sports Bieber and nail polish get me ready to race After months of training, a long flight to the other side of the world, and nine days in Singapore for staging camp, it's finally time to head to Shanghai for the swimming world championships.People always ask me if I have any weird rituals or superstitions before and at swim meets, and the truth is I'm about as crazy as they come. Posted: Wednesday, July 20, 2011 | 10:42 AM
• CBC Sports Sniffles won't stop this Canuck Whenever I travel, I am always extremely careful when it comes to staying healthy: especially before a swim meet. I don't go anywhere without my hand sanitizer, I stay hydrated, take my vitamins, eat healthy foods, and try to get enough sleep. No matter how careful you are, however, sometimes getting sick is totally unavoidable. Posted: Saturday, July 16, 2011 | 11:57 PM
• CBC Sports Frighteningly fast women at worlds I've now officially started my taper for the world championships, which begin on July 24 (the divers kick things off this Saturday). I compete right away when the swimming meet starts: I have the 200-meter individual medley and the 400-meter freestyle relay on Day 1, followed by the 100 backstroke on Day 2.I'll also be racing in the 50 back and the 400 medley relay, but since those events are further along in my schedule, my focus right now is on my first two individual events, where I'll be facing some frighteningly fast women. Posted: Tuesday, July 12, 2011 | 09:25 AM
• CBC Sports Waiting is the hardest part One of the biggest issues that I have leading up to an international meet like the world championships is that I have the tendency to get too excited. When I think about standing behind those blocks at the end of July, my heart starts to beat faster and I can't help but get a huge smile on my face.But I can't be too excited just yet, because it's exhausting to be excited for three weeks! Posted: Wednesday, July 6, 2011 | 01:04 PM
• CBC Sports No place like home When I tell people where I live, I'm usually met with the same response: "Victoria: it's so beautiful there." On numerous occasions, I've heard Victoria referred to as the most beautiful city in Canada. I can definitely see why people think that: mountains as your backdrop, ocean out your back door, and a forest in your backyard. However, while driving from Pearson International Airport in Toronto to London, Ont., last week, I realized that I must graciously disagree. For me, Southwestern Ontario is the most beautiful place in the world, because it's where I grew up. Posted: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 | 09:35 PM
• CBC Sports Stacking up at Santa Clara In only three days at the Santa Clara Grand Prix meet last week in California, I was off the blocks a total of 11 times between prelims, finals and relays.Santa Clara is usually a fast meet, with superstars like Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Natalie Coughlin all making appearances. This year, however, it was nothing short of stacked. Posted: Wednesday, June 22, 2011 | 01:20 PM
• CBC Sports Home advantage has 2 sides (just ask the Canucks) Whether you're an NHL player competing in the Stanley Cup Final, or an elite swimmer racing at the worlds championships, knowing the crowd is behind you can be a huge benefit.But there's a flip side to the home advantage, and knowing how to harness it can be the key to victory when you're on the road. Posted: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 | 11:25 AM
• CBC Sports How an Olympian in training celebrates a birthday Another week, another 14 workouts accomplished - only this week had an extra-special "light at the end of the tunnel." Last Sunday (June 12) was my 24th birthday.While enjoying a rare day off to celebrate and treat myself, I realized that I have a whole lot of things to look forward to while I'm 24: my third world championships, one more year for a final push in training, and of course the Olympic trials Posted: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 | 09:36 AM
• CBC Sports Eat. Sleep. Swim. I remember when I was about 12 years old, you could buy t-shirts at swim meets that said "Life is Simple: Eat, Sleep, Swim." I didn't think that, someday, that would actually be the case.But when I really stop and think about it, although it is tough physical work day in and day out, I really am living the dream. Let's face it: nine-to-five jobs that allow you to take a nap midday (every day) just don't exist. Except for mine. Posted: Monday, June 6, 2011 | 11:57 AM
• CBC Sports Working hard to make Canada proud It's just about two months until the first day of swimming at the World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, China. When they arrive, I will be engulfed in a whirlwind of racing: seven races in the first two days. I am going to be one busy girl. But busy is how I like to live my life. Since the Commonwealth Games last fall, I've been bouncing all over, from balancing family Christmas with practices, to travelling to Australia for an intense training camp, and, most importantly, to the Canadian trials at the end of March. Posted: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 | 08:31 PM
• Commonwealth Games Goodbye Singapore, hello India Even though it seems like we just arrived in Singapore, it's now time to head over to Delhi. I just finished a packing scramble in my room: why is it that every time I repack, my stuff seems to expand? I expect that I will barely be able to zip up my suitcase by the time I leave India!The idea of arriving in the Commonwealth Games village makes me feel excited **and** nervous. None of us really know what to expect when we get there. Posted: Saturday, October 2, 2010 | 08:56 AM
• Commonwealth Games Confessions of a chiroptophobic As a girl who likes to get manicures, doesn't like to get dirty, and is extremely chiroptophobic (that means I'm afraid of bats - really, if there is a bat anywhere near me, I will hit the deck!) I feel like Delhi may be one of my biggest challenges yet. But if I'm able to handle any uncomfortable situations that I may experience next week, it will make me not only a better athlete, but also a better person. So bring it on, Delhi. I'm ready for some character development! Posted: Thursday, September 30, 2010 | 03:31 PM
• Commonwealth Games Bring on the pain "Respect your pain, but don't let it govern you."Those are the wise words of my dad, and I've learned to tell the difference between bad pain and good pain, and to push the limits of enduring the latter.Every girl in the Commonwealth Games pool will be dealing with some kind of pain. Time to find out who can handle it the best. Posted: Thursday, September 30, 2010 | 10:17 AM
• Commonwealth Games So far, luck's been on my side It's just over a week to go until the Commonwealth Games swim meet starts, and Delhi is still getting bad press. In order to combat any negative thoughts that dare to sneak their way into my psyche, I am focusing on everything that, so far, has been going right for me. Posted: Tuesday, September 28, 2010 | 01:05 PM
• Commonwealth Games Deep in the heat of Texas There's nothing like a trip to Texas to get prepared for the Delhi heat. Posted: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 | 11:04 AM
• Commonwealth Games Pan Pacs highlight jam-packed summer With the Commonwealth Games coming up in just over a month, I, for the first time, had no summer vacation. Well, technically that's not true. I took a summer vacation on Monday, Aug. 23rd. Come Tuesday afternoon it was back to the pool at Saanich Commonwealth Place in Victoria, and back to the grind. Posted: Monday, August 30, 2010 | 03:27 PM