Recently by Julia Wilkinson
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CBC Sports
Contemplating my future in swimming
A few weeks have passed since I walked off the pool deck at the London Olympics for the final time.Now
that I'm back home in Canada, flipping through the photos that my
fiance, Shane, took from the stands is almost unbearable. There I am,
hand over my face, refusing to make eye contact with our fans in the
stands. Discouraged, disappointed, and above all things, shocked.
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The Games : Athlete Diaries
Good Olympic omens all around me
I can't believe how fast the time has gone.
It seems like only yesterday that I sat down to my computer to write about getting ready for the Olympic trials.
Now, my days in Sardinia for staging camp are dwindling and I have to
start thinking about repacking my suitcase and getting on my last flight
before I walk into the Olympic VillagePart of staying calm and confident is looking for the positive in everything. The good omens.
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The Games : Athlete Diaries
My top 10 pump-up songs: Part II
Here we have it, folks: the top five of my top 10 pump-up songs of my swimming career.
To recap in case you missed Part I,
all 10 of these songs were chosen based on varying criteria: they
represent a race, a person, or a time frame that was particularly
challenging or motivating in my career. Love 'em or hate 'em, they're
all part of the soundtrack to my 17-year career as a competitive
swimmer, the top five especially. Here they are.
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The Games : Athlete Diaries
My top 10 pump-up songs
A few weeks ago, as I wrapped up my packing and final preparations for
our Olympic staging camp and the Olympics in London, I announced on Twitter that I was looking for suggestions for my "pump-up" playlist for the Games.I
got a great response, and it motivated me to count down my top 10 pump-up songs of all time.
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The Games : Athlete Diaries
My mom's whistle
At the recent Quebec Cup meet, I won the 100-metre freestyle, but was disappointed when I saw the time. However, those negative feelings were quickly forgotten when I heard a
familiar sound: my mom's whistle.
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CBC Sports
Team Julia always there when I need them
It's been several weeks since I leaped from a boat off the coast of Maui
and found myself out of my comfort zone and in deep water, surrounded
by tropical fish, turtles, and two harmless sharks. I must apologize for
my long absence from my blog: it's as if the stress of training and
organizing my life in preparation for my departure to London has
absorbed all my free time.
Our camp in Maui was valuable, but long and hard, and in the first week I
found myself facing an eternal stretch of bad practices. My stroke felt
off, and I was exhausted and sore.
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CBC Sports
Facing my fear of open water
You probably won't believe this, but I'm afraid of open water.I know: it's a contradiction, a hypocrisy even, for an Olympic swimmer
to be afraid of any kind of water. But that's why, for me, swimming in
the ocean is my personal phobia: a phobia is something that you're
afraid of no matter how often you're reassured or how irrational the
fear may be. That pretty much sums up how I feel in water over my head.
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CBC Sports
The joy of not swimming the 200 IM
I know I've already saturated my blog with posts about dropping the
200-metre IM in order to narrow my focus for London, and maybe it seems
like I'm overcompensating for a race that, deep down, I miss swimming.
One would imagine that sitting in the stands while the race formerly
known as "my best event" takes off from the blocks would be hard.
I prepared myself for these kinds of feelings of remorse when I arrived
in California last weekend for the Santa Clara Grand Prix. But when the
women's 200 IM arrived on Sunday, side-by-side with the 100-metre
backstroke (as per usual), I felt nothing but relief.
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CBC Sports
Why am I doing this?
My mom always asks me how and why I continue to live the tough life of an elite swimmer. I usually laugh it
off when she insists that there is "no way" she could ever do what we as
Olympic athletes do every day: the training, the sacrifice, the painful
injuries, the stress.Last weekend, however, I finally started to really think about my mom's question: why, really, am I doing this?
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
- 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.
- 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!
- 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.
- 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.
- Commonwealth Games Deep in the heat of Texas There's nothing like a trip to Texas to get prepared for the Delhi heat.
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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.
About the Author
Julia Wilkinson
Julia is one of Canada's best young swimmers. The Stratford, Ont., native made a splash in her Olympic debut by competing in six events at the 2008 Games in Beijing, setting a Canadian record in the 100-metre backstroke and helping her relay teams set national marks in three other races. Wilkinson added a pair of bronze medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. At the 2011 world championships she made the finals of the 50m backstroke and the 200m IM.
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