Victoria student training for Olympic Games

New Olympic athlete Tash Hind shares her thoughts on study and swimming in the lead up to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Tash acknowledges that nearer to the Games' opening in August, she will be really nervous and very excited, but for now she's still in disbelief at her selection for the New Zealand women’s freestyle relay swim team.

"I think other people are more excited than me because it has sunk in for them but I can’t really imagine it yet, not until I get there".

A first-year student at Victoria, Tash balances a challenging 20-hours-a-week training regime with part-time study in calculus and German.

Balancing study and swimming is not new to Tash, who has swum since the age of seven, but studying at University provides a little more flexibility. She has chosen semester one's papers to fit around her training times and will take a break from study in the second semester to concentrate on the Games.

She says it all comes down to working out your priorities and how much time you have to hand. "It can affect your marks – you might go from an A+ to a B+ - you’ve just got to make sure you can get through both study and swimming".

Although Tash has a bright future ahead of her in the pool she says deciding to study at University was about "looking ahead for after swimming". For now though, her immediate goals are a step closer after her selection to the Olympic Squad.

"Everyone has told me that if anything is going to bring out the best in you it’s the Olympics so I’m just looking forward to the atmosphere".

She says she's also keen to see other swimmers in action especially American swimmer and multiple world record holder Michael Phelps.

The only Wellingtonian to be selected in the squad, Tash will spend the next five months intensifying her training to drop an extra two seconds off her Olympic qualifying time.

She says her coach at the Capital Swim Club, former Olympian and Commonwealth gold medallist Gary Hurring, has her training with a few of the guys in the club to reach the pace she needs to hit.

Although the mid-trimester break begun this week Tash will forfeit the holidays for training. In July she heads to Japan for an eight day training camp before the Olympics begin in August.