George Bovell will be on show on the weekend in his last warm-up meet ahead of the 2012 London Olympics. The Trinidad and Tobago swimmer will compete in four events at the Quebec Cup, in Montreal, Canada.
"I intend to race the 50 and 100 freestyle as well as the 50 and 100 backstroke events because they really complement the freestyle training.
"I am now just starting to back off my workload this week," Bovell continued, "as we glide down to the Olympics, exactly a month away. With the rest, I expect to gain easy speed. At this point it would be great to be fast, but the times are unimportant. The emphasis is on executing the many details that the different events consist of correctly."
At the 2004 Games, in Athens, Greece, Bovell became the first T&T swimmer to climb an Olympic podium. He bagged bronze in the men's 200 metres individual medley in one minute, 58.80 seconds, finishing behind Americans Michael Phelps, the gold medallist in 1:57.14, and Ryan Lochte (1:58.78).
"I have been watching the USA Olympic swimming trials," said Bovell. "Phelps and Lochte look like they will be very strong next month.
"I paid special attention to the form of my American rivals in the sprint events. Nathan Adrian looked very strong in the 100. I expected him to surely be on the team in the 50 as well, but was surprised when he was beaten by Anthony Ervin and Cullen Jones. The interesting thing here is that I have beaten Jones and Ervin, who I will face in London, all year, but haven't managed to beat Nathan in ages. The question here is: Can they repeat this peaked form in just one month?
"It is important to note," Bovell continued, "that Ervin and Jones, who are the two fastest Americans in the water, both have African American heritage. I hope this serves to further discredit the ignorant stereotype that African people are not good swimmers, and will serve to inspire more young people of African heritage to follow in their footsteps."
Cesar Cielo is among the favourites for Olympic gold in the 50 free. The Brazilian swimmer is the defending champion.
"In terms of Cesar and my other rivals, they will be fast. I believe they have shown their cards when they peaked earlier this season for their Olympic trials. We know what they are capable of, whereas I have not peaked yet since last summer. The way I see it, focusing on them is useless. I do what I can when I can to prepare, and when the time comes I will simply swim my own race."
In London, Bovell will compete in the 50 free, 100 free and 100 back.
"The 100 metres free and 100 metres back," Bovell told the Express, "are swims to break the ice, so to speak. It is quite possible that I make the semi-finals, but I don't expect to be in the running for medals in those. In the 50 metres free, however, as a finalist at last summer's World Championships, I definitely expect to be competing for a medal once again."
-Kwame Laurence
Source: www.trinidadexpress.com