06 June 2008
And so the records keep tumbling. Endurance athlete Robin Simpson cracked another world record today to increase his burgeoning haul to 10, although it was a close-run thing.
Simpson, who was competing at the Yorkshire International Business Conference in Harrogate, was attempting to beat the record for the most box steps in an hour, which stood at 4,135. And he did it by the skin of his teeth, eclipsing the previous mark with just 20 seconds to spare. In all, he completed a total of 4,161 box steps, an average of 69.4 per minute.
“It certainly went down to the wire,” said Simpson, who admitted that a crowd of more than 200 people played their part in his latest success. “The spectators really motivated me in the last few minutes.
“I also had the pleasure of meeting George Foreman, the former world heavyweight boxing champion, who was talking at the conference. And what a nice guy he was. He seemed very interested in me and my records, although the fact that he had been talking about himself for an hour and a half probably had something to with that!”
02 June 2008
Shanaze Reade, who is one of Great Britain’s strongest gold medal hopes for the forthcoming Beijing Olympics, underlined her outstanding credentials when she successfully defended her senior BMX World Championship title in Taiwan.
The 19-year-old Be Number 1 cyclist from Crewe annihilated the same rivals that she will meet in China in two months time, beating Anne-Caroline Chausson of France into second place and New Zealander Sarah Walker into third. Reade’s relatively modest winning margin of 0.873sec over Chausson belies the fact that the Briton was cruising in the latter stages of the race, such was her dominance.
Reade has now won five straight BMX world titles at both youth and senior level and will start as a hot odds-on favourite to lift the inaugural Olympic crown in Beijing.
29 May 2008
Leon Taylor, the 30-year-old diver who won an Olympic 10-metre platform synchronised silver medal with partner Peter Waterfield in Athens four years ago, has announced his retirement from the sport with immediate effect after failing to overcome chronic back problems.
Taylor, the Be Number 1 athlete, and Waterfield were due to have a dive-off against Tom Daley and Blake Aldridge next month to ascertain who would earn the right to take up Great Britain’s place in the eight-pair 10-metre synchronised final at the Beijing Olympics in August. Instead, Daley and Aldridge are now set to compete in that event at the Games, though a consolation for Waterfield is that he has already qualified to participate in the 10m individual platform contest.
Taylor has enjoyed a stellar career during the course of the past 16 years, winning medals at Olympic, world, European and Commonwealth level. His and Waterfield’s second-placed finish in Athens, four years after they had finished an agonising fourth in the same event in Sydney, was Britain’s first Olympic diving medal for 44 years.
“Diving is a young man’s game,“ said Taylor, who will continue to act as a mentor to the British diving team. “I have worn my body out after being involved in the sport for 22 years. Unfortunately, it’s unforgiving - especially in the platform event. I’m young in life at 30, but ancient in my event. In Athens, at the age of 26, I was already one of the oldest in the event. So the writing has been on the wall for a while. I was hoping that I could just make it those 80 extra days.
“But I am the mentor to the British diving team and of course that includes Tom Daley. I have been involved with Tom for a few years now and I am very much looking forward to being a part of his build-up, and the team’s build-up, to Beijing. “
16 May 2008
Endurance athlete Robin Simpson today broke two more world records to bring his rapidly increasing total to nine.
Simpson, who was competing at Schawk Design, a graphic design company, in Leeds, completed 77 star jumps in a minute - smashing the previous record of 60 by a staggering 17 - and 71 squat thrusts in a minute, thereby narrowly eclipsing the previous best mark, which stood at 70.
“I am absolutely thrilled,” said Simpson, who was watched by a crowd of more than 100 people. “I was up against four other participants in each event and the opposition was very strong, especially in the star jumps. In fact, three of them also broke the previous world record, with one of them managing 65 and another two completing 62. One of them also did 51 squat thrusts, although the rest were some way below that figure. “
Simpson’s next world record attempt will take place in Harrogate on 6 June, when he will be gunning to complete the most box steps in an hour.
12 May 2008
After a series of near misses, Campbell Walsh finally won the first major international title of his career when he won the gold medal in the men’s kayak event at the European Championships in Krakow, Poland yesterday.
Walsh, who won Olympic silver in Athens four years ago, stormed to victory with a near-perfect final run, having finished sixth in the semi-final. His total time of 181.63sec edged out Danieli Molmenti, the Italian silver medallist, by 0.13sec and Fabian Doerfler of Germany by 0.78 sec.
“Finally, I won a major championship!” said a jubilant Walsh afterwards. “After several podium finishes over the years, but never a gold medal, it feels good to finally get one in the bag. I knew racing was going to be very tight - just making the final was going to be tough, with little room for error on the fast course. So I attacked hard on my first run and was going well until I lost some time around the final awkward upstream gate.
“After that run, I was 1.32sec behind the leader and only 1.06sec ahead of tenth, so the final was pretty open for anyone to take. I had a really good second run, going almost two seconds faster and managing to stay clean as I worked close to the poles.
“And I am really looking forward to the rest of the season, which is going to be pretty busy. With a few international races and a couple of training camps coming up, I am going to be on the road almost non-stop for the next three months before going out to Beijing.”
5 May 2008
British swimmer David Davies, who won Olympic bronze in the 1,500 metres freestyle in Athens four years ago, replicated the feat of fellow Briton Cassie Patten the previous day by claiming silver in the 10 kilometres marathon at the World Open Water Championships in Seville yesterday.
With the top 10 finishers all qualifying for the Olympics, Be Number 1’s Davies is now on course for a twin assault on the 1,500 metres and the 10 kilometres titles in Beijing in August. The 10 kilometres race will be making its Olympic debut
Despite having competed in only one previous open-water race, the 23-year-old Welshman led for much of the contest before being narrowly beaten into second by Russian world champion Vladimir Dyatchin, who clocked a time of 1:53:21.3 - just 0.3 sec ahead of Davies.
“The race took a lot out of me and I feel like I have done 12 rounds with Mike Tyson,” Davies said afterwards. “Dyatchin got me at the last turn and he used his experience to make me swerve towards the turning buoy.
“But I am pleased to be able to get that result while I am in the middle of heavy training. I made a lot of mistakes and I’ll be the first to admit it. There is a lot for me to learn, which is why it is so encouraging for Beijing. The 1,500 metres is still my main aim, but having a second event will take the pressure off.”
Davies’s Olympic prospects in the 10 kilometres discipline were further bolstered by the non-qualification in Seville of Australian Grant Hackett. The two-time Olympic 1,500 metres freestyle champion was disqualified for impeding the progress of another swimmer.
Alan Bircher, Davies’s fellow Briton and Be Number 1 athlete, was also trying to guarantee his nomination for Beijing, but finished 21st in a time of 1:54:44.2.
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4 May 2008
Cassie Patten, the Be Number 1 distance swimmer, finished in an outstanding second place in the 10 kilometres event at the Open Water World Championships in Seville to establish herself as a serious medal prospect when the discipline makes its Olympic debut in Beijing in August.
Patten, 21, who has already been selected for Britain’s Olympic team in the 800 metres, came second behind Russia’s Larisa Ilchenko, having led for much of the race, in a repeat one-two result of last year’s World Championships in Melbourne. Ilchenko’s sprint finish proved too strong for the Stockport swimmer, who was overtaken in the final 500 metres and had to be content with the silver medal in a time of 2:02:05.8, three seconds behind the Russian. Still, it was more than enough to earn Patten an Olympic qualification berth.
“I am overjoyed with that result,” said Patten. “I was really hurting in the final lap. But I just thought that if I kept on, I would become the first person to qualify for both the pool and open water and this is what I wanted. So I kept myself going and got the second place
“I really enjoyed myself out there. I just went out and relaxed and it was the best I have felt in a 10-kilometre race. My stroke rate was good throughout the race and that was really great to see. I got a good time and I know I have work to do before the Olympics. But this is a great starting place.”
Hopefully the water in Beijing will be a little cleaner than that in Seville.
“On the last lap, I tasted something very much like duck poo,” she added. “Not that I have eaten duck poo before, but it didn’t taste or smell very nice.”
To complete an excellent day for the British swimming team, Kerri-Anne Payne also qualified for the Olympic 10 kilometres race, following her eighth-placed finish in Spain.
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01 May 2008
Be Number 1's Campbell Walsh has been chosen to represent Britain in the men’s slalom Kayak event at the Beijing Olympics, following the recent selection series in Zoetemeer, Holland and Nottingham. And he will certainly be hoping to go one better than his second-placed finish in Athens four years ago.
The 30-year-old Scot won a silver medal at the Athens Games to cap a memorable year in which he also won the overall World Cup title. But he is targeting gold in Beijing, and also at London in 2012, after the relative disappointment of having to make do with the runners-up spot in Athens, where he led the field after the semi-final.
Following confirmation of his selection for Beijing, Walsh, who also finished third at the World Championships in both 2006 and 2007, has been training in Krakow, Poland in preparation for the forthcoming European Championships there.
“This is my first time here,” said Walsh from Poland. “And I must admit that I was not particularly looking forward to it, as all the reports I had about the course included the words ‘flat’, ‘slow’ and ‘physical’ - not my kind of water!
“However, I have been more than pleasantly surprised. The course is really very good and I have been loving the training. Apparently, the course has changed a lot since 2007 - and all for the better. It flows well, there are three drops on the second half with very nice waves for crossing, and there are loads of fast upstream gates everywhere. But one thing has not changed - it is still quite physical!
“My aim is to always train and race hard, and I am really looking forward to the first major international race of 2008. And I would just love to get my hands on the gold medal in Beijing.”
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27 April 2008
Robin Simpson, the Be Number 1 endurance athlete, broke a seventh world record yesterday to add to a burgeoning collection that also includes the One-Hour Speed Fitness Challenge and the Five-Hour Endurance Event.
The Leeds-based Simpson, who established his latest record at Seni 08, the International Combat Sports Show, in London, completed 6,071 roundhouse kicks in the permitted one-hour time frame, comfortably eclipsing the previous world best of 5,750.
“It’s great to get another record under the belt,” said Simpson, whose longer-term plans include an attempt on the World’s Fittest Athlete Physical Fitness Challenge record in September and then a crack at the Deca Ironman Triathlon record next March.
“I was also thrilled by the reception I got when I broke the roundhouse kicks record,” Simpson added. “There must have been more than 300 people watching me for the last five or ten minutes and they burst into spontaneous applause at the end.”
Next up for Simpson is an assault on two more records - the most star jumps in a minute and the most squat thrusts in a minute - in the middle of May. And that will be followed in June by an attempt on the record for the most box steps in an hour, which he will do at the Yorkshire International Business Conference in Harrogate. Among possible spectators in the spa town will be Elle Macpherson, George Foreman and John Howard, the former Prime Minister of Australia.
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