A week in the life of: Chloe

In this instalment in our ‘A week in the life of’ series we talk to Chloe about what a typical week looks like for her

Mondays are one of my busiest days! I wake up at 4:20 to give me time to get up and get to the pool, where I train from 5:00 – 7:00. My training on Monday morning usually consists of an aerobic freestyle or medley set, which involves a lot of distance, but on comfortable times. After training, I go to school for 8:25. At 11:45, I leave school and go to my riding stables, where I complete work experience until around 17:00. I sometimes ride during this time as well! Once a month, I also compete in a dressage league, so after work experience I have to get ready and ride two tests. After this, I go swimming in the evening, from 19:00 – 21:00. This is usually a heart-rate session, where we complete a set (such as 30 x 100m), where the aim is to maintain a high pace and high heart rate.

On Tuesdays, I wake up at 7 and go to school. After school, I sometimes work as an assistant teacher for swimming lessons between 3:45 and 5:15 (depending on whether cover is needed). In the evening, I go swimming at 7:00, where I complete 20 minutes of pre-pool land training, before training in the pool from 7:30 to 9:30. On Tuesday nights, we do a timed kick set, as well as a short rest set, where the turn-around times are very tough, and the aim is just to make them!

On Wednesdays I have a day off swimming. I wake up at 7 and go to school. During school I have my weekly flute lesson too. After school, I go horse riding at my riding stables, which is my second sport, and probably my favourite hobby! I ride between 17:45 and 18:45, alternating each week between jumping and flatwork. After riding I come home and try to get a really early night, as I have to wake up early again on Thursday!

On Thursday mornings I have early morning training again, so I wake up at 4:20 and get in the pool at 5:00 for 2 hours. On Thursday morning we sometimes work on skill development, as well as including some aerobic work. After this, I go to school for 8:25. I stay at school until 4:30, when I go up to the gym and complete strength and conditioning work until 17:15. This is our main gym session of the week. After this, I train from 17:30 until 18:00, working on pace work, and maintaining times throughout the session relating to my personal bests.

On Fridays, I wake up at 7 and go to school. After school, I head to the pool for 15:45, where I teach swimming to children between the age of around 6 and 10 until 5.15. After this, I train from 19:00 – 21:30. Training on a Friday night consists of distance freestyle and medley at the beginning of the season to increase fitness, and involves more specialised work towards the end of the season to fine-tune our best races. If it is a competition weekend, training may be shorter (if the gala is nearby), and if the gala is further afield we travel to a hotel on Friday night ready for warm up the next morning.

Saturdays are my only full day off sport, so I use them to catch up on homework and have a rest day! However, if I am competing, I have to be at the pool ready for warm up at roughly 8:00, ready for a whole day of competing. After racing, I get home/back to the hotel in the evening, and try and get some homework done before going to bed early ready for another busy day racing.

On Sundays, I wake up at 6:45, to give me time to get up and get to the pool. I train between 8:00 and 10:00, and training usually involves a speed set, working on ‘back-end speed’, so we can still finish strongly at the end of a race. If I am competing, I once again have to be at the pool ready for a warm up at around 8:00. After a weekend’s competition, I don’t get home until later in the evening, but try to get as earlier night as possible, ready to start the week again!

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