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_Alumni focus


a meltdown, that’s inevitably going to impact on performance.’ In the lead-up to 2012, Karl points out, the emphasis was very strongly on science – see by way of illustration the success of sports such as cycling and rowing. Now, though, there is a greater recognition of the contribution other elements, including coaching, can make. Indeed, LSBU has recently launched a sports coaching programme, reflecting the need for increased professionalisation in this area. Another priority has been to ensure that


data is being turned into usable information – and presented in a way that athletes and coaches can understand. ‘When we analyse our athletes, one of the things we look at is their learning style,’ says Karl. ‘Some respond well to pages of tables and charts, while for others, it might work better to use images or video instead.’ Then, of course, there is the all-important


James Guy, a 200m and 400m freestyle specialist, is one of Karl Cooke’s top tips for Olympic success at Rio 2016


performance in the pool itself. At this elite level, improvements are incremental: as Karl points out, the team’s overall performance at London 2012 was only adrift of target by 0.4% – but that meant the difference between winning four medals rather than the predicted seven. ‘Our first step is to identify the target: the time an athlete needs to swim to win a medal in their specific event,’ says Karl. ‘We establish that by looking at historical data from previous Games and other events, and also at how the world’s top 10 or 12 swimmers are progressing. The target is moving all the time!’ The next task is to analyse the athlete’s


performance in the different phases of the race – the start, the free swimming,


engineering support and state- of-the-art facilities has led to the development of significant intellectual property and new technologies, including the FitFlop™, nutritional products CherryActive® and Firefly Tonics and health and fitness equipment such as Revitive®, Flexibar® and FitVibe®. ‘My PhD laid the foundations for my future career,’ Karl says. ‘It taught me how to run projects independently, and helped me build a strong network


of contacts.’ Karl retains strong links with the SESRC, overseeing a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with altitude training specialist The Altitude Centre, completed in 2013, and acting as consultant on colleague Scott Pollock’s PhD research into neuromuscular response in elite swimmers, currently being supervised by Dr Katya Mileva and Dr Nadia Gaoua. Find out more about the SESRC’s work at tinyurl.com/z9hk8ne


the turns, the finish – and identify exactly where they are falling short of world-class performance. ‘We will find the fastest swimmer in the world in that particular segment and analyse what they’re doing to see what we can learn,’ says Karl. ‘So for example at the 2013 Duel in the Pool, which pits the best American and European swimmers against each other, we set up high speed cameras to capture footage of swimmers leaving their blocks at the start of the race that we then used to fine tune our own training programme.’


Counting down to Rio So, as the countdown to the 2016 Games kicks in in earnest, what are Karl’s current priorities? ‘Most of the hard work is done,’ he says. ‘Now the focus is on making sure our athletes reach the start in the right frame of mind to swim to their potential. Feeling comfortable in your surroundings is key, so we’ll be going out to Brazil a couple of weeks in advance to acclimatise and start adapting the swimmers’ schedules to fit the late race times. Our training facilities there are the best in the country – the British Olympic Association and UK Sport have done an amazing job.’ While the media may focus on medals,


for Karl and the rest of the team the more important issue is whether the athletes achieve their own personal goals. ‘We believe our medal target of three to five is realistic, but 2016 is also about laying foundations for the future.’ So who are the ones to watch? ‘Adam Peaty is a multiple world record holder, James Guy (pictured above) won three medals at the World Championships, then there’s Jazz Carlin, Siobhan Marie O’Connor and Russ Murdoch, to name just a few. The relay teams are looking strong too. What’s great is that the team is so young. A lot of them should still be with us for Tokyo in 2020. That’s a really exciting prospect.’


The fourth annual student/alumni sports event takes place in London on 14 May 2016. It’s an ideal opportunity for a reunion with former team mates or to make new connections. Find out what’s on offer and register your interest as an individual or as a team at alumni.lsbu.ac.uk/sportsday


lsbu.ac.uk/alumni | South Bank_27


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