January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
It's back to the drawing board for Roy Burch
100m freestyle ‘didn’t go exactly how I would have liked,’ says disappointed swimmer
The 22-year-old swam a respectable time of 52.65 seconds - just outside his personal best of 52.4 - at the 100m freestyle heats in Beijing yesterday.
But he insisted his performance was not up to the high standards he sets for himself.
And he intends to follow-up on some of the contacts he has made at the Games to ensure he is more competitive next time.
"It didn't exactly go how I would have liked but these things happen. I have to evaluate it and move on.
"I think I didn't get enough races before this one to really know what I had to do.
"I was positive in what I could do. I think I've trained enough but I've been talking to a lot of people and a lot of these guys that have been going amazingly fast lately have been racing 30 or 40 meets a year."
Burch said he had followed up on his initial conversations with Cullen Jones - the first African American world record holder - and was confident of training with his team next year.
"I'm hoping to meet with Cullen again and go and train with his club and be a part of what makes him such a great swimmer.
"He was on the U.S. relay team (4x100m) that won the gold medal the other day and I'd like to feel that vibe and get some of that positive energy into my training."
Burch said his swim had been watched by family and friends back home in Bermuda and had received good feedback.
But he added: "To me it will never be good enough - I'll always want to do better.
"I'm going to see all the finals and enjoy the experience. It's still a good time. I would have hoped to have done better but these things happen."[[In-content Ad]]
Comments:
You must login to comment.