How to Qualify for Your National Team

The time is almost here!

When you have worked for something for so long and the time for the event to take place is almost here, there is often an anticipated excitement, and maybe nerves, that can be felt.

In this case, it is about my 13-year-old daughter.

What makes it particularly special for me is to witness is her journey to get to this point has had a less than straightforward beginning. 

Born with a variety of conditions including: an innocent heart murmur, hEDS (Hypermobile Elhlers-Danlos Syndrome), positional talipes and hip dysplasia the first 5 years of her life were spent travelling to hospitals to attend appointments for ultrasounds and physiotherapy and the numerous meetings with various consultants.

It was early on that, as her parents, we decided that swimming would be a good way to mobilise her and keep the musculoskeletal challenges she seems to have inherited well managed.

She started swimming soon after she was allowed out of her Pavlik harness and a while before she could crawl.  It was almost a ‘throw in the deep end’ approach as she never wore armbands and at a very young age was introduced to being plunged underwater, even if momentarily,  for short periods of time. 

I would love to say that she took to swimming like a duck to water but in reality, for the first year of her aquatic journey she screamed that unbearable high pitched baby scream in my ear for much of the weekly 30 minute lessons.

My husband did not believe the extent to which I described the this bonding experience with our daughter not being the most pleasant encounter until I selflessly handed the reins over to him when the timetable changed and began to take place every weekend which meant he could join in.

He asked how I had put up with it for so long but was pleasantly surprised to see an improvement in our daughter’s mood as she started to begin enjoying her weekly paddles with her Dad (much credit was taken by him) and she moved up the swimming school’s levels steadily.

Fast forward a little over 4 years…

The pool in which she swam was being closed for refurbishment and because she didn’t want to miss out on swimming during the summer holiday I found her a place to swim closer to home.  

Little did I know that I would enrol her into a competitive swimming club... 

Her swimming journey accelerated.

After years of training with the schedule increasing as she moved up the squads and competing in various competitions including at team, county and regional levels, some 8 years later she decided that she would do her best to qualify for Nationals.

It was a quick decision for her as she decided that she would take advantage of her Scottish heritage and aim to swim for Scotland rather than for England which was an option to her. 

Her paternal grandmother was delighted to be able to support her in being recognised as an eligible Scot, as was I.  

Spoiler: if you and I watch a match together in which Scotland and England are competing against one another I shall always support the team north of the border. 

This was a goal she set herself and knew she would have to put on the hard work for her if she was to achieve it. 

In April 2026, aged 13, she qualified for Scottish National Age Group Championships (SNAGS) and she got the taste of swimming at its highest level for her so far.

She then set herself the next big goal: Scottish Summer Nationals.  This was the first time she needed to qualify within a window (lasting just over 9 weeks) based on rankings (fastest X number of swimmers in her age group).  

The pressure was on.  

It was only within that window that her times would be recorded for Scottish Summer Nationals, not a day earlier or later than the dates set.  A positive mindset and physical fitness were never more important for her. 

Every qualifying swim also had to be completed in a long course pool (50m in length rather than the more widely available 25m short course pools) and the swim meets she attended had to be conducted at the highest level (within the 4 levels available with the competitive swim world). 

It was no easy feat.  

The various opportunities came as she competed in a number of events over the weeks to better her times and train hard for the next competition.  

Her work ethic had to continue to be at its highest with even harder training, conscious recovery and good planning and management of everything else that life throws at her like schoolwork including revision and homework. 

Scottish Nationals are a bigger, more prestigious event and it required a tighter focus on achieving her qualification times in a short period.  

The qualifying window closed, she had done her best within the qualifying window and she could see from the rankings that she had been successful. 

Regardless of seeing it online, it’s always better to have it confirmed and see it for yourself in black and white!

The big day was on 14th May and her invitation to swim in the Scottish Summer National Meet was received and she had made it!

Whilst she had swum back in April in SNAGS, this somehow felt different…

First of all, she knew what it feels like to travel much further afield as an individual for a swimming meet and what that entails.

It must be tough to not be in the comfort of her own home with everything she knows around her.

The unfamiliar surroundings together with a different routine, unusual bed and varied food choices takes adaptability and flexibility to keep herself on track.

Even more challenging, then, that she sustained a shoulder injury during the last qualifying competition weekend meaning she  did not train properly for a number of weeks.

A visit to an orthopaedic consultant, an MRI scan, nothing more than ‘kick’ training for what seemed like forever, plenty of ice packs whenever possible, ibuprofen when needed and osteopathy and acupuncture in between got her back to being able to swim full strokes in all but Butterfly in 5 weeks.

Whilst she had to miss out on Strength and Conditioning and much of the swimming training during her regular sessions over the last couple of months, she was never more ready to get ready for the biggest competition yet. 

The planning began. 

In preparation for success in qualifying (certainly not in any way presumptuous but more rather a practical and financially strategic decision), a fully refundable booking of a 2-bedroomed apartment had already been secured with the plan that once confirmation of her entries had been received, the remaining logistics needed to be organised. 

The travel plans up to Scotland for the Championships were always going to be by air.  A car journey or a train journey of over 9 hours was not appealing and so flying was going to be the simplest way for us. 

We knew we would want to hire a car and pick it up from the airport so that it would give us the flexibility and independence of what we need for our time there. 

The last time we were up there in April, we had a longer stay and 2 clear free days to explore the area.  We made use of the car and travelled quite some distance to take in some culture, visit some sites and generally blow away the cobwebs in what is most definitely a different pace of life north of the border. 

We learned a few things from last time and because we won’t get the opportunity to venture out much further than the swimming pool this time round, we can pack much less stuff. 

Whilst being away and far from home can be exciting, she packs the non-negotiable things that are compulsory for race days.  This can be anything from a certain type of food, including snacks, a favourite tech suit or even the warmest socks!  

Having said that, I’ll still insist that the race suits, googles and swimming caps remain with us as hand luggage because I have lost enough luggage in the past to know that it can’t be an option for this type of trip. 

Every athlete I know has particular practices or quirks that they follow before, during and maybe even after race days and so these can be more challenging to follow.

What occurs to me is the number of pools that our daughter trains and competes in allows her to take things in her stride effortlessly, even if she doesn’t know the exact setup of the pool and the pool deck.  

Experience counts for a lot.  

The unknown is often unsettling for many.  Regardless of how challenging something is, knowing the parameters around what is required, the timelines, the expectations and so on, it alleviates the overwhelm and maybe even anxiety a person can feel.  

Race plans and preparation away from home is different, although one of the advantages of the apartment we will be staying in will mean a much shorter commute to the pool from the regular travel we do to attend the various swim

meets throughout the year. 

Everyone feels fully invested. 

The time and effort everyone puts into getting to this stage in any sport definitely takes teamwork. 

We all have to work together to make it happen and now that we are here and our daughter has made it to her first Scottish Summer Nationals, it is time to celebrate her success in getting here, enjoying the experience and learning from all the challenges that she has had to be overcome. 

If I had one wish…

My Dad, no longer with us, would have loved to watch his granddaughter swim under the Scottish banner. 

He might not be with us physically, but he is in spirit and I have no doubt he will be in our hearts more than ever on her race days as we all remain proud of her in what she works so hard for to achieve. 

If you are a goal driven person requiring support to achieve the results, get in touch. 

Anna

anna@akavirtualassistant.com