First off I would just like to say thank you for being here at the beginning of my journey; you are the first readers to join me on my Olympic Journey. Hopefully in 3 years time you will be reading about my Olympic success!
So about me, my name is Serita Shone and I am the newest female member of the Great Britain Bobsleigh Team. I am twenty two years old and I live in Sunny Weymouth in Dorset. I have just completed an MSc at Leeds Metropolitan University in Sport and Exercise Nutrition. I have worked the past year in elite sport for several top rugby and football clubs and now taking elite sport forward as my full time job. My athletic background mainly surrounds athletics where I competed for England and Great Britain on a number of occasions for heptathlon.
Now about bobsleigh, I joined the team in August 2011 and am now on the Europa Cup team after stringent selection programme. I attended trials at Bath University in August which involved sprint tests on the athletics track over 15-45 meters, strength tests in the gym such as isometric pulls and speed and strength trial on the push track. The push track at Bath University is the National track for British Bobsleigh and Skeleton to practice the push start. It is the closest us athletes can get to simulating pushing on the ice. It involves pushing a 170kg training sled, either singularly or in pairs down the push track to practice accelerating the bob, running with the bob and getting into it. My first attempt at double pushing resulted in me being upside down in a heap on the floor watching the bob and my team mate traveling down the hill and hearing ‘get out the way’ as I lay seeing stars as the bob comes hurtling back towards me (a bungee system propels the bob back up the steep slope). Thankfully I got up, straightened out my clothes and’ got back on the horse’ and every push after that was a success.
Following these ‘dry land trials’ the final selection of athletes traveled to Latvia in September of this year to push on ice at the push start ice house in Sigulda. This for me was a surreal experience, Pushing on ice feels so different from anything else, a little like practicing the front crawl in the air and then in the water. Adapting running styles to suit ice, wearing clothing suitable for the cold, practicing your pushing technique on a different surface whilst trying to remember the ‘call’ to ensure timing with your driver at the top of the track is perfect is a lot to think about in the space of about 3 seconds! The experience however was out of this world, the feeling of being strong, fast and agile is a great feeling!
Post ice trials the selection panel had their selection meeting and the team was announced; our first race being at Winterberg, Germany 24–29 October 2011. The next installment in my story is the feeling of being in a bob and traveling at 100mph down the entire track, not just at a push start track! Hopefully my next installment will be full of excitement and entertainment! Until then……Just keep Bobbing!
Over and Out!
Serita x
