Less pool time lifts Fisher’s medal tally
‘It’s a lot of things coming together at the moment, which is really exciting.’
A LESS is more training regime has paid off handsomely for Mary Fisher, who returned to Wellington with her luggage bulging after winning five gold medals and a silver at the IPC world championships in Montreal.
The 20-year-old vision-impaired swimmer from Upper Hutt touched down at Wellington Airport yesterday and said the six-medal haul had exceeded her own expectations.
‘‘Yeah, not the coach [Craig Alberty], but definitely [mine],’’ Fisher said.
‘‘You always go into competition wanting to better your personal best times . . . but so cool to race against everyone else that’s the top in the world.’’
Alberty said he had tweaked Fisher’s training to a more aerobicbased programme and slashed 10 sessions a week to five.
‘‘We’ve channelled a lot of what we felt was wasted energy . . . and made sure that it’s quality as opposed to quantity,’’ Alberty said.
‘‘[We’re] making sure whatever we’re doing is actually quality work as opposed to a bit of casual stuff. So it’s a bit of pressure and a lot more intensity on to Mary but it appears to be working quite well.’’
Christchurch’s Sophie Pascoe also won five golds in Canada, with New Zealand finishing fourth in the medal tally.
‘‘I think the pair of them are forging the way forward in swimming,’’ Alberty said.
Mary Fisher
‘‘We’re certainly getting the Paralympic side of swimming out there into the public which is needed. While Sophie and Mary are both performing the way they are, the public are getting to know what swimming is about.’’
Fisher will now enjoy some downtime before returning to her bachelor of science studies at Massey University in Palmerston North next week.
She will then swim at New Zealand’s short-course championships in Wellington next month.
Long term, the goal is the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro and Fisher is excited about the possibilities a more professional training programme can provide.
‘‘In Montreal, during competition, we had a lot of lactic testing and ice baths and stuff that I hadn’t done before, so that was really good,’’ Fisher said.
‘‘But I’ve definitely been upping some of the gym and stability work so I think that really helped me, especially the sprint events. It’s a lot of things coming together at the moment, which is really exciting.’’