In the event that she drops the 100m backstroke, Coventry will only compete in her signature event — the 200m backstroke where she holds the world record of 2.05.24 attained at the 2008 Olympics Games in Beijing, China.
The 27-year-old will also compete in the 200m and 400m individual medley contests.
Coventry made the revelation of her plan to drop the 100m backstroke ahead of her next swimming championships — the 14th edition of the Fina World Swimming Championship set for Shanghai, China. The championship will run from July 16-31. Coventry did not compete in the 100m backstroke at the Mare Nostrum in Monaco last week.
“Kirsty had to drop the 100m backstroke because it was back-to-back with the 400m IM. She needs to get a bit stronger in order to compete successfully in the 100m backstroke. We started working on this a couple of weeks ago but whether or not she competes in this event at the Olympics will depend on the next three or four months,” said the swimmer’s management.
At the start of the 200m backstroke heats last Sunday morning, Kirsty slipped off the wall. She fell flat on the water and pushed her first 50m hard to catch up, tiring out near the end. She just made it through to the finals. She was very happy with her swim in the final and made up from the bad start with a silver medal.
She swam the 200m IM later on and cruised through to win a gold medal.
“I felt really good and was especially happy with my breastroke. We are still on track for 2012!”
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I had to refocus — Coventry
Coventry had to refocus to restructure her career.
“I was a little concerned about my time in Monaco but once I cleared my head and refocused my energy into each swim, concentrating on one race at a time, it helped,” Coventry said.
Based on Fina points, Coventry was the seventh best performer of the meet. Zimbabwe as a nation came 11th out of 24. This is really really good considering there was only one swimmer from Zimbabwe.
Coventry not taking a training break
Coventry is not taking a break from training until after World Champs in Shanghai in July.
“I’m looking forward to World Champs. It’s the second biggest competition to the Olympics and there will be some tough racing. I need to use this meet as part of my training for next year. Zimbabwe are sending two other younger swimmers. I look forward to sharing the experience with them and wish them luck in the final stages of their training.”
Zimbabwe Aquatic Union is sending Tim Ferris and Nicole Horn to the World Swimming Championships where they will join world champion Coventry.Meanwhile, Coventry posted some good results in Mare Nostrum in Monaco and Sette Colli Invitational in Rome.
She scooped a silver medal in the 200m IM (2.12.91) and silver in the 200m backstroke (2.11.57) in Monaco. She also scooped a silver in the 400m IM (4.45.28) but had a disastrous race in the 100m backstroke clocking 4.35.89 and finished in 6th place.
She improved her time in the 400m IM (4.38.1) in Rome to scoop a gold medal. She also won a silver medal in the 200m backstroke (2.09.56), an improved time from Monaco.
