The Mindset of Commonwealth Silver Medallist, Holly Hibbott

Holly Hibbott is without doubt one of the best swimmers I have ever had the pleasure of watching compete. And I am proud to say I was also was her Strength and Conditioning coach, as well as her teammate. She is an incredible competitor. She absolutely dominates in the pool and if you ever get the chance to watch her race I would recommend it, because it will be an exciting one. She is also one of the most hard working athletes in training – and it clearly pays off when it comes to competing. Her events are the 800m, 400m and 200m freestyle, as well as the 200m butterfly, so you would class her as a distance swimmer in the pool although recently her focus has moved away from the 800m to the more middle-distance events. Her achievements include 2 x Commonwealth Medallist, 3 x European medallist, European Champion, and World Championship finalist. And she is only just 21!

I met Holly when we were both Swimmers in the Performance Squad at Stockport Metro, under our coach Sean Kelly. She was 15 and I was 26 having just got back in the water after coming out of retirement to compete again. She was already extremely fast and I knew she would go far in her swimming career. When I was her age I also was an 800m and 400m swimmer, as well as the 200m butterfly so it felt quite nostalgic seeing her train (but I was secretly glad I didn’t have to do all that training volume anymore being a sprinter this time round!). We trained together for 2 years and over that time became good friends, and we had the pleasure of competing together, winning relay national medals together, and going on training camps and competitions abroad. 

I became her strength and conditioning coach in 2017 and I incorporated a lot of functional fitness and weightlifting into her regime to get her stronger. It was a pleasure to coach her, she always pushed and worked hard, and it was a proud time to see her through into her Commonwealth Games debut aged just 18 years old, where she absolutely smashed it, winning a silver medal in the 400m freestyle and a bronze in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay! She puts in so much work she truly deserved it. An extremely mentally and physically tough athlete. I mean, you have to be to swim an average of 80,000m per week every week…

So as it is International Womens Day today, I thought it would be very fitting to do a blog post on Holly, as she is such an inspiring lady, to so many people, and not just the younger swimming generation, but she inspired me countless times. Her determination and grit that she shows in the pool certainly pushed me on numerous occasions in training and for that I am grateful to know her. 

So, lets learn a little bit about Holly with a few questions…

What age did you start swimming competitively?

I joined my first swimming club at 8 years old and made my first international team at 13 years old (European youth Olympic festival).

Favourite stroke?

Freestyle. (aka front crawl)

Least favourite stroke?

Breastroke.

Kick or Pull?

Kick.

Morning Training or Afternoon Training?

Morning Training.

Would you prefer individual bronze or relay gold?

Relay Gold. 

How many hours a week do you train?

20 hours swimming

4 hours gym (2 hours strength and conditioning and 2 hours cardio on bike)

3 hours rehab/ capacity training. 

Can you describe your typical week when training in normal times?

Wake up every morning about 7.15am and arrive at the pool at 7.45am. Train in the pool 8.15-10.30am and either have gym or physio post morning swim. 

Then we train Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings. Arriving at the pool at 2.45pm to do 30 minutes capacity/ rehab and swim 3.15-5.30pm. 

We have Wednesday afternoon, Saturday afternoon and Sunday off to recover. 

What would you say is the hardest part about being a swimmer?

I would say the hardest part is when you know you have put in a lot of hard work but you don’t get the outcome you feel you have trained for and the feeling of not being satisfied with a performance. 

What would you say is the best part about being a swimmer?

Travelling to many countries that I would never of had the opportunity to visit and the people and friends that I have met along the way. 

What is your greatest success so far in Swimming?

Winning a commonwealth silver medal (400m freestyle) and becoming European champion (4x200 freestyle)

What is your ultimate goal?

To win an Olympic medal. 

Who or what inspires or motivates you, if anyone/anything, when you are pushing through the pain during a race? What is it that gives you that extra gear to finish off strong?

When I started my career my family were a massive motivation for me and they still are, but I would say I do it for myself now. I always been very competitive in everything I do, so I guess that helps to push me through the pain but it is also knowing how much hard work I have put in through the years. 

Can you tell us a time where an important race hasn’t gone to plan, and how you dealt with it?

At the commonwealth games I came 4th in the 800 Freestyle - just getting touched out in the last couple of strokes but I couldn’t see the other swimmer. However, I knew I had the 400m freestyle the next day so it was important that I didn’t let my emotions from coming 4th get the better of me. I knew I had to focus on the things I could control to ensure I was ready to race again the next morning and make the final the following morning. 

After the competition had finished I allowed myself time to reflect on coming 4th by such a small margin and I used this as motivation for the next competition. 

It seems you managed to keep those emotions at bay and impressively went on to win silver in the 400m! Well Done! Can you tell us your tips and advice for overcoming adversity in sport?

Take one performance at a time, there’s always another opportunity to do a better performance. It is also important to have a positive mindset and surround yourself with like-minded people and remind yourself of your talent and skill. Use a bad performance as motivation to get to the goals you have set. 

Do you have any pre-race routines? If so what are they?

I love to listen to music while doing my land warm up I feel it relaxes me and stops me thinking about the race too much. In the pool I do the same warm up for every race! I also have a short land warm up which includes mostly power exercises so I am warm and ready to go, this will be done about 15 minutes before I dive in to race. 

What has been your favourite race of your career and why?

4x200 relay at European championships. We won gold in Glasgow in front of a home crowd. It was an amazing moment being part of that team.  

If you could go back 5 years and give yourself any advice knowing what you know now, what would it be?

Enjoy every moment and to focus on the things I can control. 

How would you say your strength and conditioning training with SwimWod head coach Emma Gage affected your swimming during your run up to Commonwealths 2018?

Before starting the strength and conditioning programme that Emma wrote for me I hadn’t done much weight training before, as most of my land training programme had been body weight exercises so from this new programme I learnt all the correct techniques for weightlifting exercises which I still do today. As I had only done body weight exercises before starting the programme with SwimWod I massively developed my strength throughout the season and I think this was key to my success in the pool as it directly translated to the power/strength I gained in the pool. 

How has Covid affected your training this past year, any advice for people who are unable to go to a pool at the moment?

We were out of the water for about 10 weeks last year. Which is the longest I haven’t been in the water since I started swimming. Although I did a lot of training on land I found it took me a while to get my ‘feel’ back in the pool, but some people found that they were back to normal quite quickly, so it really does depend on the person. I then had to do two weeks isolation because I was a close contact to another person who had Covid. 

Training is quite different for us now as we have to operate under strict guidance which the government have set out which includes socially distancing in the pool and wearing masks during gym sessions. 

For people that train at the moment I would say do as much as you can out of the pool (walking, biking, circuits or running) but also enjoy some time with your family (if you live with them) that you wouldn’t normally have. When pools eventually open again I would say don’t rush getting back to where you once were enjoy the process of getting back into the pool.

Great advice holly, and a really inspiring interview. Wishing you the best and every success for your future in swimming and I have everything crossed for you (and also every belief in you) that you achieve your ultimate goal...