Interview: David Carry, swimmer

Published on Thursday 29 July 2010 13:23

AlREADY feeling pretty low after another Olympic Games ended in disappointment, for David Carry things would have to get worse before they could get better.

The Scottish swimmer had travelled to Beijing with high hopes of exorcising the demons of Athens 2004, where he had been unexpectedly dropped for the final of the 4x200m relay, resulting in Great Britain losing out on a medal by 0.8seconds. But instead of those memories being usurped by tales of glory, he was left frustrated when, despite meeting the target times he had set, his prediction that they would ensure success proved misplaced.

"I had set targets and convinced myself they would be good enough to get a medal, especially in the relay," says the 28-year-old. "We swam brilliantly, I set a new British record in the lead off and we got a new British record in the heats and everything was great. We were fourth quickest going into the final, just fractions behind a medal place and, in the final, we set another new British record and everybody was pleased with the way they swam but unfortunately six teams beat us! That was a real shock to me because I was convinced that the times and targets I had set would be good enough to get us a medal and for that not to happen and to again miss out on a medal was incredibly hard to take."

He had bounced back from his Athens anguish to claim two golds and a silver in the Commonwealth Games two years later and since then he had visualised repeating his podium appearances in China. The picture was so clear in his mind so it was devastating when it failed to become a reality. But the blows just kept coming. Seeking answers to his Olympic conundrum he scrutinised his swims and was greeted with some rather uncomfortable facts.

"I realised that actually there were still huge improvements for me to make, and it was primarily in strength and speed. I'd been pretty much the quickest swimmer - well the second or third quickest - in the whole race in the 200m freestyle but my start and my turns were just so bad that I wasn't even in the top 100 in those stats. Once I realised that, my aim was to become at least average in those areas because if I became an average starter and an average turner then I would be one of the best in the world." It was a show of amazing fortitude and positivity. "It was hard to take initially, to be told that you are actually quite rubbish at something you do every day and you had thought you were an expert at but I quickly turned that around and saw a massive opportunity for myself and I now think I'm probably one of the best turners in the world.That is so exciting, to be able to take a massive weakness and be able to turn it into a positive."

Starting from scratch, he had to strip back his swimming style. Endurance wasn't a problem so he focused on building up pace over the shorter distances and lengthening his stroke. It has been a tough process, requiring impressive mental strength and an unwavering long-term vision. "It was hard, really hard, especially for the ego because I knew it was going to take me two years to be competitive again and being beaten by people I felt I shouldn't be getting beat by and just scraping into teams as a relay swimmer was hard for me. A lot of people were thinking I had made the wrong move but I had sat down with the team I have around me at Stockport and we all had the confidence that it was the right thing to do. I could have just kept going, doing the same thing, stayed in the top ten in the world, kept chugging along, but I just wasn't happy doing that so I knew I had to do something fairly big."

The plan is going, well, swimmingly, thus far and with another Commonwealth Games looming large, Carry believes he could again be in medal contention. He aims to prove that in the European Championships which begin this week and are being treated as a dress rehearsal for the October outing in Delhi. But he knows it is unlikely Scotland's team of ambitious rookies and returning heroes will surpass the sensations of the unprecedented Scottish successes in the pool in Melbourne. The average haul in previous Commonwealths had been four medals, in Australia the team obliterated that tally with a dozen. "Just talking about it gives me goosebumps," says Carry, who took gold in the 200m and 400m freestyle and silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay, and a beaming grin spreads across his face as an accompaniment. There have been tough times since then but he is hoping they have been worth it and the good times are, again, about to roll.