Retirements leave Buxton star Abbie Wood swimming solo

The 24-year-old Wood spent more than a decade training day in, day out with fellow Olympians Molly Renshaw and Sarah Vasey.

So when the duo both called times on their careers at the end of 2022, Wood suddenly found herself out of her comfort zone.

A trip to Arizona for a training camp at altitude turned out to be just what the doctor ordered, with Wood having formed a bond with teammate Freya Colbert that has helped her find her feet once again.

Buxton-born Wood, who trains in Loughborough at the British Swimming Performance Centre, explained: “I feel like Molly and Sarah retiring was hard on me. I’ve trained with them for the past 12 years. It’s very different without them, but at altitude, I really enjoyed it because I got closer with some of the other girls on the team.

“Me and Freya Colbert have formed a really good bond here at Loughborough. One of my aims when I went away to altitude was just to make more friends! I wanted to be happier around the pool again. That was my main focus, if you don’t enjoy your job, what’s the point?

“As the season started and into Christmas, I felt quite lost. Loughborough in itself is quite a secluded town with just sportspeople and students. If you feel like all your friends are moving out of Loughborough, it’s quite a lonely place.

“My main aim going away with the girls at altitude was to be as social as possible. That has made me really enjoy training again and makes the grindy sessions a lot easier when I’ve got close friends around.

“Our team, with (coach David Hemmings) Dave’s group, we’re quite a close group. It’s really nice again. The team were there all along, I just needed to be a bit more open to everyone.”

Having found her way once more, Wood is now putting the final touches to her preparations for the British Swimming Championships, the flagship domestic swimming event that will be held at Sheffield’s Ponds Forge between 4th and 9th April.

That meet will play a key role in the selection process for July's World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

The 200m individual medley, in which Wood was just a tenth of a second away from an Olympic medal in Tokyo two years ago, remains the main priority.

But Wood has also turned her focus to the freestyle, as she looks to establish herself as a potential X-factor in Britain’s relay teams.

She added: “I’ve been quite enjoying freestyle at the moment so I wanted to do that event and see if I could take it on. It was never a conscious decision, it was just natural.

“I could feel my freestyle getting stronger with all the work that I’ve been doing with Freya Colbert since she moved to the centre. We’ve made quite a duo and have been very good for each other on freestyle.

“Naturally, I’ve become more confident on the stroke. Maybe it won’t make much of a difference because I’ve still been focusing on the medley and that is the full focus but hopefully with me being more confident in the freestyle, it will help the back end of my medley where sometimes, my last 50 split isn’t up there with the best in the world.

“The boys have done so well in the relays and I feel like the girls are starting to want to mimic that and get stronger as the years go on. I never see myself swimming freestyle on an international stage individually but I think I definitely want to make it stronger for the relays.

“I think at worlds, the aim will be the medley, to keep my hand in that and then be the best asset I can in relays. It will be similar to previous years.”

Tickets are still available for the British Swimming Championships in Sheffield (4th-9th April).

Head over to //britishswimming.org/events-and-tickets for more information - or watch all the action from every session on the British Swimming YouTube channel.