August 2008 seems a long time ago but that's the last we heard from our Bronze Medal girl Bryony Shaw. We left her alone to recover from the four years of intensive training and have a well earned break from the world of competitive windsurfing. But the countdown to 2012 has started and Ms.Shaw is all systems go. Crikey - will we be able to keep up with her?!

So since you returned from the Games last summer, how much time did you have off and what exactly do you do when you're in this 'rest period'?

It was a great feeling stepping off the board last summer, as my rest period was a reward for all my hard work. I had a “normal” life for at least five months; I bought a flat, had an indulgent family Christmas, ate what I wanted and did very little exercise other than to have fun! I did no set gym sessions or diet plan, and it was all guilt-free as my coach and physiologist insisted that I rest my body and mind for the entire winter period.  

When did you 'start' again?

I started getting twitchy about being off the board around mid-January, but I left it another month until I actually began RS:X sailing again, so come February my motivation was like a coiled spring. I planned my return to training nice and gently with a lengthy trip out to Buzios, Brazil. I very much felt a sense of jealousy from the other girls who stepped back onto the board after only a couple of months rest, and some who didn’t compete in China had hardly stopped at all over the winter. This made me feel smug, but they clearly had a big jump on me as I was very wobbly to start with! But I made sure that this did not dent my confidence, as our outlook is very much a four-year plan for 2012, and not just nailing the first event of the season.  

Bryony Shaw windsurfing in Palma.

What have you been working on ON the water and OFF? My initial focus was time on the water, which highlighted how much my body had weakened in certain areas, especially my legs. I was keen to get my speed up to standard across the entire wind range, but to get quality sessions where weaknesses are targeted and rectified in every wind strength takes time and patience. On top of this my coach Dom Tidey was keen to introduce a more relaxed, fluid style into my techniques, but what gave us huge reassurance was my really steep learning curve.

My development in professionalism up to the Games with diet, rest and recovery was surprisingly easy to replicate and soon the weight fell off me and my muscles were coping well with the stress of the high intensity training and racing. Mentally it was important to not take too much of an ego hit when I was getting my ass kicked in the racing. We were putting together the base structure to set me up for the season, and it was crucial to keep seeing each day as a positive learning experience. 

Where did you train over the cold winter and why did you choose these venues?

My first training camp was out in Lofer, Austria at the British Ski Team lodge where I went along with the more fitness focused sailors and windsurfers to go cross-country skiing. This was a great starter to get a high volume of base level fitness going, and the beautiful snowy mountains provided a much nicer training ground than cold, rainy England! After this camp I went out to Palma, Majorca, which has great roads for cycling. Again we had an elite group of sailors that I could tag along with, which is always good for motivation. It was chilly but we managed to avoid any rain, some days were warm enough for shorts even in January!

Brazil was a great choice of venue for getting back onto the board; I could train on the water in just a bikini and boardies, I could surf every afternoon and there was a really high standard of girls racing there who are all good friends of mine. It was like half holiday/half job. 

Tell about the 'team' of people now around you? When it was time to start training again my Olympic Manager, Stephen Park (Sparky) asked me to list what support I felt I would need to get a Gold Medal in 2012. I felt like I had been given complete control over my programme, which was very empowering. It has now been titled “Project Bryony” and the initial focus is on body structuring and strengthening for long-term preservation. My physio, Chris Gordon and my physical trainer, Steve Gent have designed pilates style exercises to target my weaker areas of strength and flexibility so I can be sure that when I start power lifting much later this year that I am more aware of good lifting techniques and that my body has a high standard of core stability and symmetry.

Bryony Shaw with Dom Tidey and Lucy Horwood.

Other support-staff look after my general fitness, like Pete Cunningham the physiologist, who works closely with the very successful British Cycling team. Nutritional advice is on tap from Nathan Lewis, who worked with me throughout my Games preparations. Finally, of course, not forgetting the pivotal role of my coach Dom Tidey, who is crucial to funnel through to me all the relevant services that are available to us as part of Skandia Team GBR. 

So fifth in Parma (at the Princesa Sofia Mapfre Trophy) - happy with your result?

As this was only my second event since my break, Palma never had an outcome focus but it is hard to not set myself high standards. I couldn’t help getting frustrated with my mistakes, as there were so many areas that were really coming along well, like my speed. But as the week progressed my racing started to look a lot tidier and my results reflected this.

However, the medal race can be such a killer if you get it wrong, as it is double points, so I finished the qualifying series in a reasonably safe 4th, but dropped to 5th by one point just because I over complicated a race that in hindsight only needed simple tactics. These races that leave me feeling gutted only give me more determination to up my game for the next race. So let’s see how the racing in Hyeres, France goes next week. (Bryony got another medal - this time a Silver one!)  

Bryony Celebrating at the 2008 Olypics after receiving a well deserved bronze medal.

Plans for the next few months? We will inevitably have a great list of things to target over May, so I will hopefully be in fighting shape come the Europeans in June in Tel Aviv, Israel. Our focus through May will be on water training in Weymouth (the Olympic venue) to work on pumping, speed and board-handling techniques, on top of the fitness training and not forgetting “Project Bryony!"

Keep following Bryony's progress at www.bryonyshaw.com.

Bryony would like to thank her sponsors for their continued support: Skandia, Fat Face, JP/NeilPryde and Kaenon.