GB Women boxers gear up for Worlds

 

by James Skitt - 09.09.10

Flyweight Nicola Adams, lightweight Amanda Coulson and welterweight Savannah Marshall are all set to compete at the World Championships in Barbados, which begin today (9th September) after putting the finishing touches to their preparations with a training camp in Miami.

The trio, who access a range of sport science and medical support services from the English Institute of Sport (EIS) as part of their GB Boxing programme, will also be joined by bantamweight Sharon Holford and light-welterweight Chantelle Cameron as they represent England at the Championships.

GB Boxing's Performance Director, Rob McCracken said: "This is an important part of our preparations for 2012. The women's squad have been doing well in competitions this year and this tournament will provide a benchmark of how we are progressing in relation to 2012."

The GB women’s Boxing squad, selected in March, trains Thursday to Sunday every other week at their EIS Sheffield training base in Sheffield, with the athletes already noticing the benefits according to Savannah Marshall.

Marshall, who recently won a silver medal at the EU Championships in Hungary, told the GB Boxing website: “I am really excited at the prospect of going to my first World Championships.  As part of the GB Boxing squad we get a lot of additional support with things like nutrition, physio and strength and conditioning.  We are starting to feel the benefits of this and I feel very positive going into this tournament."

Performance Nutritionist Mark Ellison, also supporting the three boxers in Barbados, told eis2win.co.uk: “The GB Women have been with us a few months now so our support on the programme is still quite new.

“The focus so far has mainly been around education and up skilling the girls so they have the knowledge they need to get their performances up to an optimum level.

 “It’s a really exciting programme to be involved with and as we can get things developed then we can get more and more focused on individual athletes strategies as we get to know the athletes better.”

Getting the athletes in prime condition for the Championships has also been the focus for Strength and Conditioning coach Ian Pyper, who says: “For the last two or three weeks they’ve done a lot of power based work looking at moving heavy loads quickly.

“As we move nearer to competition the emphasis will change to speed work so they are feeling light, sharp and most importantly not fatigued so that they feel ready to go.”

You can see interviews with Mark Ellison and Ian Pyper now on the EIS youtube channel here

For results and updates on the event, visit the British Amateur Boxing website here

Photography © Getty Images