Loving the Games buzz

Reporter: by SIMON SMEDLEY
Date published: 23 July 2014


JESSICA Fullalove is determined to cherish every moment of her first Commonwealth Games experience, which begins tonight with Glasgow 2014’s opening ceremony at Celtic Park.

Royton-based starlet Fullalove, the youngest member of Team England’s swimming squad at Glasgow, has enjoyed another terrific year so far in the pool, and speaking ahead of tomorrow’s first full day of competitive action, she is definitely feeling the buzz.

Fullalove, the former European Junior champion who may or may not find time to celebrate her 18th birthday on Sunday, said: “It’s been great since we arrived in Glasgow on Sunday.

“It’s been really busy, we’ve trained, got used to the athlete’s village, been in with the physio, met with media from all over the world, lots of things.

“It just feels real for me now. We’ve all trained so hard for the Commonwealths, but now we’re finally here it does feel so much different.

“There’s no real pressure on me to win medals I guess, so because of that I’m determined to enjoy the whole Glasgow experience as much as I can.

“It’s just got to be about personal bests for me. It’s my first major senior Games event, so I’m just concentrating on swimming as fast as I can and getting those times down.

“If I swim personal best times and don’t win a medal, that will be more than enough for me.”

City of Manchester Aquatics ace Fullalove’s first chance to shine at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre is on Friday morning, when she goes in the 100m backstroke heats.

She follows that on Sunday morning by competing in the 200m backstroke heats, while her third and final event, the 50m backstroke, gets under way on Monday.
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