Craig Gibbons, who represented Britain in top-level meetings in his career, will be leaving the islands today after conducting a mid-summer training camp during which he also competed in the ASA National Championships at the pool in Tal-Qroqq.
The 24-year-old Milton Keynes sprinter has been swimming for Britain for almost seven years now.
He was part of the team for the World Championships in Mel-bourne (2006) and Manchester (2008) with his best result so far coming in the 2009 European Short Course Championships when he placed sixth in the 100 metres freestyle final in Istanbul.
Originally, Gibbons was not planning to be here this month but after failing to make the cut for the World Championships in Shanghai he opted to return to Malta for a second successive year to plot his way back into contention and at the same time renew acquaintances with old friend Neil Agius, the former Malta swimmer.
“I’m pleased to be back here in Malta,” Gibbons said.
“I have been friends with Neil Agius since we met in the World Short Course Championships in Sheffield a few years back. Last year, I came over for a similar training period and I really enjoyed it so I decided to return after the UK trials.
“Competition for places was tough, however. Now, I have to train harder for the European Short Course Championships in Poland at the end of the year.”
But, Gibbons’s long-term goal remains that of representing Great Britain in next year’s Olympics which will be staged in London.
“Missing out on Shanghai was bad but I’m determined to form part of the British team for London 2012,” he said.
“I have never had the oppor-tunity to compete in an Olympics and to make my debut in London would mean the world to me.
“I know that I have the ability to make the team.
“The next few months will be crucial as I have to reach peak form in time for the trials where I hope I can show that I deserve to be part of Team GB.”
In Malta, Gibbons did not waste time and continued with his training programme to stay in shape.
In fact, he practised regularly at Tal-Qroqq and during the ASA championships he even lowered his 50m butterfly personal best time to 25.18 seconds.
Gibbons reckons the National Pool is an ideal place to conduct swim sport.
“The National Pool is a great venue for swimmers,” he said.
“Having the gym and the pool so close to each other makes things easier to train throughout the season. The complex here compares well to what we have in Britain and in my opinion local swimmers have everything in place to improve their level of performance.”
During his stay Gibbons also found time to assist Agius in his newly-established swimming school. Agius, who retired from the sport after last month’s GSSE, has started a coaching career and currently runs a swimming school along with national team member Mark Buttigieg.
“It has been a new experience for me to work with young swimmers at Neil’s school,” Gib-bons added.
“I was able to assist the young swimmers with drills in the water and it was great to see them enjoying themselves and making progress.
“As a professional swimmer, I feel duty bound to help new-comers coming through the early stages of their training and it’s my wish to see more Maltese children joining such schools and prac-tising swimming as it is a very healthy sport.”