Olympic dreams

I slept appallingly last night, waking up every half hour, convinced we'd oversleep and be late.

Sal had to be at the Olympic Park at 8.00 am for the finals of the National Schools Biathlon championships.

She ran first, two 400m loops round a car park. Why no track? This is a national competition. It was brilliantly organised, there are 8,000 competitors over two days, hundreds of parents, coaches and supporters turn up from all over the country - and the kids are running round a car park?

Anyhow, she ran, did well, came second, then into the pool. The pool is gorgeous, impressive, sexy, not too loud, not too hot, loads of space .. it's 'wow'.

She swam, we cheered, we watched the scoreboard, she won her heat! We were amazed, proud, surprised. She's young for the age group and not a club swimmer.

She finished, changed, we walked to the car park, the phone rang. 'Come back! They came third!'

What?! We ditched bags and snacks and hotfooted it back to the pool. A tense wait while scores were queried, contested and disputed. Finally, unexpectedly, our team of three hopped up on the podium and were declared bronze medal winners. The third best three in the country!

Utterly exhausted, hyped up on adrenalin, medicated with donuts, Sal slept all the way home and spent the afternoon sprawled on the sofa watching Downton Abbey.

She can do what she likes. She's a champ.