Laura Whaler: RT Journals

Disappointingly there has not been any Women’s 4 x 100m relay team named for Commonwealth Games so I am now back to the drawing board. After my initial disappointment I sat down with my coach and we have decided that I will have a shot at trying to obtain and individual A qualifier. If it happens then hopefully that will be enough for individual selection, but if not, then I will continue working towards even higher standards for next season. I am encouraged by the solid improvement I have had this year and know that I can continue to improve on that. I have had so much support from fellow athletes and their coaches and I am grateful to everyone for this.

I plan to have some meets on the Gold Coast firstly and we are still looking at other options as they come up.

I am a member of the Jump Start to London 2012 squad and I am so privileged to be a part of this squad. They provide support in so many different ways, not only to me but also to my coach. They have provided me with so many development opportunities and I have no doubt that a huge part of my improvement is due to this. Sally McGrady and her team are so understanding of what it takes for me to follow my dreams and I am proud to have them in "my team".

The program allows me to travel to different meets and last year I went to Singapore with a small team and loved the experience of a different culture and competing against a lot of strangers and being able to come home as the Singapore Open 100m champion. I have also been to Townsville where not only do we get to compete at the North Qld Championships but we are able to meet with a lot of younger athletes from remote areas and hopefully encourage them to follow their dreams too – to be the best they can be in life.

Other than my support from Jump Start I am at this stage unsponsored so I am hoping to obtain a shoe and possible clothing sponsor sometime soon. And I will continue working hard to achieve my goals. I am still only 22 and so have many years ahead of me in the sport, hopefully.

That’s it for now but I’ll keep you posted on how I go in the next couple of weeks..

Laura