Jessica Lewis On Season Goals And More
[Written by Stephen Wright]
Jessica Lewis believes she is approaching her peak as an athlete as she builds towards the Paralympic Games in Paris this summer.
The 30-year-old recently won her second Female Athlete of the Year award in recognition of her gold medal display in the T53 100 metres at the Parapan Am Games in Santiago, Chile, in November last year.
It was Lewis’ third successive gold at the multi-sport event, with her time of 16.71sec smashing her own Games record of 17.36.
Last year, Lewis made significant career changes, moving to Victoria, British Columbia, to train at the Athletics Canada West Hub under her new coach, Geoff Harris, and making positional alterations to her racing chair.
“We’re in a heavy training block right now,” Lewis told Bernews. “The racing chair is never comfortable, but I’m getting used to the new position.
“We’ve been working on my start mechanics, which are becoming more fluid. We’ve also changed my push rims. We’re looking at having different-sized rims for my different races.
“I’ll have bigger rims for the 100, which are easier to accelerate and return to the smaller rims in the 400, which are easier to maintain a pace once you’ve accelerated.”
Lewis got her season underway at the 15th Fazza International Para Athletics Grand Prix – Dubai in February, finishing fourth in the 100 and T53 400.
Among her priority events this year will be the rescheduled Para World Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan, in May and the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Paris in June before the Paralympics in August and September.
“The races in Dubai were challenging,” she added. “I had a chair malfunction my 100, so I don’t have a baseline yet for this season, which is playing on my mind a bit.
“The goal is to get faster. I’ve done a lot of volume training in the past few weeks. It’s been exhausting, but I’m feeling as strong as ever.
“I’m hoping I’m approaching my peak [as an athlete], and I’m going to busy competing over the next few months.
“I’m hoping I’ll get one of the high-performance slots for the Paralympics. I’m in a good position [to qualify], and I’m so grateful to wear Bermuda on my back.”
Bermuda is proud of you, Jessica. GFTL !
Go Jessica!