Hello to you all

I hope you had a happy and safe New Year. My New Year’s Eve was ok. I couldn’t get up to any mischief because I am right in the middle of a training block leading up to the Olympic Trials which are on in about 7 weeks. In fact – at the moment I am away on a training camp experiencing a lot of pain – haha – all for the greater good though.

Wow. Didn’t this year start off HOT here in Queensland? I was actually looking forward to going to training each day there for a while so I could jump into the beautiful cool water. I am definitely not complaining about the heat though. I LOVE summer and would rather be melting than freezing any day. It was really hot for my poor dogs though. We ended up buying them one of those plastic shells and put some water in them for the dogs to sit in. They didn’t last too long though before they got a good chewing.

I managed to finally go on my birthday present trip (almost a month later). We zoomed over to Tangalooma and stayed for a couple of days. I LOVED feeding the dolphins over there. I had a really great time and our guide Reece made it all the more enjoyable for us. I highly recommend it if you get a chance to head over there.

I have also been enjoying watching the cricket and the tennis this month. The cricket boys have been doing some amazing stuff on the field GO AUSSIES and the tennis players are all looking very colourful on the court while they are doing their ‘thing’.

I have also done a few sponsor/charity events this month. I chatted on the radio to promote the 24hr treadmill challenge to help the fight against Leukemia and then zoomed up to Jetts Fitness at Morayfield to take part and be there on the day.

Being a part of the Queensland Academy of Sport i often get the opportunity to talk to young up and coming swimmers about swimming, training, and life outside of sport. 

I recently had a chance to chat with the JX Bronze Swimmers at Chandler Pool about balancing school, training, diet, and life away from the pool.

Speaking of charities I have linked up with Asthma Australia this month. Being a chronic asthmatic I really appreciate all they are doing to help others like me and I am more than happy to support this great organisation.

Yesterday I went to the Suncorp Piazza at Southbank in Brisso and had a chat with heaps of young swimmers who are aspiring to achieve their goals in the pool.

Brenton Rickard, Christian Sprenger, Kyle Richardson, Kylie Palmer, Libby Trickett, Steph Rice, Yolane Kukla and myself had a good time speaking about our experiences at swim meets and also shared our tips and advice for training. I hope that we all were able to give everyone there the information for which they were looking to be able to achieve their dreams and goals.

After that finished I zoomed home, threw my bag into the car and drove to the Sunny Coast where I am right now on my two week training camp.

Have an awesome AUSTRALIA DAY on the 26th everyone. I LOVE AUSTRALIA DAY. Aussies rule !!!!

Enjoy being back at school (if you go to school that is)

Have fun and take care,

I hope 2012 is amazing for you all.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Hi again

Well, Christmas is over for another year. I went pretty well in the present department – getting new clothes, shoes, a really cool coffee machine, several books – I love reading – and a few DVDs to watch.

Since I wrote last, I have swum at the Queensland State Swimming Championships where I competed in the 50, 100 and 200 butterfly.

I had to contest these Championships untapered, so that it didn’t interfere with the Olympic Games Trials work I’m in the middle of doing, but I did okay anyway. It was good race practice.

I am fairly happy with my results this year although there were a couple of little details which affected the end results especially in my 100 fly.

All things I can work on though so its all good.

The Olympic Selection Trials are getting closer and closer. They will be on in about 12 weeks in Adelaide in March 2012.

I’m still training very hard – which is good because It will help to work off my Christmas dinner – haha 

We have had heaps of December birthdays this month in my family. My husband, my sister, my nephew, my uncle, my Grandma and my Pop all have their birthdays in December so it is a very busy month for us celebration wise and it is all finished off with Christmas.

I have also been keeping busy teaching my niece and nephew how to swim, even on the coldest days. 

Dad is apparently going to get solar heating for the pool WOO WOO!!!.  They are so clever and so brave.

We have also been spending a lot of time at the beach with our dogs, there’s a great beach at the Gold Coast where there are always heaps and heaps dogs of all different sizes.  Its so much fun and you get to meet so many puppies

Well I hope you all had a great Christmas and that Santa gave you some awesome surprises

I hope you have a safe and Happy New Year. Best wishes for 2012

 and don’t forget to keep writing to me, i love reading all the letters and emails you guys send

Until next time

Bye…

            Jess

Hello to you all again

What a HUGE and busy month I’ve had.

As I told you last month – straight after the MND and Me swim I had to pack up and head off to the North Coast for a 2 week training camp. We didn’t go where we usually go on our Sunny Coast training camps this time – we went to the Sunshine Coast University because they have just had a brand new pool put in. It was great. I had as good a time as you can when you are training hard every day.

The French Team were over and were staying with us as well so it was good to see some of the swimmers I have gotten to know over the years again.

The Noosa Triathlon was the next thing I usually go to – but this year I went down to Miami on the Gold Coast along with heaps of other swimmers to help to raise funds for three major charities and attempt to break a World record. The Match Swim was the idea of high school student and cancer patient Jordan Hart, who loves swimming and surf lifesaving.

It was an awesome day and we did really well with the fund raising to help out the Leukaemia Foundation, Make a Wish Foundation and Redkite…AND…we smashed the world record for 100 x 100 freestyle relay by 6 minutes – woohoo.

I zoomed home after the swimming finished because that night we were attending the Leukemia foundation masquerade ball. Everyone looked amazing. We had a great night and raised a lot of money!!!

The next day I washed all of my camp stuff and re-packed my suitcase because the following day we were flying off to Singapore to swim in the World Cup there and then onto the next leg in Beijing.

It was so hot in Singapore and there were heaps of swimmers there too. The French Team who were on the Sunny Coast camp with us stopped into to compete on the last leg of their journey back home, then we flew over to Beijing and it was cold there !!!! Go figure.

Thanks to everyone at home who were sending me messages of support and encouragement. I love knowing you guys are all back home cheering me on – thank you

I was happy with my swims at the world cup – my times were the best I have done since 2009 so it looks like the hard work is paying off. Fingers crossed for more improvement.

On my return to Australia the announcement was made that the Gold Coast won the bid for the Commonwealth Games in 2018. Hmmmmmm – will I keep on swimming until then???????

 I also helped out one of my sponsors Adidas with presenting a couple of schools with cheques for $5000 courtesy of Credit Union Australia for their participation in the Adidas Schools Fun Run.  I had a great time at the two schools that I visited with lots of running around and screaming with the kids.

I have had my birthday this month. Now I am getting too far on the wrong side of 21 and I’m not happy about that.

Well this weekend is the Australian Swimming – Swimmer of the Year Awards in Sydney. I am really looking forward to them. It is great to see everyone. The girls look really gorgeous in their beautiful dresses and the guys all scrubbed up pretty well too.

O well – 25 sleeps til Santa comes…..so be good

I will catch up again after Christmas

                        HAVE A SAFE AND FESTIVE SEASON AND BEST WISHES FOR 2012

   See you      

      Jess

Hi Everyone

Well, I’ve been VERY busy again this month.

I zoomed up to Noosa to present medals and say hello to all my good friends at the National Down Syndrome Swim Championships. It was great to catch up with everyone up there and there was some awesome swimming and many world records broken/set. I had a very enjoyable time.

My next big commitment was the Leukemia Foundation Light the Night fund raiser up at Caboolture/Morayfield. There was a huge turnout and Jane who was in charge of setting things up along with her very able helpers did a fantastic job. Everything looked amazing. At sunset on Wednesday, 5 October, thousands of people across Queensland participated in the Leukaemia Foundation’s Light the Night walk at 12 locations across Queensland in support of those who have been touched by leukaemias, lymphomas, myeloma and related blood cancers and disorders.

At the location I went to, we all carried lanterns and went on a leisurely walk through the Centenary Lakes Park. Each coloured lantern contained a tiny light and each colour has a special meaning: White for blood cancer patients and survivors, Blue for supporters and Gold for those remembering a loved one lost. It was a lovely way to raise awareness for this particular foundation and a special way to remember those who have been affected in some way.

This month I was also invited to speak at the QLD police senior women’s forum. I had a great night. Everyone was so friendly and they were good listeners too and I also found that they were great supporters of the MND and ME Foundationfundraising I have become involved in. Thanks so much to all……I really appreciate the support.

St Ita’s school community had their annual summer fete this month too, and I was invited to open the fete for them. Some of the people who go to the school were affected by the January floods and even though that happened long ago now some of the school community is still rebuilding their lives. I hope the day gave everyone a reason to be happy even if it was for one day.

Tomorrow is the big day for the The MND and ME Foundation inaugural “Million Metres for MND” swim. Thank you to everyone who has supported me, sponsored me and helped me to contribute however I can to this ‘not for profit’ registered charity built on the support of volunteers. The aim is to raise funds to assist to provide a quality of life for people living with MND which is not compromised by their diagnosis – a life with dignity and independence.  I can’t wait for tomorrow. I am looking forward to seeing all the swimmers and taking part in the fun.  

After the big swim, I will be going away on a training camp. With only 5 months to go until the Olympic Trials, we are working very hard with our swimming and gym work so I am envisioning a whole heap of pain while we are away – ouchy.

                            Well, I’ll write again next month

                                                        Bye for now                        

Hello Again

I have had the most disrupted time this month. When I wrote last, I was just coming to the end of my break after the World Champs in Shanghai. I just started back at training and I got sick AGAIN!!! I have had the worst year this year. I have been sick more than healthy and I am afraid my swimming has suffered for it. Oh well. I decided it was time to do something about it or my plans for making my third Olympic Team would be in jeopardy. So…

I went to the doctor and told him I was sick again!! He gave me a thorough checkup and decided it was time for my tonsils to come out. They have been the cause of a lot of my illness which then triggers my asthma. Anyway – I have had them removed – yay – and I am on the mend at last.

I’m back into training now and this time I hope it is an uninterrupted training block until the 2012 Olympic Selection Trials in March in Adelaide.

Meanwhile I have had a lot of sponsor / ambassador commitments and appearances I have been trying my best to fulfill while I have been getting better from my operation.

I went to the Genesis Christian College Golf Day to help out with their fund raising efforts. The day before that event was on, it poured raining all day. I thought for sure the Golf Day would get cancelled … but we woke up on the Sunday and it was a beautiful sunny Queensland Day.  I had a good time at that function.

The highlight of this month would have to be when I went to visit St Ita’s School along with my favourite swimmer ever – Susie O’Neill!!! It was great to catch up with Susie again.

She has been my favourite for as long as I can remember. I loved meeting all the students at the school and really enjoyed spending time with them and talking to them.

I also got the chance to speak with Braden from The Swimmers Circle, we did a Skype interview which was really cool, make sure you check it out!!!

A really exciting thing that has happened this month is … my sister had another baby. A gorgeous little boy. I am an aunty again.  I now have one beautiful niece and two very handsome nephews.

The fund raising for the MND and Me “Million Metres for MND” swim that I am taking part in, is coming along very well. I have raised about $700 now and the swim will be on 16th October. I am also giving away a signed pair of Adidas togs – one pair each week until the “Million Metres for MND“ . To be in the draw simply make a donation at “Million Metres for MND – Jessicah Schipper” and each Monday i will randomly choose another winner.  We’ve had three happy WINNERS!! so far.

Well fingers crossed all gets back to normal now and my training starts to make a difference again, and dont forget to to keep an eye on New Stuff and the Upcoming Events pages!!

Until next time………See ya

Jess