The Comeback Trail | Day No. 24: RACE DAY

Australian swimmer Bobby Hurley is a former world-record holder in the short course meters (SCM) 50m backstroke and the 2012 world champion in the same event. In 2009, he won a bronze medal as part of Australia's 4x200m freestyle relay at the FINA World Championships in Rome. He has five FINA World Championship medals to his name -- two gold, one silver, and two bronze. Most recently, Hurley coached with Energy Standard Team and led South African swimmers Cameron Van Der Burgh and Chad Le Clos to success at the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in July.

Hurley is making a comeback to competitive swimming with his eyes set on the 2018 Commonwealth Games Trials in April in Gold Coast, Australia. Along with his coach Tim Lane, Hurley is giving us behind-the-scenes access of his training sessions for 30 days. Stay tuned!

Day No. 24

Thursday, October 26th

Race time.

Finally, my first race in 11 months! At this year’s Australian Championships, the 50m off stroke events are a timed final in the morning, so that’s a challenge to deliver my best in my very first race.

24.02 to win GOLD in the 50m backstroke! I’m happy with my warm up and preparations this morning, the race went as cleanly as a 50m race can go. I'm a little disappointed with the time -- it would’ve been nice to go in the 23’s, but thinking positive. It’s good to be back racing, winning, and gives me a starting point for the season to begin with.

Two more races to come this weekend, the 50m butterfly Friday and my main event, the 100m backstroke, on Saturday. Check out my pre-race warm up I did today written below, and the race video too. Thanks for following.

Pre-Race Warm Up

400 fins mix

100 scull/kick

6x50 drill – 1-3 with paddles

1x start

1x turn

50 easy

{~20 mins break/put race suit on}

25 easy

25 Back @ 90%

1x Start 20m!

75 easy