As a little girl Joan used to walk in the park next to the Mariner's Cottages and always dreamt of living there. Many years later, after a two year wait once her husband had submitted his Seaman's Passbook, her dream finally came true. She's now been living in the cottages for 15 years.

Joan is a true enthusiast of the area's local history. She remembers back to a time when local children would get a penny to come and tell the captain his ship was coming in. She credits Grainger with recognising the historic and social value of the properties, and for the care, attention and resources they've put into the homes, "these are little gems and they were starting to deteriorate until Grainger came along," she says.

Of Grainger's role as landlord, Joan says, "I can't speak highly enough of them," adding, "we've got new windows. We've got our repairs done." Grainger's property manager Ian Lawson agrees with Joan about the importance of investing in these unique and valuable assets to protect their special character and history into the next century.

As well as buying good properties with good tenants, Grainger recognises that supporting tenants with everyday issues is a critical part of the ongoing partnership. It's a two-way process, Ian says, where tenants need to see the value in the rent they're paying.

Joan says when she has a problem, she can pick up the phone and speak directly to Ian. "If I need something doing, he gets on to it, which is great.  You don't fill in forms like these other housing estates." When her cooker blew up recently (the cottages were built before cooker and washing machines), Grainger installed a new fuse box with extra capacity, within a week. "Nothing ever takes very long," she says.

The work done updating the cottages' paintwork has given a real uplift to the local area. Grainger knows how important the sense of community is, especially when it takes pride in its surroundings.  In this community, Joan explains, people look out for each other and she's never heard a bad word said about their landlord. "If it's said, I would soon put them right because they've done an amazing job," she says.

Grainger made two strategic portfolio acquisitions in the first six months of 2011, which helped to increase the weighting of our portfolio to London and the South East. These were HI Tricomm Holdings Limited from Invista Castle and our partner's share in the Grainger GenInvest LLPs. These acquisitions brought approximately £400m of assets onto the Group balance sheet.

The HI Tricomm acquisition brought 317 freehold units across the South of England into our portfolio, while the GenInvest acquisition from approximately 1,650 units in central London into our portfolio.

Both acquisitions are consistent with our strategy to acquire high quality portfolios of residential assets delivering good long-term returns.

Lloyds Banking Group selected Grainger as the preferred supplier to the Residential Asset Management Platform ('RAMP') for the bank and to subsequently manage the assets which are placed into it, following commencement of an insolvency process. Grainger's RAMP operates on behalf of insolvency practitioners appointed on loans owned by Lloyds Banking Group and has 1,545 units now under Grainger management. The creation of RAMP leverages Grainger's UK-wide asset management platform and expertise of owning and managing residential assets.

The agreement with Lloyds Banking Group represents a further step forward in Grainger's strategy to increase revenues from its existing resource base. Grainger will receive fees based on rent, disposals and shared success fees, thereby fully aligning its interests with those of any Administrator or Receiver of any assets placed into the RAMP.

Grainger was appointed by the Ministry of Defence's Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) as the development partner for the 148 hectare Aldershot Urban Extension in Hampshire. The MoD will retain ownership of the Aldershot Urban Extension site and Grainger will regenerate the land at Aldershot Garrison to create a mixed-use residential scheme of around 4,250 homes together with community facilities, schools, local centres and leisure facilities.

Also this year, Grainger received outline planning permission for 2,550 homes in Hampshire, west of Waterlooville. Both projects are long term, lasting 10-20 years and will deliver steady income streams to the business.

Councillor Peter Moyles

Grainger prides itself on the depth and range of consultation we undertake, particularly in the initial stages of a project. With a project as significant as the redevelopment and creation of over 4,500 new homes in Aldershot, this focus was key to creating a success for all stakeholders.

One of the key participants in the project was Rushmoor Borough Council, led by Councillor Peter Moyles. He praised our 'refreshing' approach of open consultation, commitment, knowledge and expertise, admitting Grainger had "done a lot of our legwork for us".

Grainger was quick to consult not only with local residents, but also with councillors, businesses and shops. Local people particularly appreciated plans to redevelop the much loved Cambridge Military Hospital, which has served the Army and civilians for many years.

Throughout the redevelopment planning, we were committed to taking into account the best of what the existing Aldershot site has to offer, from its historic heritage and scenic views to its infrastructure and very strong community.

"It's encouraging that the kind of things that Grainger want to do, will build on what we are doing already," Mr Moyles said. "They are actually building into Aldershot rather than out of it."

December blog

This winter I've been getting on with training quite happily. When I say happily, I obviously mean whinging like hell after every brutal session, mostly to Rachel, who gives back minimal sympathy.

I'm very much looking forward to the New Year, when I'll start throwing my big balls around - medicine balls, in case you were wondering. By spring I'll be starting to try and remember how to throw again.

There's been plenty of discussion recently around a Scope survey suggesting only 18% of disabled people are excited about the Paralympics and 65% think they should be combined with the Olympics.

I'm not one to shy away from an opinion, so here it is.

First, the survey sample was very small and can't representative of all disabled people in the country. I'm pretty confident most disabled people, especially young ones, are excited and inspired by the Paralympics. In my experience watching someone with similar impairments doing things you might not think possible creates a great connection and renews belief.

As for combining the two, I'm completely against it. The beauty of the Paralympics is it caters for a massive range of disabilities, allowing fair competition between people with a similar impairment, who can't compete with able-bodied athletes, certainly not to Olympic standard. (The latter part is a bit fuzzy at the moment, especially with what Oscar Pistorious is achieving in sport.)

Should you be able to compete at both Olympics and Paralympics? I don't really agree with it. Any integration would result in exclusive disability events/sports/athletes being chosen, and that would massively harm disability sport.

The IPC are already cutting events and classes in the Paralympics to make it more accessible, but there's a danger that we start to lose what makes it uniquely great. We don't want the Paralympics to become the Olympic B event. It should be the pinnacle of any disabled athlete's career, which is why I believe if a disabled athlete can compete at the Olympics, they shouldn't need to compete at the Paralympics.

For me there is something awe-inspiring about watching guys who would struggle to make a cup of tea or tie their shoe laces throw a club over 25 and 30 metres. In the Paralympics there are endless events like this that make it so special to watch. Combining it with the Olympics would dramatically water this down.

What we need to say is, to watch Paralympic sport you might need to do a bit of homework, but then you will enjoy watching it. I think that's pretty true of any sport.

I was back at Remploy recently to unveil a plaque marking the opening of their new Newcastle showroom. I also helped to launch their baton relay, which tied in with the International Day of Disabled People on 3 December. The idea is to spread positive stories about disabled people and the great things they've achieved.

To find out more and get involved go to http://www.facebook.com/Remploy.

That's all from me. Next time you hear from me we'll be in the year 2012 - OMG!

November blog

It's coming up to nine months until the Paralympic Games. Nine months that will go very quick. In a weird way it's like I've become pregnant and I'm going to give birth to an awesome performance in nine months. I'm already getting cravings - mainly for digestive biscuits.

This year we have changed lots about my training. It's taken a while to sink into my skull, but I've finally accepted I can't do everything on my own and I need more help than I used to, to get the most out of my body. For about two years I'd been doing my own strength and conditioning and had become stale. I was still working as hard as I always do but just not progressing.

I am now working one-to-one with Gary Nash and Tom Clay at the Unit Gym in Newcastle. It's absolutely not a poncey gym (apart from when Tom has his Glee music on…). I'm feeling the benefits already. Gary makes me do things I wouldn't make myself do. Even for someone as motivated as me, there's a point where you need that extra push, and he is certainly pushing me. Every session is a challenge and a war, which is what I've missed in my gym sessions since UKA stopped my S&C support. I'm very grateful to Gary for his help and I'm sure it's going to have a massive impact on my performances next year.

I've been overwhelmed by the number of people who've told me they've got tickets to watch me compete next year. It gives me even more motivation to be the best prepared I can be. I've been very frustrated the last couple of years that things haven't always gone how I'd have liked, but this is a fresh start.

When I started at the Paralympics you virtually had to drag people to the stadium. Now people are paying good money for tickets and some sports are selling out. It's a massive progression. I, for one, want to put on the best show possible. I know in my mind I am the defending champion from Beijing. What happened there was wrong but it's now accepted, and I go into London looking to defend my title and undefeated record with honour, pride and bravery.

The Man versus Hip battle is going well, it has been botoxed and cortisoned and is behaving a lot better.

November blog

Hi all. That was the hottest November since records began - a nice warm up for coming out to St Petersburg (the one in Florida, not Russia).

To check we were heading in the right direction with our new gym programmes, we have a fitness test every few months. So a few weeks back we were all strapped to a machine (static hand bike for me) and beasted until we blew up!

We start at a steady pace and take a resting blood lactate (acid in the blood, which indicates work load). Then the work really starts. We do four to five stages, starting very gently. Every four minutes we take another lactate and move up to the next loading level. And repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, until we reach our maximal lactate numbers (or until you are sick!).

Next up is the maximal power test, which is another four minute block, but you go as hard as you can, for as long as you can, to gauge your max power output. This is where you end up panting like a 20-year-old labrador and wondering which way is up.

Adrian reported we'd all made great gains and the numbers were moving in the right direction, fitness wise. If we can make those gains in such a short period we should be even fitter by the time the games come around. Yippee.

The weekend before, I'd managed to get a ticket for the Formula 1 race in Abu Dhabi. The race weekend was spectacular with Lewis winning and Vettle getting that puncture on the first lap (very sad…;). My seat was at turn seven and was amazing. You can't imagine what the noise was like! The flight back to the UK and the drive back to Portland was a bit of a shock after all of that glamour and heat.

We have made it to Florida for the first part of our winter training and it's going very well. We've done five races on the first day of the Americas regatta in St Pete, with the race officer getting as many races in as possible. This is amazing practice for us before the Worlds in January down in Port Charlotte. Follow the scores:

Must dash, as we have a 10am start. By the way, its only 75 degrees today so quite chilly, BRRRRR.

October blog

I've been on holiday from sport for four weeks, and back from visiting Tenerife with Rachel. I got back in the early hours and left the next day for Northumberland Sport's SportsAbility event, where I met Mascot Mandeville and lots of enthusiastic kids doing Paralympic sports.

I had some great news that, through Sainsbury's and the Caravan Charity, I was chosen to receive a special award of £2000 for my willingness and openness to support Sainsbury's.

Other exciting developments are my retention on the World Class Performance Programme for 2011/2012. Also, Grainger PLC renewed their contract with me, which is a massive boost. I must also give special thanks to Easibathe who have fitted our bungalow with little ramps.

I'm really proud I managed to have four weeks off training. I needed it, though, as I haven't had a proper break since 2009. This was my first week back and I'm starting to feel like my normal self again. It sounds stupid but my body is so used to being battered every day that when I stop, it seizes up and shuts down.

I'm excited about the next six months. It's my first proper winter's training since late 2009. It's when I come alive and I know how important it is to get this part right if I want to achieve my goals next year.

Of course this training year has added significance with the London 2012 target. It's surreal to think I've started preparing for the competition that has been in the back of my mind for six years and which convinced me to keep going in 2009 and not have a hip replacement.

This next 10 months or so is all about man versus hip, and you know I love a challenge. My hip has steadily deteriorated so it's now pretty much locked at a 90 degree and I can't put any weight through it. I take enough pain tablets to rattle. However when I think I've reached the most painful it can get, my hip keeps finding new levels.

The hip has probably got the better of me over the last year but I have a new resolve to meet it head on, knowing this is the last leg of the journey. I don't regret the decision not to have the operation. I think it was the only way I could compete in London and be fully prepared.

There have been times I thought I might not make it, particularly in the last year. But I know I can get myself in top shape for next year and make sure the hip holds me back as little as possible.

Let battle commence.

28 October blog

Well, as they say in sport, you have to put the hours in, and that's what we've been doing all month. With all the racing we've been doing, our fitness and conditioning has been taking a hit. So, after a quick fitness test by our physiologist Ade Campbell, we found we had a chance to make some really good fitness gains over the winter.

All of this involved planning each week to include a mix of sailing, weights, aerobic, core, physio, stretching, yoga, tea making, cleaning (boats/house/ourselves), oh, and packing containers (I'll get to that later.)

So, now we have a plan, as Baldric said.

We planned to hit it really hard. Knowing we're going to be sailing at the same time as doing all the other stuff, we knew it was going to be tough. And so it proved. We did the first week gradually. Then by the end of the week we were getting pretty tired, especially as it's been the windiest October for a while.

With the pattern set and the workouts streamlined, it's been a matter of 'manning up' and getting on with it. Fortunately our bodies can remember what real hard training is like and soon enough you feel the body changing and adapting. The only other issue is you have to rest properly and get to bed after dinner, rather than watching Downton Abbey or X-Factor (the 'crazy' one is the best, btw).

Now we have the next few months to plan for, with our World Championships in Port Charlotte, Florida, in the New Year. So we had to pack a container with two of our boats. This all sounds fine until you realise the box is 40ft long and our ships are 23ft long each. So, yeah, slight issues with squeezing the babies in. But after six hours at a nice industrial estate, we managed to get the doors closed and send off the box to the States, via Kent, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, etc. Fingers crossed US Customs don't keep the container like they usually do!

Nearly time for beds, and I'm dreaming of my first holiday in four years. Next week I'm off to Abu Dhabi for the F1 race, so its four days in the desert for me and trying to get Jenson's autograph.

4 October blog

A very exciting month has come to an end. After we named the new ship in the Olympic park last month we needed to get her fettled and get her bum wet for the first time. Perfectly, for us, there was an event in Medembli, in the Netherlands, to put her through her paces. We spent a fair bit of time beforehand getting her fitted out and making sure everything was in place.

We set off for Harwich with myself and Steve in my car, and Hannah pulling 'Mandy'. We arrived to a typical Dutch autumn scene of cold and wind, but hee-hoo the coffee is greeeattt (Dutch accent).

You can't believe the amount of time you put into getting boats fitted out, and you still have to move bits and bobs to make it all work properly, but, hey, that's boats for you.

After sprinkling her with a bit of champers we were quite happy on the first day, but there was still a lot of work and fine-tuning to be done. It's great to race a new ship out of the box and seeing how she performs against the fast guys. That way we know where we are, rather than spending hours fiddling at home and waiting to race her properly.

With only a year to go we've spent quite a lot of time sailing, so our gym and fitness has taken a slight backward step. To resolve this we met with the Sports Science team and formulated a master plan to get us Olympic-fit by the games. Trust me, a year is nothing in gym terms and we need to push really hard over the winter months. So, it's deep breath and get ready for crashing into bed at 9pm after very long days. We've already started to ramp things up and are seeing improvements already, so it's looking good!

With all the training, it's massively important to rest in the right way. It's all about refuelling at the right time with the right fuel and taking the correct supplements to make sure you don't pick up bugs, etc. Without good old iPhone apps, we'd be lost in a sea of notebooks and menus, but now you can sync everything together on one machine, which is great!

I must dash as the gym is calling and the Sports science team is awaiting!

September blog

This month we headed to the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club in Rhu, just outside Dumbarton, for our Open World and European Championships. We don't often sail our type of boat (Sonar) with four people and an extra sail (called a spinnaker) as our Paralympic rules limit us to three crew, the mainsail and the jib.

It's a great opportunity to test our speed and tactics against able-bodied guys as they generally have more weight on the side of the boat and therefore more power, which equals faster!

For the first event we had our Coach Mark Rushall on board. Although he's not 100kg, his technical knowledge is awesome and it's a great chance for him to give us immediate evaluations and feedback. We did ok in the Euros, finishing 6th and 2nd in the UK nationals.

The hospitality in Scotland was fantastic, as always, and the visiting crews maxed out on the whiskey tasting. Then we rolled straight into the Worlds, with a good solid start, ending up top four by midweek.

You know by now sailing is a fickle sport and the weather plays a massive part. True to form we were punished a bit on the Thursday when we had three highish scores. When you have boats firing all over the loch and putting spinnakers up, while going upwind (a spinnaker is a downwind sail) we knew it was going to be a bit funky! In the end we went from 2nd to 4th with no racing on the last day due to lack of wind (there's a pattern forming here!)

It was a great event for us to try different things against the best guys and take those lessons learnt back to our Paralympic fleet.

The other great news is our new ship has been named at a ceremony overlooking the Olympic stadium at Stratford. She has been named 'Mandeville' after the 2012 Paralympic mascot and the Stoke Mandeville hospital, where the first Paralympics took place in 1947.

We had a tour of the Olympic park (very impressive it is too). It was quite a feeling, I can assure you, as we will be at that very stadium in 360 days at the opening ceremony. Ooh, it sends a tingle up our spines!

Well, it's now back to Weymouth and Portland for training. And it's blowing dogs off chains, again. 30Knots and chilly, so time for tea and toasties and lots of meetings and boat work instead!

Autumn blog

It's the start of a new swimming season and I couldn't wait to get back to hard training for the Paralympic Trials in March and April.

There's no time to waste, meaning plenty of time in the gym and even more in the pool. It demands a great deal of balancing with my university work. Fitting everything in can be extremely tough, but I have a great support network. After a slightly disappointing season last year, I feel I've never trained better than now. The times I'm producing seem to be getting faster and I've made huge leaps with my starts, turns and even breast stroke (which was my weakest stroke!). Perhaps being injured this year made me see what was important. I am now completely focused on doing everything I can to enhance my chances of qualifying for London 2012.

The March and April trials are the earliest for any Paralympic Games. This means training has to be harder as we need to 'taper' even earlier in the year. I'll be one of the first to race in the Olympic Pool as one of my events is the first on the first day! It feels such a privilege to swim in this pool before the Games and hopefully I'll be able to compete there again in another five months.

Sadly, I won't be attending Grainger's Christmas Conference on 15 December, but will make the dinner. Which is great, as a swimmer needs to eat! I'll then travel to Swansea for a compulsory competition - one of many over the next five weeks.

On Boxing Day I'll fly to Tenerife with the City of Manchester Aquatics for 12 days. This camp is essential to ensure we don't lose any fitness over the Christmas period and possibly to monitor how much Christmas pud we've eaten!

August blog

The 2011 athletics season is done and dusted. I'm not going to dress it up, this year has been my toughest and performance wise it was one of my worst as a senior athlete. However, after months of toil and soul searching, the season ended very positively.

I recently returned from a UKA camp in Portugal. I took my new, modified throwing frame, which Tharsus did a great job on and it made an instant difference. Technically I improved every session and the last was the best I've thrown in well over a year.

On my return I had one night at home with my lovely neglected fiancé, then it was off to the National Championships in Nottingham. Here I threw a season's best, 31.29m, to become national champion yet again.

I had two aims for this season - to throw at least the same distance as my age and beat my distance in the world championships in New Zealand. I finally did that, the latter by 4cm, but progress is progress.

The biggest positive I take from having such a bad season, in my eyes, is my bronze medal from the World Championships and being ranked 4th in the world (2nd in my own class).

Performances this season hurt me deeply, particularly in Wigan and Cardiff where I threw my worst distances for 10 years. After that I was guilty of chasing competitions. My coach has the patience of a saint as I am a nightmare to coach because I think I know so much. I have to be convinced to change any aspect of my training. That can be the sign of a good athlete, but I take it too far at times.

This year I have done hardly any work on my legs because of my hip being so sore. I got away with it until about June when my performances dropped away dramatically. My coach would say to me that I was turning into a ball because my legs were getting tighter and my shoulders rounder. I guess I turned into the kind of athlete I slate, who thinks by doing the same things they can improve.

It took an embarrassing performance at the UKA Challenge at Stoke Manderville to change my mindset. After months of doom and gloom and wondering if my career might be over, I finally started listening to my coach. I started working with a person trainer, Gary Nash at the Unit gym. He is going to work one to one with me up to London. I also stepped up my Pilates programme with my brilliant physio Penny. It's a bit girly and seems like it should be dead easy but it is some of the hardest training I've ever done.

Right, I'll Speak to you again when winter training starts in a few weeks.

Above are some pretty awesome pictures of the training camp in Portugal, and of my new frame made by Tharsus.

August blog

Newflash......

Well, all the work in the last few years has paid off and we've been selected for London 2012. WOW. Amazing to be selected this far out, and it gives us so much more confidence going into the next 12 months.

We finished 2nd at our World Championships and won the Sail4Gold regatta back in June so these were our selection events. It seems the selection committee were very happy and nominated us to ParalympicsGB who then give us the nod to be put on the big list for next year. It's always a bit of a 'hold your breath' moment, but the tension was worth it. Hopefully we can now focus on September next year. The mindset changes quite a lot and frees us up to push even harder in training.

With the Olympic test event going on right now, we have time to have a break and get some great training in before we head up to Scotland next week for our Open Worlds, where we'l; sail against our able-bodied counterparts. We also use Spinnaker which means we need another crew member. Stepping in for one practice event is our coach Mark Rushall. Then in the Worlds for real, we have managed to get Mark Andrews who is Ben Ainslie's training crew from the Olympic Finn class. He's about 6'5" and 100kg, so is perfect for the job.

So, fingers crossed for Helensburgh and pack the mozzy spray for Scotland in the summer. What to wear? Who knows, so we are taking everything!

July blog

Wow, what a month! We've been training hard, with all our focus on the Skandia Sail for Gold regatta and the IFDS (International association of Disabled Sailing) World Champs. Both are selection events for London 2012.

The Sail 4 Gold, one of the Sailing World Cup events had us pretty much leading from start to finish, ticking our first box for nomination for next year.

We were full of confidence running into the IFDS World Championship, having won it twice before. We started really well and got to the top of the leader board. Then we were protested by an American team for a non incident, so had to take a hit and were disqualified from that race. We dropped from 1st to 4th, but were still very tight on points!

We scored a 1st in the next race, putting us within a few points of the lead. We then ended the second last day with a nice seven point lead.

At dinner we found out the Israeli boat had been over the line early in one of the day's races and used video evidence to get reinstated. We were confused as to how this evidence was allowed, as the rules say you are not allowed any electronic devices on the boat other than an electronic compass. It meant it was all on for the final day with them now having a four point lead over us.

When you really, really need to go sailing the weather Gods don't always want to play. Racing was cancelled due to the winds, which meant we won a Silver medal for the 2nd year running, losing out on the Gold due to protests.

Unfortunately that's just sailing. We knew we had sailed really well and become really strong as a team. Our selectors are very happy with our progress and should get back to us soon with a decision as to whether we are nominated for London 2012. Fingers crossed!

It's off to the gym for me now to see about some treatment for some seriously aching limbs!

July blog

Busy times. I competed five times last month and was left physically and mentally knackered. I also finally left home after 31 years and moved in with my lass, Rach. It was a very big step for both of us and we are settling into life together nicely. I am banned from the kitchen and Rach is banned from the TV remote.

I still can't believe how much everything costs. Thankfully Grainger have kindly offered to re-lay our drive for free, which is a great gesture and I'm very humbled. They've supported me fantastically this year.

July was a tough month and the wheels started to come off a bit in terms of performance. I threw fairly well into a strong wind at Bedford to win the English championships, but I had pretty dismal performances at Hexham and at the UKA Challenge in Stoke Mandeville.

I lost to Thomas Green at Stoke, who I've known since he was a young boy. I've always known he has the potential to be a top athlete and he has a great future ahead. The whole competition was very good, and it was heartening to see so much strength and depth in British club throwing.

I was disappointed. I'm a competitive animal and always go out to win so it obviously hurt. The performance hurt most because I was well under par in good conditions for club throwing. It was the end of a frustrating time for me. I threw 28 metres in four consecutive competitions and we know that's not me in any conditions.

In hindsight I realise I did too many competitions this summer but I've felt under pressure to meet certain performance conditions. In the end I was left extremely fatigued mentally and probably lost a lot of conditioning. But you move on and learn.

My next competition is at my very own Gateshead Stadium on 27 August. It will be a very poignant day as it will be exactly one year to the Paralympic games opening ceremony. A few nice sexy throws would be the perfect way to celebrate a year to go.

Summer blog

After a long 12 months, I've reached the end of my swimming season - and on quite a high too.

The high point was the ASA National Championships in July. Having been unable to compete for the majority of the season due to injuries, everything I'd been training for rested on this competition.

I won bronze in the 100m butterfly, in a season best time, and placed top five in three other finals. A great achievement. My City of Manchester Aquatics teammates also swam fantastically and we won the 'National Top Female Club' and the 'National Top Overall Swimming Club' for 2011. I felt so privileged when they wanted me to go onto the podium and collect the pennants.

This was definitely the best way to finish my swimming season. But that wasn't all - I also passed my first year of university. So I'm now taking a well-deserved rest for two weeks.

However, the rest will be short as training starts again on 15 August in preparation for the London 2012 trials in March.

Everything I do from today needs to be focused on the trials. There will be no opportunity to miss training and obviously I need to keep injury free! I still suffer from my prolapsed disc in my lower back but it seems to have settled down. Hopefully now I can focus on getting my fitness and swimming back on track. I won't be competing for another three months, so I'll be able to see how I may have improved from this year's Nationals.

And then it's also back to university in September. No rest for the wicked, as they say! I will definitely be busy with my training and studies - but nothing comes easy and it will definitely be worth it in the end.

June blog

We're at the first selection stage for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Skandia Sail for Gold regatta starts this week in Weymouth and Portland, and runs until Friday. A good result here could help us get on that road!

We had some more fantastic training in the last few weeks. As is always the way with sailing we lost a day to too much wind, but the rest were superb.

The new sails were tested and looking nice, the boat was polished and rigs were rigged. We always have work to do and this time it was getting our branded clothing ready for the ever present cameras!

Lots of gym work in the last month, which has been great as we all had a few niggles that needed attention. The physio and massage sessions were not the nice Spa type but the painful 'this will make you feel better' type (oh the joys…). So we are all fully fit and ready to show the rest of the World what we're made of at our home venue.

We had some sad new last week that our coach Mark Rushall lost his father Ken in a cycling accident (participating in a time trial, aged 82). We look forward to his return for a few days this week hopefully. It's a good reminder for the whole team that there is more to life than sailing, and to live your life to the max, every day!

Other fantastic news is that BMW have sponsored the team with Coopers BMW Sunderland and Coopers Colchester, providing myself and Hannah with cars until 2012. Come on, BMW Cardiff, do one for Steve - you know you want to!

Well, cross everything and wish us luck for this week and I'll let you know how we get on next time. Thanks again for your continued support.