Isobel Pooley is one of this year’s rising stars. The Nottingham University student has recently been selected as one of UKA’s World Class Performance Programme (WCPP) athletes with podium potential in the future. As UKA Performance Director Neil Black stresses, being part of the WCPP is not an athlete’s right, but a privilege athletes have earned over the past season.
Having improved her outdoor PB by 10cm from 1.80m to 1.90m and only missing out on Olympic selection by the smallest of margins, 19-year-old Isobel Pooley has certainly earned her spot in the lottery funding. She explains what has been the key to her vast improvements this year:
“I have changed a huge number of things this year since I started university in September 2011. I relocated to the Midlands and was invited to train with the National Event Coach for high jump Fuzz Ahmed and his elite training group based in Birmingham. It opened my eyes to a whole new way of training and coaching that I’d never encountered before!
“Fuzz is a great communicator and has a massively deep understanding of high jump and everything that surrounds it. This coupled with his vast and instinctive knowledge of conditioning makes him a very impressive coach and one who gets great results. “
Isobel explained that under Fuzz’ tuition she transformed as an athlete and gained a valuable understanding of the sport’s main factors conditioning, co-ordination and psychology.
While becoming BUCS champion in the Olympic Stadium in May, coming second in the UK Trials and qualifying for the European Championships in Helsinki clearly were some of the highlights of her season, Pooley also had to learn to deal with disappointment. In the European Championships, she failed to make the final after a poor qualification.
“I was a little disappointed with my performance in Helsinki as I didn’t handle the situation as well as I could have done. It was unlike anything I’d experienced before and I was a little overwhelmed by the enormity of the occasion. However, I learnt a valuable lesson that day and have worked hard to improve my psychological approach to big events since then.”
In June the young athlete jumped to a new PB of 1.90m and the European Championships were the last chance for her to improve her PB in order to meet the Olympic A standard of 1.92m. Although failing to perform in Finland meant the Olympic dream had gone out of reach, Pooley now has her sight set towards the future.
“While I was obviously disappointed not to compete at the Games, I knew all along that, at 19, I was very young in high-jump terms since female jumpers seem to reach their peak in their late-twenties. Qualifying proved a stretch too far this time.
“In retrospect I am proud to have jumped 1.90m this outdoor season and to have produced many solid and consistent performances, building a strong base from which to progress in years to come.”
Not only in her sporting career is the 6ft 3ins tall student proving to be successful. Thanks to her parents’ – quite literally great – genes Isobel recently took up modelling and was published in ULTRAfit magazine. While she previously dismissed the idea of posing in front of a camera, Isobel now has taken delight in modelling.
“Now that I have done a few shoots I am learning to relax in front of the camera and enjoy this unexpected limelight, letting my naturally bubbly, smiley personality shine through. Of course, my high-jumping remains my number one priority and focus, although modelling is something I enjoy and may provide much-needed financial income to support my athletic career.”
It was not only her genes that led her into the glamorous world of fashion. Since training under Fuzz Ahmed Pooley has learnt a lot about nutrition. This resulted in a huge change of body composition, losing body fat and improving her lean muscle mass.
She explains that healthy nutrition is important for everyone, sportsperson or couch potato. Of course for her being a high jumper a low proportion of body fat is vital in order to minimise the effect of gravity – “The Enemy” as she describes it. However, diet mainly depends on the period of training:
“Winter training is very intense and burns a lot of calories, so at this time of year portion sizes may be larger than the smaller “summer plates”. I enjoy a whole variety of foods including plenty of fruit and vegetables, meat and complex carbohydrates, as well as healthy fats and omega oils.”
With the winter training in full swing, Isobel is feeling confident that her coach and the support she receives from the WCPP will lead her to new heights in her career.
“Everyone knows the value of ‘a good winter’s training’ when you are striving for peak performance in the summer months and I’m determined to make the most of the time I have between now and the World Championships next summer in order to lay solid foundations for some big jumps when it counts.”
If you want to become a healthy and successful athlete, why not try out Isobel’s favourite recipe?
