Champion swimmer Mark Foster chats to All About Health about his illustrious career in and out of the pool – and gives us his tips for British swimming team success at this summer’s Olympics
Officially one of the most successful British swimmers of all time, Mark Foster has been retired from the sport for several years now – though many people will also remember him from TV appearances such as Strictly Come Dancing, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, The Weakest Link and, more recently, Celebrity Juice’s Sports Relief Special.
Mark’s swimming career spans three decades and has earned him no less than 47 international medals. He has taken part in the Olympics five times and is a sixtimes world champion, 10-times European champion, two-times Commonwealth champion and eight-times world record holder. That’s not at all bad for a lad from Southend whose father was determined his children should learn to swim because he was terrified of the water himself.
“When my dad was 11 years old he was thrown into a lake – he couldn’t swim so he was petrified of water,” explains Mark. “That made him adamant that my sisters and I would have swimming lessons.”
Early start
When Mark was five years old he started learning to swim at his local baths, and it wasn’t long before it was noticed that he had a real talent for it. Luckily for Mark, his teacher, Mrs Hardcastle – who is the mother of silver Olympic medalist swimmer Sarah Hardcastle – spotted his talent and encouraged him to join a swimming club.
“I just wanted to be the best,” remembers Mark. “I knew if I tried hard and I got better that I could progress quickly, which I did. At the age of 11 I was the fastest swimmer in the world for my age. Then at 13 I was fortunate enough to get a scholarship to Millfield School. A third of the national team was there at that point, so all of a sudden I was around people who were better than me. So day in and day out I’d go in the pool and train and train and train, and before I knew it I’d risen to the top.”
When Mark was 10 years old, Olympic swimmer Duncan Goodhew visited his swimming club – and that, says Mark, was what inspired him to be an Olympic competitor himself.
“By the age of 15 I was the fastest swimmer in the country,” he remembers. “I was a British record holder, then I made my first national senior cap when I was 15. The feeling was amazing – but the actual reality was very scary. I remember standing next to the Russians and East Germans – they were big and muscly and professional athletes. I was just a 15-year-old kid.”
Training hours
Back when he was competing, Mark’s training schedule included around 10 hours a week in the pool and six or seven hours a week in the gym. There were, however, plenty of times when he would have loved to have stayed in bed instead of getting up early to go training. So how did he motivate himself to carry on?
“Early mornings I didn’t like, but I knew that unless I did it I wouldn’t get to stand on the top of the podium. I knew that what you put in you get out. There were times when you’re diving in that freezing cold water and thinking, ‘Oh God, not again’, but when it’s your job, it’s your job.”
Obviously Mark doesn’t have to train as hard these days, but he still keeps his fitness levels up. “I’m not as active as I used to be but at the same time I go to the gym two, three or four times a week depending on what’s going on and how I feel,” he says. “I do a little bit of weights and I still go in the pool a couple of times a week, but that’s at the end of the session where I go in the pool for 20 minutes and just relax. I like the feeling of being in the water – it’s my own time and my own space.”
When asked where he channels that competitive spirit these days, Mark admits he enjoys getting on the golf course with his mates. “Any sports person misses that competitiveness,” he explains. “So golf is that for me and I still want to be as good as I can be at whatever I choose to do.”
Realistic goals
For the rest of us, however, keeping motivated to stay fit isn’t always easy. The trick, however, says Mark, is to have fun. “People say, ‘Running’s not fun, the gym’s not fun’, so make it social. Go with a friend.
“And give yourself a goal. Like I might say, ‘Right I’m doing a marathon next year. I’ve got something to aim for.’ Again, you’re not Paula Radcliffe either, so be realistic and have your own goals. Once you start getting fit it is quite addictive as it releases all those endorphins – but the main thing is, whatever you’re doing make it fun.”
TV times
While Mark is no stranger to the medals podium, he is also a regular face on our TV screens. Appearing on the sixth series of Strictly Come Dancing, however, was frightening, he says.
“It was way out of my comfort zone. I had never danced in my life apart from after having a few drinks at a wedding. But getting the opportunity to do it was great. I thoroughly enjoyed it and went on the Strictly tour and ended up getting nines and tens – so I obviously have learned an awful lot. I’ve stayed in touch with so many people from the show too.”
Mark also remembers being on The Weakest Link, where he enjoyed a bit of banter with the host, Ann Robinson. “She did flirt with me, but I was fine,” he remembers. “I think I had to get my chest out by the end of the show. But hey – I won. And if it meant she wasn’t going to lay into me, then it was worth it.”
Right now, however, Mark is looking forward to this summer’s Olympic Games – even though he’s no longer a competitor. So who does he think will win a medal for swimming, we asked him? “I’ll give you three big names,” says Mark. “Rebecca Adlington is going to win the 800m and possibly win the 400m. She is the queen of swimming. The other big names will be Francesca Halsall. She’s going to be in the 50m, the 100m freestyle and the 100m butterfly, and if she’s on form she could win three medals.
“And also Keri-Anne Payne in the open water – the marathon event in swimming. She’s won the last two world championships and she’ll be going to the Olympics as favourite. And she is stunningly beautiful too. The women’s swimming team is hot.
“As for the UK team in general, I do think it’s going to be a victorious summer. It’s going to be a sporting festival and the country will love it and get behind it. We’re going to have two and half weeks of 36 different sports, and I can’t wait. I love it.”
