Dodge trouble at a stroke

Controversy surrounds swimming in your local pool this week after a council in Blackburn banned backstroke due to the risk of clashing with other pool users. Katy Sexton, Britain's Olympic gold medal hope in the 200m backstroke, has tips on how to avoid problems.

You can clash with anyone doing any stroke - backstroke is no exception. In fact, breaststroke is far more dangerous as it is the most spread out.

You won't believe the amount of times I have been kicked by a member of the public swimming breaststroke next to me in training.

I have never had any serious bangs - it is all about lane etiquette. I have whacked my hands a few times on the end of the pool but that was my own fault for not counting my strokes properly.

Banning backstroke sends out completely the wrong message to youngsters. It will deter people from swimming - and at the end of the day we should be encouraging it for general fitness.

From a safety point of view, perhaps the pool has been doing something wrong. They should set a lane up specifically for backstrokers.

My advice to amateur swimmers is to count your strokes. Most pools have flags above the lanes so you know when you are near the end of the pool and you can count your final strokes. You should leave a big enough space between you and the person ahead of you and stick closely to the lane rope.

I have never had any problems and I have been swimming backstroke for years.

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