WHEN the call came, Dan Wallace felt more relief than euphoria. Despite a grossly under-whelming performance at April’s Olympic swimming trials, the 23-year-old was still handed a return ticket to Rio, his past record earning him a surprise reprieve from an otherwise avowedly ruthless selection axe.
“I wasn’t sure if I’d done enough,” the Scot acknowledges. “But the fact my team-mates and support staff and British Swimming believed in me and know I can be great again in Rio was a real confidence booster, to see they still had faith that I can be an asset to the team.”
A Commonwealth champion in the 400m medley in Glasgow two years ago, Wallace made much less of a splash on his return to Tollcross. One month later, at the European Championships in London, he was similarly anonymous. On this downward trajectory, this summer threatened to be a washout. Desperate times call for desperate measures. After five years based at the University of Florida, he has called time on his trans-Atlantic stay for a new start and fresh hope at the Millfield set-up in Somerset that has latterly nurtured James Guy to a world title.
“I’ve had to really re-evaluate where I want to go with my swimming and to change a few things,” Wallace concedes. “It was a big jump to pack my bags in Florida and move back to the UK but I’m doing everything I can to be at my best in Rio. And I’ve no doubt I can. I’ve got strong support in the UK, with my training base and my family as well. My coaches know what I need to do to be at my best. But it’s good to be home and have that focus ahead of the Olympics.”
There will be more trials, and perhaps errors, by the time he dives into action in Rio. Today, he will seek margin gains at the Mare Nostrum meeting in southern France before heading onward to Barcelona this weekend for what he hopes will bring a further advance in his rapid revolution.
A world champion in the 4x200m freestyle a year ago, the muscle memory of his past efforts has not faded away. There was no option but to change course, he signals, but the effort expended in recent times will not go entirely to waste. One minor tweak, perhaps an uncluttered pair of eyes observing, might be enough to unlock the latent talent.
“There is definitely a big risk to change things four months out from the Games but if you want to get special results, you need to take special risks and give it everything you can,” he says. “There is a risk but I feel it will bring me out to positive results.”
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