Gorgs goes for Gold – just a few weeks to go!

As readers of this blog will know, Helpful Holidays sponsors Georgina (Gorgs) Geikie, British number one ladies pistol shooter. We have sponsored Gorgs for the past three years, and are continuing to help in her bid for Olympic gold – we caught up with her to hear about her final preparations…

HH: What are you doing between now and the Olympics?

GG: I’ll be heading off for two training camps, at Bisley in Surrey and Charmouth Tunnel in Dorset, where my coach and I will fine tune my mental and technical training.

HH: What sort of things will you be doing at the camps?

GG: We’ll be focusing on my awareness and visualisation, creating a flow of routine. At the elite level, shooting is 95% psychological and 5% technique, so this is really important. We had a test event at the Olympic venue in April, so I’ll know what to expect. Nobody in my event has a maximum score – if it was easy, everyone would do it. You can perform brilliantly in training but it all comes down to what you do on the big day, so my mental strength is critical.

HH: How many will be with you in the GB shooting team?

GG: There are 11 in total, shooting a mixture of rifle and shotgun. I’m the only pistol shooter – I was the only one to meet the Olympic qualifying standard.

Gorgs ran the Okehampton leg of the Torch Relay

HH: Will your friends and family be supporting you at the Olympics?

GG: Yes, as well as my coach, my parents, my boyfriend, supporters from Helpful Holidays, they’ll all be there. It will actually be the first time I’ve competed on home territory with supporters present.

HH: Is that something to consider? You can’t let them put you off?

GG: That’s right, and it’s been a big part of my visualisation and awareness training. The support has been amazing though and spurs me on. I had a card from my Uncle, which has been areal inspiration – on the front it said: “If you shoot for the moon, even if you miss you’ll land amongst the stars”.

HH: When should everyone tune in to cheer you on?

GG: Well, I’ll be at the opening ceremony on 27^th July, and then my first event, the 10m Pistol, is on the 29^th July. My second event, the 25m Sport Pistol, is on the 1^st August; this is my priority event, I won my quota place for this one.

HH: So how do you think you’ll do?

GG: Well, I’m aiming for Gold, but I’m keeping my feet firmly on the ground. I just want to make sure I do myself and everyone else justice. If I can achieve a personal best, that would hopefully get me amongst the medals.

HH: Finally, what message do you have for everyone cheering you on?

GG: It’s an absolute privilege to compete in front of my home nation, in front of friends and family. And the support I’ve received from Helpful Holidays is priceless – this has ensured I can train to the highest standard and give myself a real chance.

We’d all like to wish Gorgs the very best of luck. You can follow her progress on her website, on Facebook and on Twitter.

If you fancy watching Gorgs whilst relaxing on holiday, browse our Dorset and East Devon cottages with availability during the Olympics.

Olympic sailing in Weymouth…

The beautiful but testing waters of Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour will play host to 10 exhilarating sailing events during the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The Team GB sailors

Weymouth and Portland provide some of the best natural sailing waters in the UK, so the 14 days of competition from Sunday 29th July to Saturday 11th August should offer plenty of excitement and drama. Three-times Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie will attempt to defend his title, and 10 other sailors from Team GB will be aiming for medals too. We have good form here - Team GB has topped the sailing medals table at the last three Olympic Games…

There are 10 different Olympic sailing events (six for men, four for women) featuring a variety of craft, from dinghies to windsurfing boards. Each event consists of a series of races and points in each race are awarded according to position: the higher the position, the lower the points. The final race is called the medal race (double points at stake here!) after which, the individual or crew with the fewest total points will be declared the winner.

Watch this video to see a profile of Ben Ainslie:

If you’re tempted to head to Weymouth to watch, a ticketed onshore area from which spectators can view the competition is under consideration by the organisers. This area would have the added benefit of a video screen to keep spectators updated on the action.

Fiddlesticks Cottage

We’ve currently eight superb holiday cottages in Dorset, all under an hour’s drive from Weymouth, with availability during the games. For example, how about Fiddlesticks Cottage, a pretty 19th century stone cottage in the thriving town of Beaminster, or Natterjacks, a charming cottage in an idyllic country setting, just a short distance from the coast?  

Feeling inspired to set sail yourself? There are plenty of opportunities to learn or improve your skills at the many sailing clubs and schools along the Dorset coast throughout the year.

Gorgs’ golden ambition…

Moray & Gorgs outside our offices in Chagford

As readers of this blog will know, Helpful Holidays sponsors Georgina (Gorgs) Geikie, British number one ladies pistol shooter. We have sponsored Gorgs for the past three years, and are continuing to help in her bid for Olympic gold next year.

Gorgs has a great chance – she was selected for the recent European Cartridge Championships held in Belgrade, where she achieved third place.

With only 10 months left before London 2012, Gorgs is now pushing her training schedule harder than ever. But last week she managed to take some time out to visit us here at Helpful Holidays to collect a sponsorship cheque from our General Manager Moray Bowater and to meet the team.

As Moray says, as soon as we heard Gorgs was going for Olympic gold, we were right behind her. She’s a great example of someone who is putting everything into reaching her goal and we’re delighted to support her.

A message from Gorgs: “I'm over the moon that Helpful Holidays has agreed to continue supporting me towards the London Olympics! I have a training and competition plan in place for this new 2011-12 season and Helpful Holidays’ sponsorship will make my first international competition this season, in Luxembourg, possible.”

We’d all like to wish Gorgs the very best of luck in her training, and hope to be able to write a future blog post celebrating her gold medal!

You can follow Gorgs on her website, on Facebook and on Twitter.

Interview with Gorgs Geikie – Part 2

Helpful Holidays has been sponsoring the British number one Lady Pistol Shooter Georgina ‘Gorgs’ Geikie for the past year – here’s part two of our interview with this young Olympic hopeful.

We were interested to get an insight into Gorgs’ training regime: “I do 3 or 4 hours a day of fitness training, which could be a mixture of working out in the gym, running and even horseriding. I shoot for 1.5 hours per day. But there’s a lot more to it than that – shooting is 95% psychology. You have to train your body and mind to react under pressure exactly as you want them to – to simply fire a shot. To do that you have to be completely in the moment, keep it as simple as possible. That’s not as easy as it sounds – when the pressure’s on, and noise is all around, absolute clarity and concentration is so important.”

After winning a bronze medal in Delhi, Gorgs’ sights are understandably firmly set on our home Olympics in 2012. “If I could win one tournament it would be the London 2012 Olympics. First I need to qualify for the GBR Team in order to be able to compete in World Cup competitions next year. Qualifying for the Olympics will be really hard - final selections are made at the start of 2012 and there’s only space for one from my event. But I can do it – and what’s more, I can win gold.”

Gorgs’ task has been made tougher with the news that funding has been reduced, meaning she has to rely heavily on sponsors to pay for her travel and training costs. “Sponsorship enables me to continue training and competing nationally and internationally. The first event next year is in Australia, so costs for that are quite high. All help is really gratefully received – without it I wouldn’t be able to continue competing.”

Helpful Holidays has been proud to be a sponsor of such an exciting and dedicated young talent – we wish Gorgs the very best for 2011 – and of course 2012!

Find out more about Gorgs by visiting her website: http://www.gorgs4gold.com. You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Interview with Gorgs Geikie – Part 1

Helpful Holidays has been sponsoring the British number one Lady Pistol Shooter Georgina ‘Gorgs’ Geikie for the past year – and what a year it has been. Gorgs was part of an extremely successful shooting team at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, bringing home a coveted bronze medal – the second of her career. We caught up with Gorgs last week to get an insight into the life of a young Olympic hopeful.

“India was a great experience, the conditions and facilities were much better than had been reported before the Games. The opening ceremony was very special – the Indians put on an amazing show, with lots of fantastic colours everywhere. We sneaked a big St George’s flag into the stadium, and ended up on the cover of the next day’s Hindu Times!”

The 22 strong English Shooting Team were extremely successful in Delhi, bringing back 19 medals between them. “Team spirit was fantastic, thanks to our team manager Peter Underhill, who held regular team meetings with us to keep morale high. Conditions were very hot and humid, but there was an area with air conditioning to cool down. In any case we had already held a test event in Delhi in February so we knew what to expect.”

Georgina’s bronze medal in Delhi was won in the women’s 25m sport pistol pairs alongside her partner Julia Lydall – who was the first to congratulate her: “I had fired my last shot, and put my gun down, still in the zone. Next thing, Julia runs up to me, and points above my head – I didn’t know what she was pointing at! She shouted ‘look, look, England bronze!’ and showed me the scoreboard. I was so excited and we both jumped up and down for several minutes!”

We’ll post some more from Gorgs later this week, including some insights into her training regime and her plans for the future.

Find out more about Gorgs by visiting her website: http://www.gorgs4gold.com. You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook.