Nocher finally gets her rewards

WHEN Melanie Nocher was growing up in Holywood, she never noticed the little curly-haired golf prodigy.

He went to a different school and by that the time she was 13, Nocher was competing in major international events.

“Ah Rory; he’s doing well for himself,” she enthuses. “I didn’t know him growing up but you’d see him out the odd time.”

Rory McIlroy is now one of the top 10 golfers in the world and if Nocher isn’t at that level, the 22-year-old still remains one of Europe’s premier 200m backstroke swimmers, something she hopes to prove at the European Long Course Championships in Hungary this week.

Having finally seen off a run of horrendous luck, Nocher is targeting a place in the continent’s top 16. And she is confident of achieving that goal.

“I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been,” said Nocher from the Irish team base in Budapest. “I’m feeling very good. I moved coach and it’s the only block of training of three months that I haven’t been ill or sick in a long time.”

Her confidence is at an all-time high, having broken her own national record at the Irish Open on July 25.

Nocher was driven to put in a good swim by the irregularity of her appearances at home – she is based at Loughborough University, where she studies sports science – and by the catalogue of injury and illness that had prevented her from threatening the mark for some time. It was in her own words, “one thing after another”.

Glandular fever, pneumonia, recurring chest infections, a rundown immune system and recurring shoulder injuries all left Nocher questioning her future in the sport.

“That was hard to deal with because it was knock after knock, so the last few months were really make or break for me. There was no point doing it anymore if I kept breaking down. It was getting too hard to handle.”

A change of coach was part of the healing process. Ian Armiger has been director of swimming at Loughborough for the past 13 years and Nocher is flourishing under his tutelage.

“There were a few things but I needed a change of scenery, a different perspective on things. He’s done wonders. He makes you work physically hard. He’s tough but does it with a smile. It works for me. He’s a great guy and a great coach.”

She has finished fifth in the European short course championships and made the final last year, despite her shoulder problems. This is a much more competitive championship though, and Nocher is realistic about her chances.

“To make the semi-final would be amazing. I’m going to give it my best shot. If I get out of the pool and race as hard as I can and finish 17th, I’ll know I’ve done everything I could to swim fast. It hasn’t been very often I could have said that in the past, that I’m well and happy and not injured.”

Having experienced the Olympics in Beijing two years ago, Nocher is keen to compete in London in 2012. Even more than that though, she is relishing the challenge of pitting herself against the best in the world. She calculates that she might need to shave two and a half seconds of her best time to make the final there.

As long as the improvement continues, she will keep making the sacrifices.

“You can go on as long as you want to in sport. I think a lot of people pulled out earlier before because it was hard to live as an athlete and work. Now with grants, you can (sport) have it as a job. I think you can keep improving until you’re 30 or so. I’m certainly still learning. When I was 17 I thought I knew loads but I didn’t really. I think I have loads to achieve. I want to make an impact. I won’t be swimming to make teams. If I stop improving for a whole year, I don’t see the point of continuing and I won’t.

“There are so many big sacrifices, I could never be happy with that.”