Eden has returned to the UK after two weeks in Sweden incorporating a specialist training camp and a world class competition.
The first week was spent at the Vesteinn Hafsteinson Discus camp. Talking about the event, Eden told us, “The training camp was a great success and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I learnt a lot and it was a great experience to be around athletes of such a high calibre for that length of time. Although, being the only girl there was a bit weird, the guys looked after me! It was fantastic being able to do full throws indoors; it’s not something I have the opportunity of doing here. Vestienn was very optimistic about my throwing and hopefully the summer will see me display what I now believe I am capable of.
The training camp was followed by the indoor Swedish Open in Växjö on 12-13th March. Eden competed in both shot put and discus and was delighted to win the shot put with a throw of 16.14m, way ahead of her nearest rival and enough to take her to the top of the McCain Power of Ten shot put rankings this year. The competition in Växjö is quite a unique event, as arenas large enough to accommodate indoor discus competitions are rare. Unfortunately, Eden picked up a minor injury pulling up short after one throw which placed her seventh overall. She said, “I am hoping that the slight injury to my pectoral minor and my rotator cuff will be fully mended in a short space of time.”
This meant she had to pull out of the European Cup Winter Throwing competition in Bulgaria taking place the following week, but she wisely went on to say, “Although this is a disappointment, following last year, I have now learnt that it is better not to compete when not at full fitness, rather than to push on and make things worse. It is only a minor injury so it will not affect my training too much, which is fortunate.” Eden’s next big competition will be in May so she has plenty of time to recover fully.