FOLLOWING the World Championships in Italy, I think my preparation needs to change.

I was aiming to finish in the top eight for the women’s sabre in Italy but only reached the last 64, which was a disappointment.

However, the team finishing 11th was good because it was higher than our world ranking, but it is the individual event that is the most important to me and where the focus is, so my result in Sicily was not ideal.

The biggest problem is that there are only about five or six women fencers at the level I need to be competing at in this country and that is not going to change any time soon.

We cannot train together regularly, so I often train with men which, while valuable, is not the same as many of the women abroad.

The French and Russian girls train at their national academies, which really benefits them, while the Americans get a monthly salary so they can spend their time training.

I have been fortunate enough to be given Essex Ambassador status again for next year, so with the bursary from that and some money that I have saved, I am hoping to take a sabbatical from work so that I can train full-time until the Olympics.

I’m hoping to compete in France in a fortnight and then there is the British Championships next month. It’s always good to get some competition in at any level and that is important now as the qualifying events are getting closer.

We have four of those between February and the end of March and I want to make sure that I prepare for those by getting some international events under my belt.

I am looking at competing in some university competitions in America or events in France and Germany.

If I can take the sabbatical and then being able to focus on fencing will make a huge difference. Not only will I be able to practise my fencing, it will also give me more time for flexibility sessions and to concentrate on my diet; at the moment it’s all over the place because I am working and training.

The Olympic test event for fencing is taking place later this month but I will probably miss it because because I hope to be competing in France.

The test is for the men’s foil fencers and I have been invited to attend. It would be good to see where the fencing will take place at Excel but I hope I will be able to get a chance to see it before the Olympics.

While it would be good to see the test event, my aim now is to get some decent training in ahead of the qualifying events.