Sport Psychology Mind Coach - Chris Thomas

  Yes, grab your shades, pack your beach-towel and your sun-tan lotion as we welcome Nadine and Simone to the show - Switzerlands Olympic beach volleyball team!   The Swiss national Olympic Beach Volleyball Team have trained together since  the 2009 season. In June 2012 Nadine and Simone claimed their first ever FIVB SWATCH World Tour gold medal, with a win over Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig in the final of the smart Grand Slam in Rome.   The Swiss pair found their rhythm early on, controlling the match from start to finish and claimed the gold medal with a 21-12 and 21-18 victory. “It is unbelievable,” Zumkehr said. “It definitely wasn’t easy. In the first set we served really, really well. It may have seemed easy, but we knew that they would come out in the second set and make it very hard and tough.    “That is how it was. We were behind and we knew that it would be a lot of work, but we believed in ourselves and served well.”   The pair also had success with tournament victory in the FIVB World Tour in China. There hadn't been a Swiss beach volleyball women's team on the top podium in the 18 year history of the World Tour. Additionally, the Swiss champions took home the European Championship bronze medal. We welcome them to the show!

    Maggie MBE, is an England and Saracens rugby star who reached her 25-try landmark for England in glorious style during the 10-0 triumph over New Zealand, the World Champions, at Twickenham last November.     She has won 63 England caps and works as a Talent Development Officer for the RFUW in London & the South East. Her other scoring exploits include two touchdowns off the bench against Scotland in mid March last year and others against the United States and three against Canada in the Nations Cup the following August. She celebrated her first start in the 2012 RBS 6 Nations Championship series by helping England to beat France 15-3 in Paris and also wore the No. 7 jersey when the Grand Slam was completed against Ireland at Esher.    As for her most memorable game, Maggie said: “This year’s World Cup final was an amazing experience – to play in front of a huge crowd in a good stadium.   “My own goal is that England be regarded as the best team in the world by winning the WRWC. My personal targets are to work hard to maintain my position in the squad and be recognised for my ability as a rugby player. Outside the game, my aim is to become an events manager and plan and organise big sporting occasions.”

  Crista is widely recognised as one of the best hockey defenders in the world. With over 150 Great Britain and England combined caps, Commonwealth, World Cup and European cup bronze medals, and has been awarded Great Britain’s Hockey player of the year (2006). She has been named three times in the International Hockey Federation’s World All Stars Team (2006, 2007, 2010), and as Great Britain’s top goal scorer in the Beijing Olympics.    Born in Lincolnshire, Crista spent her early life growing up in Kenya, where her family still live, before moving to Leicestershire at the age of 12 to attend Oakham School, in Rutland. She went on to study Business Studies at Nottingham Trent University achieving a 2:1 Hons degree. Crista is now working for Sports Recruitment International whilst on her quest for London 2012 as their Marketing Manager.   Crista started her hockey career at the age of just 9 at Banda School in Kenya and was only introduced to an astro turf pitch at the age of 14 during Leicestershire U15 hockey trials. Her hockey accelerated quickly, playing County, Regional and England before being honoured with her Great Britain Cap when she was 18.   Throughout her entire hockey career Crista has been dedicated to Leicester Hockey Club and has been an influential part of the team for over ten years. Leicester have successfully won the English Premier League title 4 times, and have represented in Europe achieving a silver medal  in 2011. Crista's dedication to Leicester Hockey Club earned her the honour of being Hockey Writers’ Club Player of the Year in 2005 and 2007.   As a player who wears her heart on her sleeve and a determination to win, Crista has now set her sights on achieving a medal for Great Britain in the London 2012 Olympics.

  Ezinne is a 24 year old track and field sprint athlete, who competes internationally for Norway. Ezinne recently won the 100m at the Bislett Games, held in Oslo.   She saw much success as a junior, winning the 100m dash gold at the 2007 European Championships. A year later, she reached the second round of the century dash at the Beijing Olympic Games, setting a new personal best of 11.32s in the heats.   She redeemed herself at the European Indoor Championships in Paris. This time around she won the 60m dash bronze, stopping the clock in 7.20s – one notch lower and one-hundredths of a second faster than her silver medal in Torino two years earlier.   Ezinne represented Norway at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She competed at the 100 metres sprint and placed second in her first round heat after Kerron Stewart in a time of 11.32 seconds. She qualified for the second round, in which she failed to qualify for the semi finals as her time of 11.45 was the fourth time of her race.   In the 2009 European Indoor Championships in Turin she won a silver medal on the 60 metres event.The sprinter holds Norwegian records in the 100m and 60m dashes. She was also part of the quartet that set the Norwegian benchmark in the 4x100m relay back in 2008.   Ezinne is working hard towards competing in the London Olympics and we welcome her to the show.

  Robin gained a BSc and PhD in Psychology from the University of St Andrews. His PhD on “choking” in self-paced skills led to a specialisation in Sport Psychology.   His first post was at the University of Glamorgan, where he led the specialised Sport Psychology modules on the newly formed BSc Sport Psychology programme. Robin was appointed as Lecturer in Sport Psychology at Brunel University in January 2001 and in October 2004 took up a post as Research Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong, where he worked with Professor Bruce Abernethy and Professor Rich Masters.   In 2008, Robin returned to Brunel University to take up a post as Senior Lecturer in Sport Psychology. Currently Robin is leading the MSc programme for Sport Psychology and is developing a new MSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology for accreditation by the British Psychological Society (BPS). The first intake for the programme will be in September 2009.   Robin became a BASES-accredited Sport Psychologist in 2001, is a BPS-Chartered Sport Psychologist and a member of the BPS Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology committee. He worked as psychologist and performance analyst for Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby from 1999 to 2005, spanning two Paralympic Games, three European Championships and a World Championships.