NORTHERN PLANNER

This was me aged 12 on a swimming trip to Germany, proudly sporting my City of Leeds team t-shirt. It was my first trip abroad without Mum and Dad, and I was bit nervous, but a bit curious about what it would be like.

It ended up being one of those times when you feel everything is perfect and you really would not change a thing. I stayed with a lovely German family who treated me as their own, I had a purple patch of form and won a few races; and I finally got to kiss Samantha Lightfoot. I can still see the proud look on Mum and Dad’s face when I got off the coach with my medals back in Leeds.

I’m 32 now and there have been a few more moments when everything seems in it’s right place. Getting married was one of course, but there are others that just simply arrived.

One was in Hamburg the night before the Millennium. We picked a quiet bar to save energies for the following day, but we ended meeting some nice people and going to a party full of different nationalities and backgrounds. I can remember standing on this balcony just chatting with these people I’d never see again and just thinking how perfect it was.

Another time was just walking on the beach in Cornwall, where Mum and Dad live now, with the sun on my back.

They don’t come around very often, but when these moments come, they stay with you forever.