Interview with Anthony Borsumato

Nick Dakin

UKHC:
It's a long time since you won the 400H at the English schools - to date your the only ESSA 400H winner who has gone onto break 49 seconds, what do you think has made you last the course where many low 52 sec juniors have not broken 50.00 seconds let alone 49.00!?.

ANTHONY BORSUMATO :
It's difficult to give a reason for that. Because before I got to the junior ranks, I always looked up to the fastest juniors and felt sure that many of them had the talent to go all the way. I know I have stuck at it for the simple reason that I still love doing it.

UKHC:
Have you always been a 400 hurdler then?

ANTHONY BORSUMATO :
No, that was a decision made for me as I found my limits at other events. I was a sprinter at 11, then turned to high jump at 14 (12th in English Schools) and then a long jumper (7.09 as a junior) before realising that I had more scope in the 400 Hurdles.

UKHC::
What attracted you to the event - in terms of training it's quite some way removed from High jump and Long Jump.

ANTHONY BORSUMATO :
I didn't ever focus solely on the two jumps, and did most of my training throughout that time with a sprints group. Then when the 400 hurdles was available, it was like a natural step to do a technical event on the track.

UKHC::
When did you think that you could really make a success of the event? Was it always something you believed in?

ANTHONY BORSUMATO :
It's a good event for getting a lot of encouragement from it. Because I worked hard in the first couple of years, I got some success at national level which gave me the incentive to believe that it would always be possible to get to the top. that is still the same today.

UKHC::
1998 was a major year for you when improving from 50.83 to 49.78 and in the process making your first major senior championships [the European's in Budapest], was there anything in your training or approach that you changed radically for that year?

ANTHONY BORSUMATO :
It was the first committed approach to add weights into my schedule which did help the speed side of things. That was the only real change, but every aspect of training was stepped up.

UKHC::
Was it something you expected coming into 1998? Had the training gone so well that you expected a big breakthrough?

ANTHONY BORSUMATO :
It was difficult to tell mid winter because I do most of my work on my own, but when I went warm weather training pre season and did some specific timed runs, the times were improved considerably from other years.

UKHC::
A lot your training seems to have been in isolation - without a big training group of other 400m or 400m hurdles athletes - is this a plus or a minus for you ?

ANTHONY BORSUMATO : :
For me I enjoy it more and get better results, although it is slightly harder because you have think for yourself for a lot, and your thoughts can become irrational if your not careful. but I like to think it keeps me sharp.

UKHC::
You also currently spend a lot of time training abroad whether in Australia or in Spain - other than the obvious climatic benefits, how else do you feel this enhances your training?

ANTHONY BORSUMATO :
It might sound terrible, but being away from home takes away simple distractions, and it encourages you to focus more because you are making the "sacrifice" of being away from home. A trip away for a month or so guarantees that I will train without any distraction. Its also a great indicator to come back to your home stable after a time period to measure what progress is being made.

UKHC::
The last two seasons have seen big advances for the event in Britain, but also for yourself , running 49.30 in 2001 and then 48.90 in 2002. You'd had a couple of years where you times were consistent around the 49.6/49.7 area, what brought about your improvement through to world class level?

ANTHONY BORSUMATO :
Lots of things really. Firstly because I wanted to do it so much. By 2000 I was in my third year of very little progress which I wasn't enjoying at all. training wise, my training became much more specific at a much earlier part of training. By December 2000 I was trying to run 34/35 seconds for 300 in training and using race stride patterns. in previous years I was based more on hard work and fitness without the specific work until just before the season.

UKHC::
Obviously you went to Sydney in 2000 , if you feel that you were not enjoying the training that much by that stage - was the Olympic experience frustrating or motivational for you?

ANTHONY BORSUMATO :
It couldn't not be motivational, it was so big, and a great part of life and athletics. Yet at the same time I would never ever reflect on the actual race there. It's just something I'd rather forget, which is a shame, but again a good incentive.

UKHC::
Looking at your training in general, in becoming more specific do you hurdle a lot more now or start hurdling earlier in the training cycle?

ANTHONY BORSUMATO :
I hurdle more at an early stage and I try to run over 8 hurdles quite frequently to take the fear of the distance from the event at an early stage of winter.

UKHC::
Moving on to the season just finished, it was probably a bit of a roller coaster, with some great performances and your first sub 49.00 clocking, but you just missed a medal in Manchester and were unlucky not to make the final in Munich despite running faster than all but Diagana in the second semi final - what will you take out of the year?

ANTHONY BORSUMATO :
Generally it was a positive year as I ran faster than any previous years. and the sub 49 clocking did feel like a big breakthrough. But my race form suffers in the last hundred which has happened for too long now, and that is what I am looking at very closely now for the future. I am happy that I can go into any race in the world and be able to compete. the next step for me will hopefully give the rewards of winning at that level which is still what drives me.

UKHC::
Do you have any specific targets in mind for the next couple of season? What would make you satisfied as an athlete?

ANTHONY BORSUMATO :
Being British, the first objective which cannot be overlooked is making the British team as the competition is fierce, and the number of competent youngsters around now is higher than ever...but a world championship place in the final will be the target, because that would also mean sub 48.50.

UKHC::
The strength of the the men's event will mean that British athletes looking to make the team will by default already be looking at a performance level that will be competitive in world terms - is sub 48.50 your ultimate aim or do you not place limits on your goals?

ANTHONY BORSUMATO :
Times are secondary throughout the season, as I have learned even more this season, as my two championships were okay time-wise but gave little reward position wise. its always going to be my focus to win races. I'll look at the clock after that.

UKHC:
UKHC wishes you all the best in achieving those aims and thank you for your time..