www.buzzinsports.co.uk

Fourteen time Olympic gold medallist Michael Phelps will compete in the UK for the first time at the British Gas Duel in the Pool at the Manchester Aquatic Centre this week, when the US swimming team take on an the E Stars from the UK, Germany and Italy.

British Olympic Gold Medallist Rebecca Adlington, and Hannah Miley who won both Gold and Bronze medals at last weekend’s European Short Course Championships, will also be competing on home soil.

Hear the excitement building up as the UK swimming stars prepare for the competition which takes place on December 18th and 19th. Rebecca Adlington and Liam Tancock share their views and personal goals ahead of the upcoming event.

H Factor

No doubt you will be familiar with the TV show X Factor, but are you ready for the H Factor?

Four acts will battle it out at the inaugural British Open H Factor Competition next April at the Birmingham NEC, with the winning ‘H’orse act set to follow in the equestrian footsteps of the Household Cavalry, Jean Francois Pignon and The Metropolitan Police.

In a bid to find the next big thing in equestrian entertainment, Grandstand Group, the company behind the British Open Show Jumping Championships and Horse of the Year Show, hosted an H Factor qualifier at Addington Equestrian Centre earlier this year. The acts auditioning wowed the judging panel who were extremely impressed with the calibre of all the displays that were selected to perform at the qualifier and it was a tough decision to whittle them down to four finalists.

The four acts taking part in the H Factor Final are:

1.  Equestrienne – Here come the girls! An all action stunt show featuring solely female riders from Surrey.

2.    Saffron Walden Musical Ride – Strictly come Dressage! The team from Essex will be performing dressage to music.

3.    Knights of Middle England - Knights in shining armour! Medieval jousting and stunt riding with a twist from the Warwick based Knights.

4.    Rockin’ Horse – Rock & Roll with Lincolnshire based Rockin’ Horse! The eccentric, fast paced stunt show that will keep you rockin’.

The four qualified acts will perform each day at the British Open, with the aim to impress the audience who will be able to vote for their favourite act by text. Saturday’s Final will feature all of the acts consecutively before live feedback and a verdict is given by Grandstand’s judging panel. The first ever H Factor winner will then be invited to showcase their talent at Horse of the Year Show.

The H Factor competition will take place throughout the week at the British Open 2010 (Wednesday 7th – Saturday 10th April at Birmingham’s NEC) with the final judging taking place during Saturday’s performance when the winner will be announced.

The judging panel of performing experts and YOU, the audience, will have the tough decision on who to crown the H Factor winner from four outstanding finalists. The first ever H Factor winner will then be invited to showcase their talent at Horse of the Year Show in front of over 60,000 visitors.

Helena Pettit, Managing Director of Grandstand Group, commented: “We are extremely excited to be hosting the H Factor Final at the British Open. The competition was devised to seek out new equestrian talent and we were very excited with the response having received innovative entries from across the country. The four finalists really impressed us during the early stages of the competition and we can’t wait to see what they have in store for the final.”

The British Open Show Jumping Championships takes place at the NEC, Birmingham from Wednesday 7th – Saturday 10th April 2010.

For further information visit the official website at www.britishopenshowjumping.com

Stockport based UK swimmers Michael Rock and James Goddard share their thoughts on the upcoming British Gas Duel in the Pool, which takes place at the Manchester Aquatic Centre on the 18th and 19th December.

Rock and Goddard will be among the E-Stars team made up from the top British, Italian and German swimmers who will take on the full might of the US team that includes multi Olympic gold medal winner Michael Phelps.

Dubbed the Ryder Cup of swimming, the format of the British Gas Duel in the Pool is unique in that as the programme is made up of straight finals with no heats, giving competitors just one chance to perform their best times.

amelie mauresmo

Former World number one tennis champion Amelie Mauresmo said today that after achieving the three sporting goals in her life she is announcing her retirement from the game at the age of 30 years old.

Mauresmo had set three main goals in her career, to become the world number one, winning a grand slam title and winning a Fed Cup title. “I achieved all of them” said the Frenchwoman, adding ” When I look back I have no regrets and great pride.”

“I came here to announce the end of my career. I made this decision after careful consideration,” said Mauresmo opening the press conference, and overcome by the moment immediately burst into tears.

“It was becoming tough mentally. What happened is I simply did not want to go training any more. My tennis life lasted 25 years, there were extraordinary things and tough moments.”

Mauresmo won 25 WTA tour championships throughout her career at the top of Women’s tennis, she first became the world number one in 2004 and followed with grand slam titles in the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006. She was victorious in the Fed Cup with her country France in 2003.

Having considered quitting following injury in 2007, Mauresmo came back to win the Paris Open title this year 2009. She has not played competitively since the US Open in September.

roger federer

Roger Federer has ensured that he finishes the season as World number one following his defeat of Andy Murray in the ATP World Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena this week.

Federer had lost the title to Rafael Nadal towards the end of the 2008 season and said that he had made it one of his goals to win back it back this year. The win over Murray guaranteed that he would finish on top and he said “It’s a wonderful feeling,It’s one of the greatest performances I’ve achieved.”

Federer had started the season by being beaten by rival Nadal in the Australian Open, having already surrendered the Wimbledon crown and ranking to the Spaniard in the previous season.

In April Federer married  and in July he regained the Wimbledon crown and two weeks later he became a father for the first time when his wife gave birth to twins.

He has won five titles on this years tour and it has been interesting to see his form returning throughout the year. He puts it down to;

“Playing so well at the most important moments, it’s been the key this year, and staying healthy, especially after having a rough 2008. Coming back this year and being able to dominate and play at the top when the depth in tennis is so, so great at the moment. I think it’s a wonderful achievement.”

I couldn’t agree more, it has been great to see Federer coming back to form, although he lacks the consistency that we had come to expect of him, maybe that will return too. It is also true that both Nadal and Murray have spent time out of this season with injuries, so it will be good to judge things when each of them are back to full fitness, hopefully for the start of next season.