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SOUTHAMPTON-coached 400m ace Robert Tobin will limber up for next weekend's Olympic trials by running for his club in the British Athletics League today.

The 24-year-old, who trains under the guidance of Todd Bennett at the Sports Centre, will sharpen up for his big Birmingham date by running a 200m for Basingstoke & Mid Hants in their Division 2 match at Kingston.

Tobin will travel to Surrey on the back of 46.44-second run in Italy. But although he won the race at the Meeting Arcobaleno, Celle Ligure, the time was a disappointment for the Old Basing-based onelapper, who is not yet translating his better training times into competitive displays.

This week Tobin, who recently struck 4x400m relay silver for Britain at the Spar European Cup, was a special guest at Romsey's Mountbatten School.

His visit, tomark the launch of National School Sport Week, saw him get involved with the youngsters in a series of sports day activities.

Up to three million schoolchildren have been taking part in the first ever National School SportWeek - a government initiative managed by the Youth Sport Trust, supported by Norwich Union and launched by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and double Olympic gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes.

It's aim is to engage the largest number of schoolchildren at any one time in PE and school sport - a stark contast to the 22 per cent of adults who admit to having tried to skip sports day.

"We have seen vast improvements in participation levels and schools are thinking differently about the number and variety of sports they offer," said Dame Kelly.

"Together we are working to make sport fun and accessible for all children so that they are motivated to take part, get fit and learn to incorporate physical activity into their daily lives."

Another of Southampton's 400m stars, the 1998 European and Commonwealth gold medallist Iwan Thomas, acknowledged: "If it hadn't been for my PE teachers I would never have made a career out of sport.

"It taught me self discipline and competitiveness."

11:29am Saturday 5th July 2008

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