Previously unpublished: Dan’s thoughts on Louis Smith on Strictly

We’ve been looking back at what Dan told the Northamptonshire Telegraph in December, before it was published in the New Year.

He certainly had a hunch that Louis Smith would do well on Strictly Come Dancing! Here’s what he told the Northamptonshire Telegraph:

"Louis is good! He’s always been good at dancing – I know that because I’ve grown up with him. He’s doing really well. It’s great news for gymnastics too, as it wasn’t recognised years ago but now Louis is being rewarded. 

"I’m not sure that I would go on Strictly myself, I wouldn’t do as well as Louis!"
Check back in a few weeks for new Q&As from Dan’s interview.

In the meantime, you can look forward to Dan’s video blog for Opus Energy Challenge next week, when he’ll report on the English Championships, which are being held this weekend. Good luck Dan!

Good news for Dan Keatings and Louis Smith

In Dan's latest blog for Opus Energy, he chats about why his club – which he trains at with Louis Smith – is celebrating this week. Here's a snippet:

After launching an ambitious £650,000 expansion plan three years ago, my gymnastics club in Huntingdon received some fantastic news last week: it was announced that the Olympic Legacy Fund was donating almost £50,000 towards our goal of building a new gym. With pledges for more than half of the money already secured, the donation from the Olympic Legacy Fund is a massive endorsement to what our club has achieved over the last two Olympic cycles, and in our commitment to providing Gymnastics For All.

Find out all about it in this Opus Energy Challenge blog.

Stoptober update

How's it going? I hope you have all managed to stick to your Stoptober plan? I have, just about anyway, but I do have to thank my girlfriend for not stocking the cupboards with snacks and chocolate or I may have failed at the first hurdle ;-)

For me the first week was the hardest but I have now replaced all of my nibbles with a piece of fruit; bananas are my favourite as they release their energy slowly and help keep a lid on my hunger pangs. I had set myself a target of losing hopefully about 3kgs over the month which should take me back to my normal training weight and I am bang on target towards reaching my goal as I have lost 2kgs already - c'mon!

I have been back in the gym full-time for six weeks and I now believe that my body is back in good condition, or good enough at least to start adding new skills into routines as you can see from this video clip. It's also a reminder of just how dangerous my sport can be and that you really do have to be in top condition and mentally on the ball. Wipe out, lol!

The gym is also a little quiet at the moment as we have lost three big personalities and sparring partners:

 • Luke Fowell - 2010 Commonwealth AA champion who officially retired from gymnastics in July

 • Luke Carson - Irish Champion and close friend who is recovering from surgery to his leg, get well soon bro

 • And of course there's Louis Smith. Well, we all know where he is! Strutting his stuff on the dance floor with Flavia Cacace for Strictly Come Dancing - c'mon Lou!!

So at the moment I am training alongside GB squad member Cameron McKenzie during the week at Huntingdon and on Saturdays I go to Loughborough Uni to train alongside GB squad members Sam Oldham, Ruslan Panteleymonov and Sam Hunter. Official GB squad training won't start again until after the New Year.

Lemon sole for tea - delicious!

Good luck finishing Stoptober! We are all half way there now!

Cheers,

Dan