9 minute read
Interview with Alicia Wilson
INTERVIEW WITH
ALICIA WILSON
(G18)
How it all started
Alicia started swimming through her older sister, whose potential was spotted by an instructor at her school (City of London Freeman’s). Her sister joined a local swimming club, which meant that Alicia had to go to the pool every day to watch her and, as she said, “it was a lot better to be in the water rather than out of the water just watching”, and so her own journey in the sport began. Nevertheless, she also had a passion for other sports, especially hockey, which she loved because of the team dynamics, and gymnastics, which she actually considered pursuing instead of swimming.
Time at Charterhouse
When Alicia first joined Charterhouse for the Sixth Form, she admits she was slightly worried about how her swimming path would be affected. However, she was pleasantly surprised at how flexible the School was. Because of her training she had to be a day pupil: she would swim for a couple hours at Guildford City Swimming Club in the morning before hashes and she would be back in the pool in the evening. Sometimes, if she couldn’t make the training time in Guildford because of late ending classes, she trained in Charterhouse’s pool. This was a lot of hard work for Alicia, but she was really grateful for the School’s support: “The set up at Charterhouse made it so much easier to get everything done and that’s when my international career really took off… I was finally in a place where they could accommodate high-class academic teaching within a flexible schedule, so that I could go to Guildford City and swim.”
Charterhouse also encouraged Alicia to apply for American universities, a choice which would be of crucial importance for her sporting career. Now that Alicia is at University of California, Berkeley, she says it is even easier to balance both swimming and studying: “Varsity sports are huge in the US, the setup is organised for your sport; school is so important, but swimming comes first and you fit your classes around your sport. It’s very different from Charterhouse. It’s easier here because I’m not one of a few people doing sport at that level. I’m part of a big team of 30 girls who are all swimming and are all in the same boat.”
Swimming career
Alicia’s competitive swimming journey started when she joined Guildford City Swimming Club at the age of 10. The Club is still “like a family” to her and she goes back there to train whenever she is in England. Alicia’s swimming ambition really took off in 2012, at the time of the London Olympics, because many Olympians came to train at the Guildford City pool and watching them really motivated her to follow their example. We wondered how Alicia maintains her motivation: she is the sort of person who is always very motivated, although she admitted there are times when she has struggled with her enthusiasm. For example, the postponement of the Olympics due to Covid really hit her:
Alicia Wilson (G18) is a top British swimmer who made her first Olympic appearance for Team GB in Tokyo 2020. We were able to interview her online when she took time out of her busy schedule to chat to us about her inspirational sporting achievements.
Charterhouse girls senior swimmers with Ellery McGowan, March 2018
Gownboys 2018
“You feel silly having the motivation to go to a meet when the world is in crisis –I do have that motivation, but there are times when I need to put it in perspective and know there are more important things.” Nevertheless, she managed to keep on training through the Covid crisis with the support of her family. We asked if her family have always encouraged her swimming ambitions: “My family have been so supportive. They’re not pushy, they’ve always said, ‘if this is what you want to do we will support you, but you have to want to do it’.” Alicia’s mum would drive her to practice every single day when she was younger and her family often flies to the US to watch her compete and show her the support she needs.
We asked Alicia how important it is to have a good rapport with your coach. She told us that her main coach, Lee Spindlow, trained her for 12 years and they have built a very good connection, although swimming is a testing sport and so inevitably there have been a few challenging moments in their relationship. Nevertheless, he is one of the first people that she turns to for advice and she believes a good relationship with him has been of huge importance to her sporting outcome. Alicia’s main role models have been her mum, because she is such a caring person, British swimmer Aimee Willmott, whom she describes as “a pioneer in the women’s IM events and quite understated, which I like about her”, and Teri McKeever, head coach of the women’s swimming team at Berkeley.
Alongside motivation, there is also obviously the swimming aspect. Alicia trains for several hours every day, both in the pool and the gym to maintain her best form. Competitive swimmers often have one stroke they are better at, which then becomes their focus to reach their greatest potential. In Alicia’s case, she focuses on the Individual Medley (IM), which is arguably the hardest choice because it involves all four strokes – butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. Alicia used to be a breaststroker when she was younger, but as she started to physically grow, she noticed she was getting worse at this stroke and needed to find a different event to remain competitive. This is when she shifted to the IM, which allowed her greater flexibility: “With the IM, if you have a bad day with one of the strokes, you can move onto another one.”
Tokyo Olympics
In 2021 the Summer Olympics were held in Tokyo, having been postponed the year before. In order to qualify for a place in Team GB, Alicia had to fly back to England in April 2021 to compete in the Olympic trials. She said it was a very stressful occasion, since you only get one shot at qualifying, with absolutely no room for error. Nevertheless, she came through with an amazing race time – Alicia told us that she felt ecstatic at qualifying, but also quite overwhelmed because she had been thinking of taking a break from swimming; she even contemplated withdrawing a few weeks before the Olympics, but then remembered all the sacrifices that had been made to get her this far and she resolved to follow that childhood dream and go to Tokyo.
We asked how Alicia prepared for the Olympics, apart from long hours in the pool, and we were surprised to learn that her routine hasn’t really changed since her time at Charterhouse: “Yes, the year in the run up to the Olympics is important, but it’s a journey that you embark on for a long time, and that journey began at Charterhouse. Getting enough sleep in, getting my food right, balancing things, having a good social life – those things were so important, and they still are. It’s that consistency from being at Charterhouse that is key to my lifestyle as an Olympian.”
The most breath-taking part of the Olympic experience for Alicia was the moment she arrived at the Olympic Village and saw all the flags of the participating countries in ‘flag alley’ and found herself sharing the same environment as the best athletes in the world, such as James Guy, Tom Daley and Sky Brown: “It was so cool that she was that tiny, aged just 13, and already an Olympic medallist.” The ongoing Covid restrictions made it a rather peculiar experience for the athletes; not only did they have to wear face masks, and even gloves at certain moments, but they had to leave the Olympic village within 48 hours of their event finishing. This meant many athletes couldn’t attend the closing ceremony, which really was a shame for all those involved. “At the final I remember waving to the camera, and knowing I was waving to my parents because they couldn’t be there in the stands, and that was so hard.” Nevertheless, she said it was an amazing
experience which she will never forget – “it’s hard to believe I am an Olympian, because it is such a dream!” She is now even more motivated to try and make team GB for the 2024 Paris Olympics, this time with her family there.
Alicia’s Olympic event was the 200m Individual Medley. High-level competitions such as this one entail heats, semi-finals, and then a final where only the eight best qualifiers get to swim. Alicia swam amazingly and managed to get a spot in the final for her event, a huge accomplishment for someone in their first Olympics. Although she did not win a medal, Alicia is very positive about the experience of competing in the Olympics and is looking forward to her next challenge. We asked how she copes with nerves before a big race: “If I’m not feeling nervous before a race, then I know it’s not going to be a good race. I absolutely love that adrenalin rush and there’s nothing wrong with being nervous, as long as you can use it to take your body further and not choke on the starting block.”
Future plans
Alicia’s next major swimming event will be the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham which she is excited about because her family will have the chance to be there to watch her swim for the first time in three years. Alicia is studying Economics and Business at UC Berkeley which, one day, she is looking forward to using in a finance setting where she can empower people from a female perspective. Despite all these plans, right now she takes it day by day, so that nothing distracts from her busy swimming schedule.
Any tips for current Carthusians?
“I would say that you are so lucky to be at Charterhouse, there are wonderful opportunities there, so use the resources around you. I had the best schedule possible there to maximise my sport and was around incredible teachers and support staff. It just took me telling my Housemaster (Dr Reston) and my teachers that this was my dream and everyone supported me. If you just ask for it, anything is possible and everyone will support you.” ■ “Getting enough sleep in, getting my food right, balancing things, having a good social life – those things were so important, and they still are. It’s that consistency from being at Charterhouse that is key to my lifestyle as an Olympian.”
