SWIMMING FOR TEAM GB IN TOKYO

The Secret of my Success? Never Give Up

For swimmer Alys Thomas, Class of 2009, qualifying and competing at the Tokyo Olympic Games was one of the toughest yet most rewarding experiences of her life.

Swimming is essentially a solo sport: when you are stood behind the block at the start of your race you are on your own, everything is down to you; how hard you kick; how fast you pull; how quick you push off the wall; it’s you against the clock.

But behind the scenes swimming, or pretty much any sport for that matter, is very much a team game. From professionals to teammates, in both competitive and training environments teamwork is fundamental to the success of not just the athlete but the person themselves.

I began swimming at an early age as a toddler and joined my first club Kingston Royals at age five. I swam with Kingston all through Primary and Secondary School, while at LEH, usually before school, so often turning up to school with wet hair in the mornings.

After completing my A levels at LEH in 2009, I left home and moved to Swansea to join the Welsh High Performance Centre, where I still live and train today. I deferred enrolment at Swansea University to study Psychology for two years, as I wanted to focus solely on my swimming. After competing for Wales in Delhi in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, I decided I would enrol in my degree the following year. I spent the next two years juggling being an ‘elite athlete’ and full-time student. I found the balance pretty simple, just be organised!

I took the option to complete my final year of my degree part time to allow time for my training, taking part in my second Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. A year later I finally graduated from University with a 2:1 in Psychology. Since then I’ve not chosen to go back to school, instead opting to focus on being a full time athlete.

In the lead up to the Rio Olympic trials in 2016 I’d had shaky preparation. I had been diagnosed with bone stress in my upper arm. This wasn’t my first Olympic trials – I’d been to the Beijing

and London trials, however this was the first trials where I thought I might have been able to qualify. Due to the injury I was unable to train fully for six months, but despite this I managed a second place in the 200m butterfly and a first in the 100m butterfly.

My places did not guarantee selection and ultimately I was not selected. At the time I was crushed, and I thought at the age of 25 I would never be an Olympian. Long discussions with my coach and friends and family later taught me that there was more to me and swimming than being an Olympian, and there were plenty of instances where World Champions were not Olympians…

The following year I qualified for my first World Championships team. This was my first British team and was a massive eye opener, I was suddenly on a team with Olympians, people I’d just watched on the TV compete at Rio, people I looked up to and I was on the same team! I had new staff and coaches I needed to impress, and team mates to get on with.

2018 was considered my ‘breakthrough year’ and I was 27, considered old in the world of swimming. People were asking me what I was doing differently or what my secret was; my answer was simple – I hadn’t given up. I finished the Commonwealth Games 2018 with a gold medal in the 200m butterfly with a games record and a bronze medal in the women’s medley relay. A few short months later I took home two bronze medals in the same events from the European Championships in Glasgow.

Still hungry for more, and with a strong support system of coaches, friends, and family around me, I started to set my sights on Tokyo which would now only be two years away. In 2019 I qualified and competed at my second World Championships in South Korea, I felt far more settled than I had at my first world’s experience and finished

fifth in the 200m butterfly. Although pleased with my results, I felt a pang of disappointment as I knew my time from the previous year would have got me on the podium. But this only spurred me forward for 2020. Then came the pandemic.

Qualifying and competing at the Tokyo Olympic Games was easily one of the toughest yet rewarding and enjoyable experiences of my life. I cannot express how hard and stressful mentally, emotionally, and physically the lead up through the postponement of the games and the pandemic was. When I look back on it all now, I can’t believe everything I was doing at the time given the circumstances and how much had been taken away due to restrictions.

In reality we were in an ‘Olympic cycle’ training phase for two years when normally this would last nine months. During this time I leant heavily on the support around me, my coaches, psychologist, physio, boyfriend, family and close friends created a small close support bubble to help me stay motivated and resilient to bounce back and stay moving forward when the world seemed to be stood still. Communication became a key part of this, Zoom was a lifeline.

COMPETITION HIGHLIGHTS

COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2010 DELHI Reached the semi-finals of the 100m butterfly

COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2014 GLASGOW Placed fourth in the 200m butterfly

I became an Olympic finalist at my first Olympics aged 30 and placed seventh, a result I am ultimately very proud of, given the circumstances and whole perspective of the lead up and environment we all endured.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 HUNGARY Reached the semi-finals in both 100m and 200m butterfly

COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2018 GOLD COAST Gold medal in the 200m and bronze in the women’s 4x100 medley

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2018 GLASGOW Bronze in 200m and bronze in the women’s 4x100 medley

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2019 SOUTH KOREA Finished fifth in the 200m butterfly finals

TOKYO OLYMPICS 2020 JAPAN Placed seventh in 200m butterfly finals

In September last year, I took part in a series of competitions in Naples for the International Swimming League, and never more has the ethic of ‘together we can’ been more appropriate and important. The difference in this setup is you don’t compete for your country, or alone for that matter. You are part of a team.

My team in this case was completely multinational, made up of people from a total of 25 different countries from around the world, and it was crucial to meet, understand and create a positive motivational team environment from day one.

All my experience in my senior swimming career has helped me cope and appreciate opportunities like these so much more. In a situation like this there are many people who I didn’t know, understand or relate to but still had to work with in order to achieve a common goal and have fun. I didn’t know the staff either, so asking for support was similarly a challenge in some respects. Knowing what I needed and knowing how I work best, allowed me to communicate my needs effectively and helped create a cohesive stress-free environment.

Throughout my career in swimming there have been many ups and downs, probably more downs than ups, and more years with obstacles and hardships to overcome than the small fleeting glimpses of success. But the hardships teach me resilience to keep going and the glimpses of success I have experienced, along with the people I have met and places I have travelled, make the whole journey worthwhile and ultimately it’s a passion I enjoy.

My story in the swimming world is slightly out of the ‘norm’. I’ve been swimming competitively for 20 years but have only come into my ‘prime’ in the last five years. I just haven’t stopped, I haven’t given up. If I could offer a piece of advice to anyone it would be to use the people around you. People are so wise, and often have the best stories. They’ve had experiences you haven’t, so listen, keep learning, and don’t give up. Keep trying - it might take four goes.