My journey to Arkansas hasn’t been the most conventional but it has certainly opened my world up to a whole host of new opportunities that I didn’t know were available to me.

Unlike many other athletes, I haven’t been competing my whole life. I took a break from swimming when I was 13 and didn’t get back into competing until I was 17. My decision to stop swimming was simply because I lost my passion for the sport. I felt a lot of pressure put on me as a 12-year-old to train more and more and I was constantly scared of being told I wasn’t training hard enough, or my times weren’t good enough. Even though my love for the sport was fading, I was still training twice a week but hadn’t competed in years. My high school persuaded me to swim a meet for them. I missed my race, but they allowed me to swim the 50 fly with the boys. I ended up beating a lot of them and did a personal best out of the blue. After that, I decided to train a little more and try to qualify for British champs in 2014. I figured this would also help me get on the University of Bath swimming team because I was starting that year. Since it had been so long, I had low expectations for myself and where I could go in my swimming career.

At this point, I was at university in England studying for my undergraduate degree and slowly improving my times. My love for the sport was returning but I didn’t believe in myself and my ability at all. It wasn’t until a few years later that Neil Harper, head coach of Arkansas Swimming and Diving, got in contact with me about coming to the states to do a master’s degree.

I came to visit Arkansas the year before I started. It was the only university I visited and I knew instantly, it was going to be the place for me. Before I visited, I never really considered the states as an option. I was ultimately drawn in by Neil, the team, the coaches, support staff and the amazing facilities available to me.

Neil has certainly been the driving force behind my success. He has such big dreams for where I could go in the sport that I didn’t believe could be possible. When he started talking about aiming for the World Championship team and then the Olympic team, I thought he was crazy. He believed in me so much more than I ever did in myself, but as with so many things during my time at Arkansas, he was right.

Throughout my time at the U of A, I have constantly been overwhelmed by the support available to me.

The atmosphere at college meets is electric and it brings out the best in me and I can’t believe how much I have been able to achieve. Being able to compete at the 2019 NCAAs was one of my proudest moments. Representing the Razorbacks and becoming a two-time All-American in the 50 and 100 freestyle felt like I was giving back to a program that had given so much to me.

Collegiate sports in America are a different world to me because you are swimming for something bigger than yourself. The overwhelming sense of pride when any one of your teammates achieves one of their goals is honestly a feeling I wouldn’t change for anything. We are one team and we all share in each other’s successes and disappointments. This is what gives us such a strong bond. My teammates are my best friends and I’m so grateful to have met every single one of them.

Although I’m sad that my time at Arkansas has come to an end, and earlier than expected due to the current circumstances, I will always be a Razorback at heart.

Thank you to my Razorback family and GO HOGS!