After a six-year hiatus out of the pool, swimmer Kaitlyn McCaw will represent Team NI at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
However, the lengthy break from swimming is only part of McCaw’s remarkable story.
She was born in Australia, went to an Ivy League university in the United States and may never have set foot in a pool if a doctor hadn’t recommended swimming to help with a medical complaint.
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The 25-year-old, who spent her early years in the Cronulla Beach area of Sydney, moved to Northern Ireland two years ago and is looking forward to her first major games.
“My parents are both from Northern Ireland (Ballyclare and Doagh respectively) and then they moved to Australia where I was born and raised,” said McCaw.
“We came back to Northern Ireland regularly and this place is very special to me, and I move back in March 2020 permanently.
“I learned to swim when I was small, I had really bad asthma which is why my mum put me into swimming under a doctor’s recommendation and I loved it.
“I just kept competing and enjoying swimming for many years, but when I went away to university in America (Dartmouth) to do my undergrad I I stopped swimming to try and push my academics as much as I could and then I came back to Northern Ireland and now I’m swimming again.
“I studied psychology for my undergrad at Dartmouth and it was a great experience.
“I’ve been working very hard and I’m very honoured to represent Northern Ireland and I’m really looking forward to Birmingham.
“My parents are very proud and very excited, and it is nice for them to see me representing their home country and I think it brings them a lot of pride.
“Just being there with the team, it is a new opportunity for me. This is my first Commonwealth Games so I am just enjoying myself, meeting new people and just hopefully perform really well.”
McCaw swims out of the Larne club.
“I’m working with my coach Peter Hill at the minute and he is fabulous, and I’m very excited to see where I can take swimming in Northern Ireland," she said.
“I was out of the water for six years and I took it back up in 2020, it has definitely been challenging but I’m loving it and excited to see where it can go.
“I’m hoping to compete in the freestyle and the butterfly but I’m waiting to hear my exact events.
“I’m just kind of getting back into it, I’m just enjoying myself and just trying to do the best I can and see what happens.”
She added: “I think my priority at the moment is focusing on the whole team and just being the best I can for the team and contributing as much as I can to help everyone to do our best."
The Team NI aquatics squad is a blend of experience of youth.
“Bethany (Firth) is incredible. Danielle (Hill) is my teammate (Larne) and she is fabulous, she has definitely helped me a lot coming back into swimming and has pushed me in training so it will be really nice to be in Birmingham alongside her," Kaitlyn said.
“There is a nice mixture of older swimmers that can hopefully guide and support the younger swimmers and it will be nice to see where they can take their journey to because they are so young, and they are already achieving a lot of great things.
“I’ll be doing my best and I’d definitely like to see myself in that situation (top eight finish) so I will keep working hard to see what we can make happen.”
McCaw swam in the Irish National championships and the Glasgow International meet and is satisfied with how the season has gone so far as she steps up her preparation for Birmingham with a training camp in Tenerife.
“We have had a few meets, but the focus is Commonwealth’s, so we are training through pretty much," she said
"I’m definitely looking forward to being rested and being able to swim when I’m fresh rather than tired.
“I think so far the meets have gone well. I was happy with Irish Nationals and that is how this team was selected and I’m heading back towards my on PB so I’m looking forward to being back at my best and hopefully better than I have ever been.
“I love the sunshine, so I am very excited to be back in some warm weather, I love the countryside so much and when it is sunny here that is my favourite place.”
McCaw has a heavy workload in and out of the pool.
“I’m currently studying for my Masters in law at Queen’s University, so I haven’t had that much time to relax if I’m being honest between working, studying and swimming.
“I really enjoy hiking and that is one of the reasons I really love this country so much because there are so many beautiful scenes around so just getting out there for a nice walk is something I really enjoy in my spare time.
“It is not always easy juggling it all but I just try to definitely put my best foot forward and take small steps and just let myself know that I’m doing each different thing.
“It is just basically doing the best I can and leaving each thing in a way that I’m happy with.”
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