It was a decision made when he was a mere 10 years old that ensured Evan Jones had one of the best summers of his life in 2022.
While still at primary school, Jones was faced with the question of which nation he would go on to represent if he was, ultimately, to make it as an elite swimmer.
Despite both his parents being English, the fact he was born north of the border meant he was eligible to represent Scotland. The pull of the Saltire was too strong and so Evans pinned his colours to the mast, thus ensuring this summer panned out as it did.
Despite, just a few years ago, Jones believing he had almost no chance of making an appearance at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, he ended up contributing significantly to Team Scotland’s medal count. The 18-year-old departed Birmingham with two bronze medals having been a vital member of both the men’s 4x200m freestyle and 4x100m medley relay teams, reaffirming that decision made when he was still a child.
“It wasn’t a hard decision – I remember my parents asking me who I wanted to represent and straight away I said Scotland,” he says. “And now, having been to the Commies with Team Scotland, I’m so glad I made the choice I did, I have absolutely no regrets.”
Jones’ success at Birmingham 2022 has done wonders for his self-belief. Having, in his words, “struggled” for a few years in his teens, his performances at the Commonwealth Games, at which he swam in both relay finals as well as a trio of individual events, proved to himself he can hold his own with some of the very best in the world.
“When I was young, I was doing well but then I went through a spell where I didn’t really grow and a lot of guys overtook me, which was pretty difficult. But then over the past couple of years, I got physically stronger and feel like I’ve got back to where I was,” the freestyle specialist says. “This summer definitely exceeded my expectations.
“In my opinion, I was one of the lowest people on the team – I was one of the very last to get picked. So I was looking at the Games as a bit of a free hit. Then, when I got there, I swam personal bests in all my events and so considering everything that had happened in the past few years, that was incredible.”
Several short-course meets have already been ticked off this winter before, this weekend, Jones embarks on the Scottish Short-Course Swimming Championships at the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh.
Also in action this weekend will be Jones’ University of Stirling team-mate Duncan Scott.
“I’m pretty happy with how I’ve swum so far so hopefully I can push on at the Scottish Short-Course,” he says.
“The standard in the group [at Stirling University] is incredible and everyone’s got a common goal and is working every day to be the best they can. Actually this year, there’s quite a few youngsters like me have come into the programme and that’s been really good because we’re at a similar stage in our careers and we’re all really hungry. It probably helps the older guys too because we’re pushing so hard every day. And what’s so good about having Duncan there is that you aim to beat him because he’s the very best – there’s basically no one in the world better than him so that’s pretty amazing having that every day in training.
“This is going to be a pretty stacked meet so it’ll be a very good test and I hope to get as close to some of the big boys as I can.
“Over the next year, I just want
to keep improving and then hopefully be swimming some really good times the following year, which is Olympic year.”
