British open water swimmer, Alice Dearing has made history as the first black female swimmer to represent Great Britain at the Olympics.
Making her debut in this year’s Olympics, the 24-year-old made it into the 10km Marathon Swimming final yesterday but was left “broken” after finishing in 19th place.
Talking about the race to the BBC afterward Alice said “I’m pretty broken. It was really hard, a really tough race. I had a lot more to give than that, I’m better than that”.
Adding “It’s incredible to race at the Olympics but I’m really disappointed with the result. I know I can do better. I want to go to Paris and have a better race, perform better than this.”
Despite the disappointing end results for Alice, it certainly does not take away the fact she’s made history, representing GB as the first black female swimmer at the Olympics.
With so many more achievements in tow, including co-founding the Black Swimming Association, a charity to encourage swimming among BME communities in Britain, Alice has made a mementos mark on the Olympics.
Wanting to show others that anything is possible, Alice told the BBC “I really hope it makes a difference and people look at this and think it’s doable and for anyone out there,”
“If you don’t know how to swim, get in and learn to swim. If you want to go to the Olympics, give it your best shot – don’t let anyone tell you it’s not for you.
“Go chase your dreams if that’s what you want to do.”
Who is Alice Dearing?
Growing up in Birmingham, Alice discovered her love of swimming at just eight years old.
She later attended Loughborough University where she studied Social Media and Political Communication. During this time she was trained by Andi Manley, the director of Swimming at Loughborough.
In 2014, Alice began to compete in major competitions - her first, the World Junior Open Water Championships, left her finishing fourth in the 7.5km event.
A year later, she went home with her first medal, taking bronze in the European Juniors in 2015.
In the same year, Alice made her senior international debut, competing at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships.
This began her swimming success as she won gold in the 10km World Junior Open Water Championships in 2016.
History was made as this was also the first British gold medal to be won in the World Junior Open Water Championships, after she overtook Nikoletta Kiss in the final 50 meters, finishing in 2:04:24.1.
Alice went on to qualify the Toyko 2020 Olympics and made history as an ambassador for people across the world in her pursuit to continue to support diversity.
