An end goal is hugely important to me because it gives me something to work towards. Training, and just general life, is 10 times harder without structure and a finishing line. I work best with a plan and a schedule.
When I’m away, I just try to find routine as best I can because it keeps me focused. The biggest obstacles are things that are out of my control. For example, when a meet doesn’t happen or a flight is cancelled. It really throws me off.
Back in 2017 I was selected for my first World Championships in Mexico but it was postponed after the country was struck by a powerful earthquake that sadly killed more than 200 people. Great Britain pulled out of the rearranged event, partly because of safety concerns.
It hit me hard. It took me a long time to accept and process the fact that we weren’t going. I just ended up taking a week off swimming to try to reset. I knew I just had to take my mind off it completely.
I get very frustrated, sometimes even angry, when there are delays on the train or I’m stuck in traffic.
I don’t deal well with surprises and it’s tiring to adjust mentally to a new plan. There’s not much you can do other than take time out or push that stress to the back of your mind.
Food is also really hard when I go away. Obviously different countries have their own cuisine, and when we went to Japan for the Tokyo Paralympics it was mainly sushi and fish. I’m not a fan of that so it was quite a headache and another change to react to.
These days, when we’re travelling or competing, my coaches and team-mates try and give me as much warning as possible of any changes. They try and tell me as much as they can about swim camps and travel days so that I can plan well in advance.
I think it’s very helpful to have other swimmers around who are also autistic or have learning difficulties. We all understand what annoys us and stresses us out so it’s good to be able to help each other.
My team-mate Reece Dunn, who is also autistic, is a real source of inspiration to me. We’re very good friends and he’s achieved quite a lot so I look up to him in many ways.
We push each other to be our best and we’ve had some very close races before. It’s also just really helpful to have someone like him on the team. He understands me and I understand him.
During the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic, I didn’t swim for six months. When the Paralympics were postponed, I lost all motivation and became depressed – but once we knew they were going ahead in 2021, I managed to get back on track and it was a dream to win a gold medal in the S14 mixed 4x100m freestyle relay.
