About Me

As a sporty youngster, I quickly found my place in the pool, progressing through the ranks of the local swimming club and competing at County and District level. I suffered from debilitating nerves as a kid, which I had to learn to manage as I progressed through national, and then international, rankings. I won my first Age Group National Championships at the age of 12, five golds at the European Youth Olympics at 14, and over the following two years stepped up to win six European Junior gold medals

I qualified for my first senior team at 15, and my first Olympic Games in 2008, aged 17, where I finished sixth in the 200m backstroke. I went on to be twice crowned senior European Champion, and have brought home a number of medals from Commonwealth Games and World Championship competitions

As well as my debut in Beijing, I competed at the London Olympic Games in 2012, achieving a fourth place finish in the 200m backstroke. Whilst a bittersweet position to finish, I feel in credibly proud and privileged to have competed such an extraordinary home Games

Current Roles

Passionate about supporting and enhancing the journey for future British athletes, I now Chair the British Olympic Association’s Athletes’ Commission, ensuring that athlete perspective is harnessed to help drive decision-making across the organisation and wider Olympic landscape

In addition, since retiring from professional competition in 2018, I have become fascinated with human performance, exploring how (and why) elite athletes can consistently maintain such high output in an extremely competitive and pressured environment

This ‘winning mindset’ isn’t something athletes are born with—they are trained to develop it over time. Like any skill, it can be deconstructed and taught to others. Over the past four years I’ve taken on a number of consulting roles, sharing the performance mechanisms from elite sport to increase engagement, motivation and productivity within a multitude of different professions

Health & Wellbeing

I have an additional passion for wellbeing and the impact that mental and physical health can have on our success at work (and in life!) There continues to be a huge requirement in helping individuals and organisations manage change and prioritise their health during today’s fast-paced world

I deliver key-note speeches, performance programmes and interactive workshops to a wide range of audiences and clients. Insatiably curious about my own performance and wellbeing as an athlete, I am now passionate about supporting others to fulfil their own potential in life