🇬🇧 🏊♀️ | PhDoing (aspiring SciPol analyst) | Founded Athlete Interactions to ⬇️ stigma & ⬆️ support for MH in sport | Trying to ⬆️ # girls in sport & STEM |
I adore my sport, and despite some rough times, it has still had a net *positive* impact on my life... That said, we can, and must, do better for the next generation!💙🥰
Bumping this again because it sums up how I feel
I DID IT - I'm an English channel swimmer! 8 hrs 46, full write up when my wrists recover more.
Apparently I'm the third ever fastest woman ever too? Cool if true🥹
Still fundraising for
@sascampaigns
Today, a swim made me cry. From 2011 - 2020 I only took 5 seconds off my 200m br PB... today, at 24, I knocked 8 seconds off in one day. FINALLY😭🥳
I broke the unspoken 'she was good at breaststroke until puberty' curse that seems to plague teenage girls!
GB go 1-2 in the most popular individual event of the most popular Olympic sport a year out from Paris!!!🇬🇧
... and most of the country has no idea. No option to watch on the BBC, no mention on the 6 o'clock news!🤷🏻♀️
1 BBC article click = 1 vote for swimming 😁
So opening Ponds is an issue of cost & government funding. The same gov. that can subsidise junk food can't provide funding for lesiure facilities..? MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!
We know how important
@PondsForge
is to the city & all who train there. We're working hard to secure a stable future for this iconic centre & will support reopening as soon as possible
YEAAAAABOI!!
(Mostly) executed my race plan✅
Had fun✅
18th in my debut Worlds✅
Qualified for Worlds 2024✅
Post-race hugs with my family (who have given so much for me to get here)✅
The first 13 months of my OW career have started alreyt🤩
Now the 5 km on Tues😁
It's a top-20 finish on her World Champs debut for
@amber_keegan
in the Women's 10km, as she places 1⃣8⃣th 👍
Fellow Worlds debutant
@leah_crisp
is in the group behind and touches 2⃣4⃣th 🌊
Full results 📖
It's wild, the cards life deals🥲
When I first hoped, dreamed and trained with the aim of attending these champs, they were scheduled for 2021 & I was training for 400 IM... Here I am in 2023, racing the 5 & 10 km, but I made it to Fukuoka!
A roller-coaster last week at
#BSC22
💔 with my 400s (the reality of elite sport is that it doesn't always go to plan!) but chuffed to end the week with a 19 second PB & my first ever 🇬🇧 medal in 1500 fc!🥈
Excited for the future🥰
#TeamSteel
All of the emotions indeed!
4 events, 4 PBs, 4 medals to boot. A LOT of grafting behind the scenes for the past 5 years is finally paying off 😭😁🥳
#SpeedoBUCS
Fastest 🇬🇧 woman in the 1500 this year! That's a cool feeling 🥺😁
Grateful 4 pals, fam &
@_TeamSteel
who supported me through a rough 5 yrs when many teams would have given me up for a lost cause!❤️
Solid racing from the other gals, especially those who just did open water!🔥
City of Sheffield's
@amber_keegan
and City of Liverpool's Tyler Melbourne-Smith take the 1500m Freestyle crowns in the first event of
#SummerChamps2022
Hey
@BBCSport
just a lil nudge that Open Water & Artistic Swimming are missing from your World Aquatics Champs preview article!
We (OW) race for Olympic spots on the 3rd & 4th. Artistic swimming have medallists from the last World Champs competing too!🙃
WORLD CHAMPS, here I come!!🥹🇯🇵
It's taken me 10 years to make a senior team, now *that's* playing the long game. A lot of obstacles overcome to get here, but we did it!
We don't control what cards we get, but we do control what we do with them🥲
More on my IG/LinkedIn x
ON POINT
@tomascrott
I'm 26 years old for my Worlds debut! Went backwards from age 16-19🫠 Then stationary until 24... Then massive upward curve aged 24-26!
Progress isn't always linear🔥
S/times I bore age groupers & their parents, frustrated that progress isn’t always upwards, that the ave age of GB swim team at Tokyo was 23.5 y/rs. The inspirational story of
@amber_keegan
2013 EJ Silver
@NovaCenturionSC
to World Champs ‘23 will be my new ref esp for AG girls
Spoiler alert: won't be racing in Paris. I gave EVERYTHING but today it wasn't enough. Sport be like that sometimes.
So grateful for this journey - two World Champs is beyond my wildest dreams as a kid
THANK YOU TEAM - you know who you are ❤️
Next race: Rottnest channel swim👀🇦🇺
Morning of the World Championship marathon swim & Olympic qualifier, interview with
@_TeamSteel
star
@amber_keegan
who took a risk and switched from 400IM to 10k open water. Overcome mental health battles and being dunked under a buoy to get here
🏊
Sooo, nice story
@BBCSport
, but surely the multiple divers who just qualified spots for Paris deserve a story too?! Not to mention the tons of medallists across swimming & artistic swimming! We also have British records & World Champions a year out from the Olympics!🤷🏻♀️
It's really really rubbish that we STILL have to remind others to be kind and show basic human decency😔
Massive credit to Will for having the courage to speak about this, and to the BBC for how they've picked up and handled his story though 😊
"We shouldn't have to have this extra strength"
Paralympian Will Perry tells
#BBCBreakfast
he shouldn't have to 'take on the chin' the abuse he receives over his dwarfism.
I'm so proud and excited to start at POST in Parliament next yr🥳 What an opportunity. I'm very grateful & can't wait to get cracking💃🏻
3rd time's the charm (applying). Resilience from swimming transfers to work! 🏊🏻���️
Different obstacles, same perseverance😁
World Champs & Olympic Qualifier: 7:30 GMT, Sat 3rd Feb🔥
So grateful to everyone who's played a part in this journey so far🫶🏻
As a kid, making one World Champs would have been a dream, let alone two... let's see if we can make the Olympic dream come true too!
Watch/results👇🏻
World Champs
#2
!🔥
Through my five or so years of injury and illness, I thought I had lost my shot at the Olympic dream, so I’m incredibly grateful and excited for this second chance!
I’ll give it my all – and it’s cool that we have a team of four at the Worlds this time too🔥
"It makes this one of the most important [races] of my career" 👊
The 4️⃣ marathon swimmers heading to Doha for next month's World Champs - and in search of Olympic quota spot qualification - have been confirmed 🏊♀️🌊✅
Thank you
@Swim_England
for listening👏🏻
Juniors have a ton to improve before weighing is needed (& it might never be)!
Big up Phoebe,
@CassiePatten
& the many others who spoke up in public & private🫶🏻
Looking towards a brighter future for swimming😎
This woman used to wake at 4am, take me training, commute Nottingham<-> Birmingham then pick me up after evening training, getting home around 8pm🤯
Swimming requires entire families to have money and time to support athletes. I know how lucky I am, and am incredibly grateful🥰
I'm having pasta twice a day, witnessing some truly bonkers overtaking on the roads, and swimming in gorgeous clear water! Italy welcoming us with it's staples🇮🇹🍝🌊 Grateful and excited for my first World Cup race!
It meant SO much to have my family (who put countless time, energy & money in) to be there for my first senior 4 IM 🥇!
Slower than planned, but w/ nearly 3K of racing this weekend, 2🥇ain't bad. Proud & tired😴🤪
Emosh IG post tmrw... now time for cake, a pint & sleep! 🍻
@pullbuoy
These comments are not about Titans, but sport broadly:
-welfare needs education + resources
-toxic cultures don't go away with small interventions, sometimes drastic change needs a clean sheet
-swimming has a srs body image/weight problem
🤞🏻for positive change from 💔 situation
HUGE shout out to Sienna of
@_TeamSteel
@dancocking90
for Euro JRs QT - no pool access in lockdown 3, then smashing sessions by herself at Hathersage until COSSS could swim at Ponds. Talk about Team Steel spirit - incredibly well deserved, v proud❤️
Good one with the girls today, P8🔥 Finally learned how to swim a 10 km, rather than a solid 8 km then dropping like a stone😂
All experience and learnings to take forward 🔜 🌍s!!
🏊♀️
@amber_keegan
and
@leah_crisp
are on the 10km startlist for the third leg of the LEN Open Water Cup 2023 which takes place in Belgrade 🇷🇸 tomorrow!
Series details ➡️
📸: Simone Castrovillari / LEN
Tokyo ✅ so here's a very self-indulgent spam!
Last proper sessions done and dusted, now onto the Fukuoka for the last bit of familiarity ahead of racing 🏎️
🌏 champs let's gooo🔥
We've come a longggg way since the first week of Mike's first plan for me😭 from 13-90 km weeks!
@_TeamSteel
have ALWAYS put health & wellbeing ahead of performance (even when I begged to put performance 1st!), which sadly can't be said of a lot of elite training environments 🫶🏻
Thanks to
@compoundchem
for THE BEST advent calendar I've ever had. "But why is it called that" answered for the whole periodic table, yesterday was my favorite day so far😍
"There's no way you to manage elite swimming and a Chemical Engineering degree at a Russel Group Uni" made mistakes along the way, but managed + won 3 Uni Awards🏊🏻♀️🎓💁🏻♀️💃🏻
(couldn't have done this without an amazing support network, thank you all)
Hey
@Swim_England
can I just double check that I'm reading your event conditions correctly for Winter Champs, please?
800 and 1500 HDW only, not even a fastest heat in the evening? 🤔
Let's goooooo!!!🥖
Old Port, windy port, choppy port! Lovely stuff🤪
Excited to race with Leah tomorrow and get to watch the boys do their thing on Sunday❤️
Out at Old Doha Port, the marathon swimming team are going through their final preparations ahead of a massive weekend 💪🌊
@amber_keegan
&
@leah_crisp
dive into the Women's 10km tomorrow, with
@hector_pardoe
&
@tobiasrobinson_
in the men's race on Sunday 🚀
I never get harassed when running with male pals. It really doesn't help me explain to them how much of a problem public sexual harassment is... & it infuriates me bc again and again men will respect another man, but won't give a woman basic respect! JUST RESPECT US & let us run
Thank you
@SheffUniEng
for featuring me & for all of the support over the years (5.5 & counting)! I get to have my name alongside some pretty incredible people on the Wall of Women - give it a gander!👀💪🏻❤️
Debut 10 km ✅
Fun in the sun at the European Cup/Aussie national champs🤣
Grateful for the opportunity to race and learn. I'm excited for the next one already! 🤪
Bailey & I are excited for
@GWBChemSheff
today! Women/folks passionate about diversity chatting Chemistry over breakfast all over the world👩🏻🔬🌍🤩
@IUPAC
#GWB2021
(Pls excuse the mess in my office/gym/dog playroom)
Join Council Leader Julie Dore and Director of Public Health
@felly500
Greg Fell for a live Q&A tomorrow, where YOU get to ask the questions. From 1-2pm, you can find out about the city’s response to COVID-19 and what’s next for Sheffield. Register at
Ahh BUCS, it's good to be back! Excited for the next two days of racing😁
Thanks
@_TeamSteel
@RGFcharity
@SportSheffield
for the support through the competition dry spells these past years! ♥
It was a good 1st half of the race. Very strugs post 10 km🫠
Despite the final position, I'm pleased with the race! Happy with my work on my race processes & I'm incredibly grateful for every experience to learn🫶🏻
Now onto Summer Chamsp🇬🇧 & one more World Cup 🇫🇷 before a rest!
Back out in the open water 🔙🌊
Overnight,
@hector_pardoe
placed 1⃣5⃣th in the Men's 5km, while
@amber_keegan
was 4⃣1⃣st in the Women's 5km to round out our marathon swimming team's programme in Fukuoka 🇯🇵
Full results 📊▶️
@OpenAcademics
1) The formation of nano-sized silica
2) JUST ONE?! Book - Dangerous Women (because it includes many short stories from some of my fave fictional writers)
3)
‼️Eating disorders can affect *anyone*. My sport motivated me to get better but also contributed to my getting ill.
Recovery was lonely, but no woman in sport should have to struggle with their mental health alone! Hence, we created The Athlete Support Network (link below)💛
EXC: The remarkable story of Nottingham's
@amber_keegan
coming up on
@ITVCentral
tonight. The swimmer developed an eating disorder so bad she damaged her bones by going for a walk. (1/2)
It's one thing swimming good when you're already swimming well, but it's another skill entirely to turn around a less than stellar start to the week into a PB & medal. YES PHOEBE🔥
#TeamSteel
Final night finished in style✅
11 medal haul✅
Leah Schlosshan and Phoebe Cooper secured a 1-2 finish in the Women's 200m IM to round-off the European Junior Swimming Championships in Belgrade🇷🇸🇬🇧👏
Read the story of the final few days' action✍️👇
FEELING INCREDIBLY PROUD, & also incredibly old, training alongside some of these who were, on avg, 7 years old back when I went to my Euro Jnrs!😭🤣
#swimming
#sheffield
TeamSteel will have 5 of the 42 swimmers on this years European Juniors Team!
@asanortheast
@britishswimming
Well done
Ash B
Charllotte B
Sienna R
Phoebe C
Matthew W
Just logged on for the first time since sending that tweet and I'm blown away by the response! I know most people won't read this, but THANK YOU ALL❤️
Also important to know:
-it was a team effort
-surviving and thriving after eating disorders is very possible
"Confident that the athletes will rise to the challenge"💪
An eight-strong team has been selected for the final
@WorldAquatics
Open Water Swimming World Cup leg in Portugal next month🇵🇹💦
Read the full details below🌎🇬🇧⤵️
29th in the biggest World Cup ever🤪 20th 2 pn, and in my 2nd ever 10 km☺️
Really proud of how my progression. Much more to come but today I gave EVERYTHING🔥 As evidenced by another swimmer having to pull me out of the water after vomiting my entire stomach up😅
💬 "The challenging elements of being a dual career athlete are what make it so rewarding”
Talented swimmer and Chemical Engineering undergrad
@amber_keegan
is set to make her mark leading the TASS Athletes' Advisory Group. Congrats Amber! 👏
Read more:
🎧Podcast recommendation for people who get anxious about spending bc they can't quite comprehend that they earn money now!! (I'm guilty, as many recent grads are)
@OteghaUwagba
with
@MonaChalabi
- In Good Company. Mona's related article on the topic:
The
#DomesticAbuseBill
returns to the House of Commons today, including an amendment to create a so-called “stalkers register” to keep track of serial offenders.
#Sheffield
anti-harassment campaigner
@amber_keegan
from
@OurStreetsNow
is backing the idea:
A pleasure speaking with
@WomenSportTrust
💚
Check it out on IG 📺
As well as completing their groundbreaking work e. g. research, they are tireless in championing us athletes to make positive change in areas we're passionate about! 😍
Pools KILL COVID. Learning to swim saves lives! Surely pools are less risky to open than local grubby gym equipment with every man (woman, other) & their dogs sharing sweat?!
#OpenOurPools
Can someone please open a swimming pool? My boyfriend can't seem to stop buying new bike parts... apparently he's a bike mechanic now? As lovely as it is to have new parts on our bikes, I'm starting to worry about his wellbeing & bank account😂
Every day is a school day (even my days off, it seems!) Great to hear from
@Coach_Toni
about coach-athlete relationships & long vs short term success and
@mcgregor_renee
about all things energy (or lack of). Thank you
@TalentedAthlete
for
#TASSConf19
👌
I made it to 23, with a Masters degree in Chemical Engineering & starting my PhD, honestly believing that if something was called "hourglass" it meant that one turn was an hour... I have a new, beautiful "2 mins 20 s glass" on my desk now🤦♀️
It's a pleasure and an honour to be learning and working alongside these amazing women on the
@WomenSportTrust
Unlocked programme!
Yet another ridiculously beautiful and brilliant
@glorious_sport
feature - iconic😍
How female athletes have excelled beyond their sporting arena to become advocates for change.
@glorious_sport
on the athletes and the leaders in sport supporting them to make change through our
#Unlocked
programme.
Big up the
@_TeamSteel
br crew today - PB central!!
Extra special love to training buddies today - Bianchi,
@11dennisbeth
who FLEW to a club record tonight &
@SiennaR79036245
who (unofficially) smashed it out of the park😍
You can get fined for dropping a cigarette but not for sexually harassing a girl on the street.
The UK Government can & must do more.
I support
@OurStreetsNow
call for Public Sexual Harassment to be made a criminal offence
#CrimeNotCompliment
THIS VENUE🤯🤩😍
The most iconic swim and triathlon venue ever?
Gutted not to race here, with the cancellation of the World Cup & test event for Paris 2024 Olympics, but glad the right call was made for athlete safety🦠
Our first session closes out with
@amber_keegan
putting herself in position for a central lane in the Women's 400m IM, whilst
@adam_peaty
gets his week underway in routine fashion in the Men's 100m Breaststroke heats.
Join the live stream again at 1⃣pm for our afternoon heats 📺
Tough day. Disappointed, but the body can only give what the body can give, and I knew I was asking a lot today🤷🏻♀️
Grateful for the experience - I learned a ton. Proud of this fortnight, onwards and upwards 🔥
Great jobs from the team today❤️
While
@amber_keegan
is no professional in mental health, a conversation about her own experience with an Eating Disorder can go a long way in raising awareness for others!
📽️ YouTube
🍏 Apple
🎙️ Spotify
Thank you to the girl in gym who asked if I was OK, listened to me rant then told me to go easy on myself. You'll probs not see this, but small acts of kindness from strangers make the world a better place & today you made such a difference to my day❤️
🏆FAVORITAS
#RiaNavia22
➡️AMBER KEEGAN
Nada menos que Campeona del Reino Unido en 400 y 1500 m. libres. Se está iniciando en el mundo de la natación en aguas abiertas, habiendo logrado ya la victoria en la Best Fest Swim Race de Mallorca en esta pasada primavera🙌
🚨Important new
@OurStreetsNow
campaign! Great to see PSH being tackled on local & national scale in
#HigherEd
. We hear about safety of respective cities at Uni Open Days... but what about safety ON campus?
#StudentsNotObjects
is the change UK HE needs
@AcademicChatter
84% of students surveyed have experienced public sexual harassment (PSH).
We are
#StudentsNotObjects
, and we deserve to access education without experiencing sexual objectification as a constant part of student life. 2/
Katie Ledecky just won the 800 freestyle at US Nationals by almost 20 seconds…
Her time of 8:12.03 gives her the top 28 fastest performances in the history of the event 🥶
She’s the greatest freestyler of all time.
Don’t try to argue with me.
4th hurts... But 4th after nearly 90 mins in a 18 C reservoir hurts different!😭
Good job to the other gals today🔥
1st & 2nd open water comps a fortnight apart was perhaps ambitious... But I had fun and learned lots! Onwards and upwards! 😁
Belated thanks to
@TeamSportsAid
for hosting a fab
#SportsBall2018
last week. A pleasure to attend with
@TalentedAthlete
and get to chat to some lovely Dual Career athletes😁 Enjoyed the panel discussions, especially discussion of women in sport!
SO heartbroken not to be racing at Trials tonight but wishing everyone the best tonight, especially
@ameliamonaghan_
, it's good to still see a
@_TeamSteel
hat in the Women's 4 IM final!
#BSST21
@SheffCouncil
@PondsForge
@SheffCityTrust
It's understandable that other venues have opened first, considering the financial cost. Has a question regarding acquiring funding been made in the House of Commons?
Surely with an obesity strategy the gov. should be able to find money for this if they can subsidise junk food?
Rich's go-to line to ask me if I'd like take-out is now "Shall we support local, independent businesses tonight?" because he knows I'm way more likely to say yes😂
Good enough is usually good enough.
Good enough over and over again—that's how you get to great.
The culture loves heroic efforts.
Heroic efforts are how you burnout.
Great outcomes love consistency.
Consistency is how you play the long game.
Make consistency a practice: