On Thursday 19th January, the Olympic swimmer Siobhan Marie O’Connor came to talk to us about her career and experiences as a swimmer. She showed us her silver Olympic medal and told us how much she loved swimming and how she dedicated herself to the sport. It was very interesting listening to her explaining how important it was to have a positive attitude and to get back and try again even when things are not going well and we feel like giving up. Siobhan also told us that her coach and parents really encouraged her when she felt like quitting swimming at a very key moment in her career. Nerves got the better of Siobhan and she did not swim her best during the trials for her first olympics, London 2012. Luckily for her she listened to her coach because they had a second Olympic trials where Siobhan really swam her hardest and that time she was selected to represent Team GB. Four years later in Rio 2016, she went on to win a second-placed silver medal in the 200m medley relay. The medley relay includes the front crawl, backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke.
Siobhan went on to tell us that she has a health condition affecting her stomach and gut which made training and swimming much, much harder but this did not stop her either!
We were very impressed by Siobhan and her amazing performances and medal tally.
She has also swum at the European, World and Commonwealth championships and over the years Siobhan has collected 5 gold, 12 silver and 7 bronze medals and a wealth of experiences.
We are very grateful to Mr Merkulov and Elizabeth (Y4), for arranging the visit. We really enjoyed it. Thank you.