In this episode of In At The Deep End, Salim sits down with Alice Dearing, the first black woman to represent Team GB in Olympic swimming.
But this conversation goes far beyond medals and Olympic qualification. Alice opens up about the emotional reality of elite sport: the burnout, the self-doubt, the pressure of representation and the strange tension between making history while simply wanting to perform well as an athlete.
Together, Salim and Alice explore:
Alice’s journey from Birmingham swimming clubs to the Tokyo Olympics
Why she nearly walked away from swimming several times
The hidden mental toll of high-performance sport
The myths and stereotypes surrounding black people and swimming
The work of the Black Swimming Association
The Soul Cap controversy before Tokyo 2020
Identity, belonging and what it means to represent Britain today
Life after retirement and Alice’s ambitions to shape the future of sport in the UK
It’s an honest, thoughtful and timely conversation about water, identity, resilience and breaking down barriers.
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