British swimmers Joe Litchfield, Sarah Vasey, James Wilby, Abbie Wood, Matt Richards, and Jacob Whittle, chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about the Olympic Games and the New York Breakers.
The six British swimmers revealed their daily motivations, favorite strokes, and they furnished their definition of the word success. They opened up about making the Team Great Britain Olympic Team, where they will all be competing at the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in a few months.
They spoke about being a part of the New York Breakers swimming part in the second season of the International Swimming League (ISL), which was held in Budapest, Hungary, in the bubble. They had great remarks about their team’s General Manager Tina Andrew, and team captain Michael Andrew. “Michael is a good guy,” Richards said. “I learned a lot from him. He involved everybody in the team and kept a family atmosphere, which was very good. I think Michael was a really good person to have as our team captain.”
On his experience in the ISL bubble in Budapest, Richards said, “I enjoyed it. I thought it was quite good. It was nice to go out a little and see a little bit of the island.” “It was nice to go out on walks. That feels so long ago now,” Wood added.
“The New York Breakers were one of the better teams with one of the better atmospheres. We have the best social atmosphere away from the pool,” Whittle said. “We all got along quite well and it had a good team ethos,” Litchfield added.
“With the New York Breakers, we were all having fun and everyone was always having a laugh,” Vasey said.
“I think it’s cool that all of the British New York Breakers made the Olympic team,” Wood said. “I think that speaks volumes, really,” Vasey added.
“This is everyone’s first Olympics here and it’s such a young team this year. It’s a pretty good group this year and it should be a great meet,” Litchfield elaborated.
James Wilby was one of the four athletes that was already pre-selected for the Team Great Britain Olympic Team along with Luke Greenbank, Adam Peaty, and Duncan Scott. “The policy that we have in the U.K. is that anyone with an individual medal in the World Championships was pre-selected for the team but we still have to qualify for our individual events. It was a weird situation to be in but a nice safety net to have,” Wilby explained.
Regarding his daily motivations, Litchfield said, “Having the drive to want to succeed in swimming. I had the dream from a young age to be an Olympian. Hopefully, this will be the start of a long, successful senior career.”
“A huge motivator for me is my family,” Vasey said. “I’ve always done swimming because I want to make them proud.”
Whittle wants to make his parents proud who drive him to the pool 45 minutes each way twice per day. “I need to make that worth it,” he said. “I am trying to improve from swim to swim not just time-wise, I want to improve in little things in each swim.”
Litchfield, Richards, and Whittle listed the freestyle as their personal favorite strokes in swimming while Wood, Wilby, and Vasey selected the breaststroke as their favorite.
They also noted their excitement for the upcoming ISL draft for the forthcoming third season of the ISL. “I think it will be really interesting in how all of the teams are going to get picked,” Wood admitted.
Litchfield defined the word success as “achieving your personal goals.” Richards echoed Litchfield’s remarks and noted that once he achieves a certain goal, moving on from that, and then trying to achieve the next one.
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Their entire Zoom interview with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos may be seen below.
