Alice Tai: ‘I used to cry before swimming. Now it’s my job’
Alice Tai is a Paralympic champion who has demonstrated that she is equally adept in front of the camera and in the pool.
It has been some journey for an athlete who ran away from her first competition because of the crowd.
The 25-year-old from Poole will head to Paris this summer looking to add to a remarkable medal collection that includes a gold and a bronze medal from Rio 2016, along with world, European and Commonwealth titles.
When injury forced Tai out of the Paralympic Games in Tokyo three years ago, she became one of the revelations of the competition for her work as a pundit on Channel 4.
And yet, when Tai first took up the sport, there was no indication that she would be happy in the limelight.
She said: “I started swimming for a couple of reasons. I grew up near the coast in the south so my parents were adamant that me and my brother would be able to swim because they can’t. Water safety was really important because we were going to spend a lot of time next to the seas.
“And then, I also used it as hydrotherapy. I had a ton of surgery as a kid, a lot of it was non-weight-bearing afterwards so it doubled as hydrotherapy and safety.
“I joined a swimming club off the recommendation of a babysitter. I remember my first competition, it was my club champs for Seagulls swimming club, I got behind the blocks and I started crying because I didn’t want everyone to watch me race – all the parents on the side of the pool.
“Instead of racing, I refused and cried and did a session with all the really young kids. I was seven or eight. Now it’s my job!
“I’m really unfazed by crowds at the pool, the Commonwealth Games in 2018, even Birmingham or the Paralympics, they all have massive crowds, and I never thought about it being something that made me nervous.
“When I was a kid, clearly it made me very nervous but I’m glad I got over the fear. If I were talking in front of that many people, then I’d be very scared, but swimming? I do it every day.”
Tai still remembers the day that everything changed for her. On Halloween in 2010, when she was still just 11, she got her classification as a para swimmer.
Born with bilateral talipes, better known as clubfoot, Tai quickly caught the eye of a regional talent scout, who urged her to compete at the national championships in Sheffield.
At short notice, her mother thought the cost would make it impossible, but Tai’s grandparents stepped in and offered to pay.
Their support has meant a huge deal over the course of Tai’s career, to the point that they were one of the main reasons she went to Rio six years later.
She said: “After the scout spoke to us, my mum said where are we going to find the money to go to Sheffield and get a hotel? My mum spoke to my grandparents, and they paid for it. They said, she’s our granddaughter, we’ll pay for it.
“I got picked up by an England talent squad there. In two years, I went from swimming for the hell of it to going to European Championships and medalling. I still feel like I’m in a bit of a snowball.
“Rio wasn’t actually that great. I had really bad issues with my mental health. I was overwhelmed, I had a lot of information coming in, I’d just moved away from home, my whole routine had changed.
“Leading into Rio was a bit rubbish. I ended up going because my parents and grandparents had invested so much in me as a swimmer, my coaches as well.
“The opportunity was right in front of me, and I felt a bit rubbish not going and not taking that opportunity because all these had done so much to put me in position to qualify for a Paralympics and to medal.
“I put my head down and thought ‘it’s three more months, I need to get back on it’. I did and when I won, those medals weren’t for me.
“I didn’t feel very accomplished, I was there because my nan and grandad thought it was so cool. Now I’m glad I did though, because I missed out Tokyo and now my grandad has passed away so it’s the only time he got to see me at a Paralympic Games.
“Having a picture of him with me and my medals from a Paralympics is so special. I’m glad that I made that decision in 2016 because there was a point where I was going to walk away from the sport.”
Tai’s relay gold and individual bronze for Rio 2016 are two of the 3000 Paralympic and Olympic medals won by British Aquatics athletes since the advent of National Lottery funding 27 years ago.
The Poole swimmer cites missing out on the World Championships in 2013 as one of the key moments of her career because it gave her the motivation to avoid going through such heartbreak again.
Yet, in the delayed Tokyo Games, she had to watch from the sidelines as injury caused her to miss the event.
Since then, Tai has been diagnosed with ADHD – which she believes was part of why she struggled mentally in Rio – while she also underwent an amputation of her right leg in 2022.
She has come back from that to win gold at both the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and last year’s World Championships.
Adjusting to the amputation has taken time, and there are still some limitations when it comes to training. But her motivation is greater than ever ahead of her second Paralympic appearance.
She added: “I’m so excited for Paris. I’m a bit less hung up on performances. I had my amputation a couple of years ago, so I don’t know where my new limit.
“I can’t train the way I did so I’m still figuring out a new training programme. Thankfully with the Lottery funding, I’ve got the flexibility to make it work from me and the right support behind the scenes with coaching and physio.
“There is way less pressure, it’s a case of enjoying it, hopefully I swim fast and come away with medals, but if not, then it’s no big deal.”
With more than £30m a week raised for Good Causes, including vital funding into elite and grassroots sport, National Lottery players support our Olympic and Paralympic athletes to live their dreams and make the nation proud, as well as providing more opportunities for people to take part in sport. To find out more visit: www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk