Alice Dearing: Team GB history-maker retires from elite swimming at 26 - 'My journey doesn't stop here'

Updated 22/04/2024 at 10:05 GMT

Alice Dearing, who became the first Black female swimmer to represent Team GB at the Olympics, has confirmed her retirement from the sport, a day short of her 27th birthday. Dearing represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland in marathon swimming at Tokyo 2020, but she failed to qualify for Paris this summer and says Los Angeles 2028 “felt like a mountain to climb”.

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Alice Dearing, Britain’s first Black female Olympic swimmer, has announced her retirement a day short of her 27th birthday.

The marathon specialist represented Team GB at Tokyo 2020, finishing 19th, but failed to qualify for Paris 2024.

Dearing has been a trailblazer in her sport, co-founding the Black Swimming Association and previously winning the Changemaker Award at the Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year Awards.

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She has not competed since she was unable to finish a 10km race at the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup in Portugal in early December, and Dearing has confirmed that was when she decided to call it a day.

"From the little girl who was too scared to jump in the pool to the woman who stood on the shores of lakes and oceans around the world swimming for her country," she said on X.

"I've come a long way and I'm proud of the swimmer I became, but even prouder of the woman I am."

Dearing says she feels proud of “helping make history for black people in Britain” by proving swimming is for everyone, and says she achieved a childhood dream by competing at the Olympics after believing she “didn’t have the talent.”

“I didn’t qualify for the Paris Olympics and that was my main goal coming out of Tokyo, I wanted to try and improve on my result,” Dearing told Sky Sports News.

“[I] just knew that my time was done in the sport. LA [2028 Olympics] felt like a mountain to climb and I knew I didn’t have that in me.

“I took the decision on the day to call it there, and I’ve taken the last four months to get my stuff together, understand what I want to move into, and enjoy not being an elite athlete - and I’m really enjoying it.

“I want to keep empowering people to discover swimming in their own way, I’ve been dipping my toes into the esports arena. Sport is such a key part of my life, swimming has given everything.”

She retires as a former world junior gold medallist, having won the 10km event in the Netherlands in 2016.

In her social media post, she added: "Thank you to all of the people who have raised me up over this journey. Too many of you to name. It really has taken a village.

"It's been fun. I would do it all again in a heartbeat. But my journey doesn't stop here."

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