Team GB Olympian Lizzie Simmonds announces retirement from swimming

13 Jul 2018

Former European champion Lizzie Simmonds has announced her retirement from competitive swimming in a heartfelt post on social media.

Simmonds, who has represented England at three Commonwealth Games and won a silver in the 200m backstroke at Delhi 2010, revealed in a personal blog post that she came close to quitting after missing out on selection to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games squad.

However, a move to the Edinburgh University Swim Team helped her rediscover her passion for the sport, and she fought back to earn a place with Team England for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia.

That outing in the 200m breaststroke — the same event in which she won European gold back in 2010 — has proved to be her final farewell to the sport of swimming.

“It’s been one hell of a journey for me, and I am privileged to have taken the sport I love to the level I have,” she wrote.

“I’ve sacrificed a lot, but received so much more in return, and I’m left with an abundance of truly wonderful memories from the process.

“During my career I’ve been fortunate enough to bring home medals from Commonwealth Games, European and World Championships, as well as claiming 13 British titles, and breaking British, Commonwealth and European Records.

“I’ve competed at two Olympic Games, Beijing when I was just 17 years old and London in 2012, where I finished fourth in the 200m backstroke.

“I once broke a world record, although someone else beat me in the same race. Travelling the world with my teammates, I’ve stood on podiums with the national anthem playing, won and lost races by a fingernail margin.

“I’ve lived and breathed elite sport. It’s been one heck of a journey, but the time has come to move on.”

Simmonds, now 27, estimates she has swum a distance equivalent to the circumference of the Earth during her 15 years as an elite swimmer, having spent more than 20 hours a week in the pool since the age of 13.

During that career, Simmonds was part of the Team GB swimming team at London 2012 where she narrowly missed out on an Olympic medal in the 200m backstroke. She finished fourth, just 0.7 seconds behind bronze medallist Elizabeth Beisel. A year after the highs of London 2012, Simmonds lost her funding.

She wrote: “Elite sport is filled with a rollercoaster of emotions, and the true test comes when things aren’t going so well. Injuries, underperformance, missing team selections, funding cuts–I’ve had a fair share of frustrations and disappointments.

“After losing my funding in 2013, I spent the next five years of my career becoming financially independent, learning how to generate my own sources of income.

“I didn’t want to be forced into retirement before I was ready, and, despite the difficult circumstances, I’ve learnt a valuable life skill.”

Simmonds also used her blog post to urge swimming authorities not to forget the wellbeing of their athletes in the pursuit of medal success, and revealed she hopes to remain involved in the sport.

“I plan to remain involved in sport, coaching and mentoring youngsters, whilst using my experiences to help encourage progress at a governance level, with the goal of improving athlete welfare across the UK,” she added.

“I benefited hugely from the performance system in the early days and I am very grateful for the years of support and funding I received, but during the latter stages of my career I struggled to find a space where the voices of athletes are heard and valued.

“I don’t feel bitterness or anger towards the small number of people who did not help when things weren’t going well for me, as I know that they were likely juggling their own set of demanding pressures, but I’d love to think that someday we can collectively learn to nurture athletes more constructively.

“Sportsmen and women give so much to stand on that podium, to try and create history, yet we are still human. We rise and fall, and we cannot be valued entirely by our scoreboard statistics.

“I care enormously about the future of swimming (and sport in general) and will do everything in my power to help develop a more advanced support system that symbiotically promotes both athlete welfare and performance.”

Click here to read the full retirement blog post from Lizzie Simmonds.