Jacob, Form 5, has had a great year swimming for Leicester city and Great Britain. He delves into his balance of academics and swimming and how this has got him to where he is today.
A successful year of swimming!
Yeah, I was lucky enough to win Men’s fastest freestyle of the year, which I think, in turn, helped me win Men’s Swimmer of the Year for 2023.
Who were you competing against for these awards?
The awards cover both the counties of Rutland and Leicestershire across all age groups and clubs so I am proud to have won these awards at my age.
What are your proudest achievements in this last year?
I travelled with GB to Canada recently and got a World Junior Record with my team in the 4x50m mixed freestyle relay and a European Junior Record in the 4×200 freestyle relay. I was also in the 4×100 boys medley team in which we got the silver.
What’s coming next for you?
I have Olympic trials coming up in April and hopefully I will make the team to go to the European Juniors. It all depends on how I swim at those.
How does the School support you with your swimming externally?
I have some flexibility with leaving when I have competitions on the weekends and training in the week. The School are really good at giving me leniency as long as I catch up and get my work done.
What are your goals for this year?
My main goal is to get a medal at the European Juniors and then just see how it goes!
Any advice for younger pupils?
In my experience you have to be very disciplined in order to keep improving. I have trained six times this week and it’s only Wednesday. You definitely don’t always want to do it but you have to because that’s the choice you’ve made and you will if you want to be the best you can.
