Marathon swimmer Alice Dearing believes achieving a historic place at the Tokyo Olympics can inspire “thousands” of black people to take up the sport.
Dearing, 24, sealed her Team GB spot by finishing fourth at the final 10km qualification event in Portugal on Saturday.
She is now set to become the first black woman to compete for Britain in an Olympic swimming event. “It’s a shame it’s taken until 2021 to happen, but I’m excited to have broken that barrier,” said Dearing.
“I really hope it will inspire thousands more people to look and think ‘well she’s got Afro hair, she’s black and she’s not that tall, but she’s doing swimming and has made it to the Olympics for Britain’, so I can give it a go.”
Coverage of Dearing’s historic bid has been gaining momentum for the past two years and she has also become a figurehead for the movement, which aims to improve diversity in the sport, by co-founding the Black Swimming Association.
While appreciating the support, the Birmingham-born swimmer admits the attention also created challenges.
“I’ve never had that kind of pressure on me in my life or been in the public eye before and it’s all kind of mounted this year,” Dearing told BBC Sport.
“It was that realisation of ‘oh my God, there’s a lot of people looking at me to make a piece of history for black people and black culture’, which was exciting, but also terrifying.”
In accordance with British Swimming’s Tokyo 2020 selection policy, Dearing will be nominated for a place in the Team GB squad this week – and the British Olympic Association (BOA) is likely to ratify that choice in the following days.
She will then be in line to become only the third black swimmer to compete for Great Britain’s Olympic swimming team, following Kevin Burns in 1976 and Paul Marshall four years later.
While Dearing hopes her Tokyo appearance will lead to greater diversity at the elite level, she is also keen for participation levels to improve throughout the sport.
“I’m not saying everyone needs to be an Olympian like myself or [USA Olympic champion] Simone Manuel, it’s about getting in and learning to swim 25m because that’s so important for your life and health well-being,” she added.
“It can open up so much, like getting in the sea or pool on holiday, getting to surf or paddle board, so hopefully I can encourage people to give it a go.”
The Tokyo Olympics begin on 23 July, with the women’s marathon swimming event taking place on 4 August.
