Stephen Clegg

Started: He took up swimming at age 11, and began competing at age 18. (ed.ac.uk, 05 Sep 2021) Reason: "I started swimming casually from the age of 11 through to 14 but when it started to get serious I didn't want to engage with it. I wasn't loving getting up at four in the morning, so I just dropped it. When I left school I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my time. I didn't want to go to university because I had a bad experience at secondary school. I needed a bit of a break away from education so I thought I'd give swimming another go. It was more of a hobby at first then it quickly snowballed into what has turned into a full-time career." (ed.ac.uk, 05 Sep 2021) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (Instagram profile, 08 Aug 2023) Awards: In 2019 he was named Male Athlete of the Year and Para Athlete of the Year by the City of Sunderland club in England. (cityofsunderlandasc.co.uk, 26 Oct 2019) Additional Info: PASSION REIGNITED He was considering quitting Para swimming before he began training at the University of Edinburgh in 2019. "I was pretty close to exiting the sport, but due to my Edinburgh links I ended up joining the performance sport programme at Edinburgh in 2019 and it's revitalised my love for the sport. My experience with Edinburgh has probably been the best in my entire swimming journey so far. I've never had a closer team bond as I have with the team at Edinburgh. My coach Chris [Jones] cares about you in terms of your performance level but also in terms of your growth as a person, not just as an athlete." (ed.ac.uk, 06 Sep 2021) SIBLINGS He and his siblings James and Elizabeth have all finished on the podium at the Paralympic Games. "We [he and brother James] had a lot of rivalry, especially when we swam at the same time because I was always trying to break his British records and things like that. But it was always really good for me to have my sister around, especially for Rio [in 2016] because in my first couple of races I was very nervous, so it was kind of nice having her in the Paralympic village with me. Still today I call my sister for advice on how to deal with certain situations, which is really nice to have." (SportsDeskOnline, 20 Sep 2023; Bruce McKenzie YouTube channel, 03 Sep 2019) TECHNIQUE In order to keep his bearings in the pool he counts his strokes. "I just count my strokes each length. And over the years I've kind of got that very, very consistent so I know where I am in the pool with each stroke I take. Every now and then it doesn't play out very well, and I sometimes miss a turn or nearly hit my head off the wall, which isn't always fun." (Bruce McKenzie YouTube channel, 03 Sep 2019)

Sporting Relatives: His siblings Elizabeth [athletics] and James [swimming] have represented Great Britain at the Paralympic Games. Elizabeth won gold in both the women's T11 100m and T11 200m at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, and also competed at the 2008, 2012 and 2020 Games, while James claimed bronze in the men's S12 100m butterfly at the 2012 Games in London. (SportsDeskOnline, 11 May 2022; independentsportsnews.com, 03 Feb 2020; scottishswimming.com, 28 Jul 2014)