Last Updated on 04/09/2024 by Crip Life
Para swimmer Louise Fiddes, who is a World and European Champion and two-time Paralympic medallist, will be part of a 26-strong swimming squad for ParalympicsGB at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Student journalist at Ability Today, Harry Smith, got the opportunity to interview Louise Fiddes about her preparations for Paris 2024, her excitement of competing in front of a large crowd and her experience growing up with an intellectual impairment.
Paralympic medallist Louise Fiddes prepares for her second Paralympic Games in Paris. At her first Paralympic Games in Tokyo, she came away with a silver and bronze medal in the SB14 100m breaststroke and the SM14 200m freestyle events, continuing her prominent rise in the pool.
The 24-year-old Hatfield swimmer became a World Champion on her World Para Swimming Championships debut in London in 2019, claiming the SB14 100m Breaststroke title – a year after winning the same event at the European Championships.
Louise also took the S14 200m Individual Medley bronze and finished fourth in the S14 200m Freestyle in an eye-catching start at the World level.
Her 2018 European debut in Dublin brought her four medals, including the SB14 100m Breaststroke title and three bronzes, in the S14 200m Freestyle, S14 100m Butterfly and SM14 200m Individual Medley events.
Most recently, Louise has collected three bronze medals at the last two World Championships in Madeira 2022 and Manchester 2023 as well as another bronze in her Commonwealth debut at the 2022 Games in Birmingham.
The ParalympicsGB swimming squad in Paris will feature 15 Games debutants – including Callie-Ann Warrington, William Ellard and 13-year-old Iona Winnifrith. There will also be 11 returning Paralympians – including two reigning champions in the pool from Tokyo 2020, Maisie Summers-Newton and Tully Kearney.
Read on to find out more about Louise Fiddes in her own words and scroll down to see her Paris 2024 results.
Louise Fiddes on preparing for Paris 2024
In Paris Louise looks set to build on this monumental achievement going into the Games, collecting three bronze medals at the last two World Championships in 2022 and 2023. However, Louise personally remains cautious.
“Basically, 2020 happened, and I spent a lot of time out of the pool and I thought I’d bounce back really quickly. It’s taken me a really long time to get back down to those PBs. Obviously, I’d like a medal and obviously, everyone knows what colour I’d like”, says Louise.
Her success in the pool may be less of a bounce and more of a hard climb. She balances a part-time job training to be a physiotherapist with a six-hour daily training routine, which begins at the crack of dawn at 5am.
Louise adds: “It is a lot to balance, and it’s something that is a little bit of a struggle.”
Louise Fiddes on living with an intellectual impairment
The S14 swimmer is no stranger to difficulty in much of her school life. With an undiagnosed short-term memory problem, these challenges, she says, are what gave her the right mindset to compete:
“I really struggled at school… so I worked really hard. So then everything I did, I worked really hard at. It’s definitely a weird advantage.”
Her early struggles at school have also made her more receptive to coaching and feedback, setting aside her ego to make the incremental changes that have made the difference between winning and losing.
“I was kind of used to having that sort of feedback loop of ‘Not quite right. Try again.’”
Louise Fiddes’ thoughts on competing in front of a large crowd in Paris
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Louise may be still feeling the effects of spending so much time out of the pool during lockdown, but her first Games being a socially distanced one may give her an unexpected advantage in Paris this time round.
The largest crowd at an international tournament the young swimmer has experienced was 3000 Commonwealth Games supporters. The Paris pool has a capacity of five times that with 15,000 seats.
Commenting on the effect of the crowd Louise said: “When you walked out and I heard everyone scream, it did not feel small… I really liked it. I was like, ‘Oh, I’m going to wave, and then I waved and there’s roar!”
If the vocal support of a few thousand strangers doesn’t make the difference, family being close at hand might just do it. She was denied the support of any of her close family poolside in Tokyo because of Covid-19. In Paris, the seating is on a level with the pool.
“That’d be really amazing to swim, do well and then be able to speak with them afterwards”, says Louise.
You can find out more about Louise Fiddes by following her on Instagram.
Paris 2024 Paralympics: Louise Fiddes’ results
Louise Fiddes has competed in four swimming finals. The first was a sixth-place finish in the Women’s 100m Butterfly, where fellow Brits Olivia Newman-Baronius, finished 4th, and Poppy Maskill, won gold.
Her second race was the Women’s 200m Freestyle, where she won a bronze medal. On having the medal round her neck, Louise said:
“It is just incredible. All the years that I’ve been swimming and I’ve not been on my PBs and it’s been really hard to swim a bit slow. I went just outside my PB today so honestly absolutely means everything, especially with my family here.
“I don’t know if I’m in the moment, but this does seem like everything. I will probably be holding it falling asleep.”
Louise went up a gear in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke by winning gold. Reacting to reaching the top of the podium, Louise said:
“I genuinely can’t [believe it], I genuinely can’t. There were so many years when I felt like my dream was slipping away and only in this year, I started getting back to it. I’m in great shape, and I’ve got to thank Dan, my coach at home for that. It was pure determination, I came off that turn, had a little glance and I was like ‘I’m in gold position, I need to get down that other end’.”
Louise’s latest race was in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley, but she was missed off the podium, finishing in 4th.
Be sure to catch up on Louise Fiddes’ races and the rest of the ParalympicsGB swimming squad at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on Channel 4.
Check out our Paris 2024 ParalympicsGB debutants interview series. Also, read another interview with Paralympic swimmer Stephen Clegg.