Swimmer Siobhan-Marie O'Connor on the pride of inspiring next generation and a Rolling Stone
Tuesday 14 February 2017 11:46, UK
Not everyone gets a personal social media message from one of the most famous rock legends on the planet.
But then not everybody wins a silver medal at an Olympics aged 20. Siobhan-Marie O'Connor performed heroics in Rio and was part of the glorious GB team who recently returned from Brazil to a hero's welcome.
The Bath swimmer, supported since London 2012 as a Sky Academy Sports Scholar, reveals the reception she's enjoyed since being pipped by rival Katinka Hosszu in the 200m individual medley final and why she puts her body through hell....
Getting a message on twitter from Keith Richards was just incredible. The whole experience was crazy. I don't know how famous people like Justin Bieber do it. The night of my final my twitter feed just went crazy.
I couldn't keep up with the number of tweets I received that night. I was scrolling back though them for ages. Bieber gets that amount of tweets every day, but it was absolutely amazing to have that amount of support.
I never expected it, particularly because the swimming was on so late in the UK. I didn't expect many people to watch but I was wrong. To have that amount of support at three in the morning (UK time) meant a lot to us.
In Brazil we were in a bubble and a dream world so to come back to that welcome was all very surreal. I don't think it sunk in for any of us until we returned and saw the amazing support. Coming back was very special.
We had a welcome event in Bath and I stood for three hours and all these people kept coming up congratulating us and saying how proud they were. It was overwhelming and I had never experienced that before.
I am so passionate about swimming. Participation has dropped off in recent years and that's maybe down to us not doing so well at the London Games in 2012. But I hope people do get inspired to swim from this. It's all about the future generation and inspiring the next medal winners.
The amount of swimmers that have come up to me saying they've been inspired and to say they've taken up swimming because of us feels pretty special. It's such an honour and I feel very proud to be part of the swimming team.
Rio was amazing. I had never experienced nerves like it ahead of my final though and I didn't know what to expect.
In the holding camp I had a great 12-week block of training. That's rare to have those back-to-back weeks of training because usually I'll train for three weeks and I get run down and pick up a virus.
This was the most consistent block of training before an Olympics so that was brilliant. I felt great. The holding camp was at altitude - it was at 1,000m but usually it's 2,000m. It was still high enough to feel a difference and our coaches didn't tell us that.
When I was there I seemed to be swimming really slow. In the build-up to a competition you want to be feeling good and swimming well. I hoped it was the altitude but I just didn't know.
I felt good in my races and that really showed. My hardest swim was the heat but then I got quicker in the semi and my fastest race was the final.
I was a little disappointed not to get gold being so close but you can't think like that. I swam the perfect race and there was nothing more I could have done. The last 50m was the fastest I had ever swam. I gave it everything.
Being so close to Katinka Hosszu is bitter sweet but I'm over the moon with silver. I do hope to beat her one day. I always thought she was so far ahead and I didn't think she was beatable - but getting so close to her has made me confident.
I have always been very competitive and always loved sport and dreamed of winning an Olympic medal since I was seven.
There have been many times I haven't felt capable of it. But I've always had my heroes and watching them on TV but it was always another thing me dreaming that would be me.
Becky Adlington was my idol. I was 12 when she won her two golds at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and I remember thinking that was incredible. That was the point I started to make national competitions.
I never thought four years later I'd be on the team at London. That was so inspiring, particularly for young female swimmers. And now 13 years after my first dreams, l am so proud of what I've done.
It's that feeling of accomplishment. That's why we push ourselves every day and put our body though the works. It's a very strange thing to do - to kill yourself in a pool every day and there are days I hate it when my body is so sore.
The pain in some training sessions is horrific. I don't enjoy the training. I train to race and to perform. Some train because they love it and they don't enjoy the racing. I can't get my head around that.
Racing is the most amazing thing. I love meeting people and the friendships I've developed through training but putting your body through the mill and doing the mileage in a pool and having all the ups and downs is very tough.
The reason I do it is to get the feeling of having a goal, working hard and experience the achievement of that goal. It makes it all worth it. The adrenaline rush at the end is amazing.
After I finished swimming in Rio my mum sorted goodie bags full of things I loved like biscuits and a chocolate orange. I ploughed through that bag - it was all the stuff I had been craving!
I'm going to take a break now and just enjoy what I've done and relax - physically and mentally. I'm not thinking too much about the next big goal or dream. I want to carry on until Tokyo though.
I am off on holiday, firstly with my friends in Mexico. Then I go away with my mum and dad in Turkey. I'll pack my swimming costume but I won't be taking my hat and goggles!
WHAT'S COMING UP FOR OUR SCHOLARS...
SEPTEMBER 6: Mark English, Roberto, Italy
SEPTEMBER 7 - 18: Paralympic Games, Rio
SEPTEMBER 10: Holly Bradshaw and Mark English, Great North City Games
