Poppy Maskill Has Been Included on the SportsAid One-To-Watch Shortlist
One of the ten athletes on the shortlist for SportsAid’s One-To-Watch award is the paraswimmer Poppy Maskill.
The 17-year-old is coming off an impressive year in which she competed at her home Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and brought home a full set of medals from the World Para-Swimming Championships in Madeira.
The impressive performances of Maskill, who trains with the Alsager Swimming Club, have earned her a spot on the shortlist, which was narrowed down from 1,000 young athletes competing in 60 different sports.
She expressed her gratitude for being recognized when she learned she had been nominated for the award.
She said: “I was very surprised to be nominated, it means a lot.
“I’ve really enjoyed this year – my first World Championships was a great experience and it feels different to a normal swimming gala because there are so many different countries there. It feels bigger and I was really happy with my performance.
“Then it was really cool being in Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games.
“The crowds were so loud every night. I was excited but also very nervous. I learned that it doesn’t make a difference how many people are watching – you have to swim in the same way.”
A Rising Star
The rising star from Middlewich started the year off right by winning the Women’s MC 100m Butterfly World Series Final in Aberdeen at the Citi Para Swimming World Series in February, which marked her first significant international victory.
She later made the team, competed in her first World Championships, and won the mixed S14 4×100 medley relay for Great Britain.
As the first swimmer, Maskill enjoyed working as a team to win the gold medal with Scott Quin, Reece Dunn, and Bethany Firth.
She said: “I haven’t done any relay racing before and it feels different when you’re part of a team. You don’t want to let the team down.”
She also took home two individual medals, a silver in the S14 100m backstroke and a bronze in the S14 100m butterfly, in her first significant international competition.
The athlete who served as Maskill’s inspiration and with whom she had the honor of swimming in the same pool, Jessica-Jane Applegate, came in just ahead of her to take home silver.
Maskill sad: “I was quite shocked to beat Jessica-Jane, actually.
“She has always performed so well and won medals at the Paralympics. It’s really weird to be on a team with someone I’ve watched on TV so many times.
“I got the chance to speak to her and she was really nice – we both have dogs so we spoke about that, not swimming!”
The teen later competed at her home country’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where she placed fourth in the S14 200m Freestyle.
Ellie Challis (2019), a paraswimmer, and Tom Daley (2006, a diver), among others, have previously won the prize, and Maskill hopes to follow in their footsteps.
The winner will be chosen by a distinguished judging panel that includes Olympic and Paralympic broadcaster Nick Hope, gold medalist Ama Agbeze, six-time Paralympic champion Natasha Baker MBE, former Chef de Mission for the Commonwealth Games England, and Joslyn Hoyte-Smith of the GB Olympians’ Association.
On Thursday, November 17, at SportsAid’s Celebrate the Next event in London, the award recipient will be announced.
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