There’s nothing quite like beating a world champion when it really matters for a confidence boost ahead of the biggest sporting occasion of one’s life.
That’s exactly what Keanna MacInnes managed at the British Swimming Championships in April and her world-class performance, in the final of the 200m butterfly, secured her place in GB’s Olympic swimming team and was the proof she needed that she’s heading into Paris 2024 in the best physical and mental shape of her life.
MacInnes has been on the international scene for quite some time; she made her Commonwealth Games debut in 2018 at the tender age of just 16 but it was last year that she really established herself as a truly elite swimmer.
Having made her GB debut at last season’s World Championships, MacInnes set her sights on becoming an Olympian, something she secured in April in the most impressive style imaginable at the British Championships, which doubled as the Olympics trials.
“It is exciting knowing I can compete with a world champion,” 22-year-old MacInnes says.
“Me and Laura and Emily (Large, who was third at the British Championships) are all very competitive in the 200m fly so knowing I was up against them to make the Olympics was quite scary.
“I had gone into trials quietly confident but obviously Laura (Stephens) was world champion. I knew that I was in a really good position with my training and it was the fastest I’d ever been.
“I was happy with how I swam at trials but I definitely think I’ve still got scope for improvement so that makes me even more excited going forward into Paris.”
MacInnes has long had the Olympics in her sights; as a teenager, she narrowly missed out on making the team for Tokyo 2020 but rather than be disheartened by that disappointment, she was boosted by even being in contention in a British squad which is rapidly becoming known as the strongest the sport in this country has ever seen.
MacInnes will head to Paris 2024, which begins at the end of July, alongside four of her Scottish compatriots – Duncan Scott, Kathleen Dawson, Lucy Hope and Katie Shanahan - with the quintet all training at the University of Stirling under the watchful eyes of coaches Steven Tigg and Bradley Hay.
It’s somewhat unsurprising that training alongside so many world-class swimmers has helped elevate MacInnes’ performance in recent seasons and she admits that while she’s not set herself any explicit goals of making it onto the podium in Paris, she knows that if she can produce some career-best swims, she has every chance of being in contention for a medal.
“The aim in Paris is to swim my best-ever times and based on how I swam at trials, my best times should mean I’m placed pretty well in Paris,” she says.
“If I could get as close to a medal as possible, that would be amazing. Definitely I’d be looking at a few finals, though.”
MacInnes may be making her Olympic debut in Paris but she’s far from daunted about the pressure which is inevitably present at the biggest sporting occasion on the planet.
In fact, she’s confident that the intense environment will only serve to improve her performance further.
“I swim pretty well under pressure,” she says.
“I know a lot of people can become over-stressed but I seem to swim well with nerves. A lot of people would agree that qualifying for the Olympics is the scary part so now I’m on the team, I’m a lot more relaxed and can go to Paris and see what I can do without too much expectation on me.”
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