By Jeff Commings
Track and field stars are so popular in Jamaica that it came as a bit of a surprise to swimmer Alia Atkinson that she was awarded the 2014 Sportsperson of the Year in her native country.
“It’s been 40 years since a swimmer has won (Belinda Phillips in 1974), so to finally get on top of a set of fine track and field athletes and cricketers and some equestrians is a tremendous feat,” Atkinson told reporters during a recent conference call. “It’s something that we’ve been striving for, and we were waiting for that time. I love the fact that … swimmers are coming out and saying (they) want to strive to be something in the sport of swimming, because we didn’t have that before.”
The award came on the heels of winning the gold medal in the 100 breast at last year’s short course world championships. The win not only gave her the world record in the event with a 1:02.36 (shared with Ruta Meilutyte), but she became a global sensation by becoming the first black woman to win a swimming world title. Six months later, she’s ready to bring more glory to Jamaican swimming as she prepares for a busy summer in the pool – and in the air.
Atkinson, 26, will compete in July’s Pan American Games in Canada, then head to Russia for the world championships. It’s a plan that she hopes will grow the sport of swimming in her home country while giving her two unique racing opportunities.
“The Pan Ams is always a fun meet,” she said. “It’s basically one of the home meets for me. It’s where I feel somewhat safe. I’m not in the limelight like I usually am, but you can still battle some fast people.
“We have a few (Jamaican swimmers) coming this time, so hopefully we’ll have a relay team as well. We’re in the developmental stages, but with all the things that FINA is doing with … the Youth Olympics, it’s bringing more exposure to the sport and having (Jamaican swimmers) getting excited about swimming at a younger age.”
As for her goals for the two big summer meets, Atkinson says she has no time standard to beat, but does want to improve on the silver medal she won in the 100 breast at the 2011 Pan Ams. She didn’t compete in any championship final at the 2013 long course world championships, but based on the times she’s posted this year – fifth in the world with a 1:06.79 in the 100 breast – a top-eight finish seems like a guarantee. It won’t be easy, with heats, semifinals and finals posing a big physical demand on her.
“The training that I’m putting in the pool this summer has to do more with endurance,” Atkinson said. “Because I have at least eight races (at worlds) we’ll have to work on the endurance part of it.”
Though training for the summer championship meets takes a lot of time each day, Atkinson said she likes staying busy outside of the hard work in the pool. That’s why she’s involved in several organizations designed to make swimming a more popular sport in Jamaica and in her adopted country of the United States. She’s a project manager at the International Swimming Hall of Fame, where she’s working to promote water safety with coloring books translated into six languages. She’s also part of the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority that has engrained into black women the importance of learning to swim.
“Hopefully after I retire I’ll be able to do more in the sport,” she said.
Atkinson has enjoyed the level of celebrity all of this work has brought her. She said she gets a thrill from spending time with a 6-year-old fan and meeting people when she visits her family in Jamaica. (She currently trains full-time in southern Florida.)
“When I go to Jamaica, I like the fact that people can come up to me and ask me any question,” Atkinson said. “When I see the little ones learning how to swim and looking up to me and saying ‘I want to (be like) you,’ I feel like it is not just my job. It’s who I am, and it is essential to bring back those experiences and teach it to those who might not reach the Olympics.”
She’ll have an opportunity to immerse herself in the large Jamaican population in Toronto, and will have a lot of support behind her inside the Pan Am Aquatics Centre and Field House. That includes her family, and Atkinson is glad to know she’ll have a great cheering section.
“It’s one of those homey feelings where … I’m at peace,” she said. “To look up in the crowd and see some Jamaican flags as well is topping on top of that.”