“This Girl Can” Joy

Damn!

It’s a pretty big deal when you’re one of six women in This Girl Can Swim 2022. Like hundreds of women, I applied, pouring my heart into the application, hoping I would be selected to tackle the challenge of swimming one mile at the Henley Swim Festival on 10th July 2022. Ten days later, I got a phone call:

“Do you remember applying for the Henley Swim Festival?’ queried Becky from Henley Swim.

I could almost hear Becky’s hopeful anticipation at the end of the line as she waited for me to respond.

“Yes, I do” I confirmed, still in solicitor mode as I sat tightly lodged in a swanky noise cancelling pod in the middle of our open plan office.

“Well, congratulations! You’ve been selected!’ Becky exclaimed, quickly following with, “Would you still like to take part?”

“Yes, I’d loooove to!”

Who wouldn’t want to take on their first ever open water event and swim the Henley mile with five other incredible women? Who wouldn’t be excited to occupy a space on the This Girl Can platform, helping to inspire women to get active, sweaty and happy, through exercise and movement? I was 100% committed when I made the decision to apply for the competition back in late March 2022, so I didn’t hesitate one bit when I told Becky I would still love to take part.

Now that the enormity of the challenge has settled in, I’m more determined than ever. I know this challenge is for me, but I can confidently say that the This Girl Can Swim challenge is bigger than me.

I’m doing this for every Black and Brown woman who has struggled to see a version of herself reflected in the swim world.

I’m doing this for every queen who has avoided swimming because she can’t find a swim hat that holds and honours the integrity of a Black woman’s hair.

I’m doing this for anyone who hasn’t felt included in a space and thought,

I can’t do that, or

This isn’t for me.

I’m doing this to remind everyone that the joys of swimming are open to all of us.

The day Becky called to tell me I was part of the This Girl Can campaign, a massive smile erupted on my face. I tried to tone down my happiness as I left the pod and returned to my desk, hoping that the noise cancelling effect had efficiently cancelled my loud hoots of laughter whilst I chatted with Becky. Happiness is so hard to hide though! It takes over your whole being. It changes your energy, posture and gaze. It’s very possible my colleagues picked up on this shift in energy – if not, the loud inappropriate laughter was probably a helpful indication something was up.

I can honestly say that I am still sitting in that happiness. I’ll be taking these feelings of joy, gratitude and anticipation all the way to the finish line come July 10th 2022.

“This Girl Can” Joy