Paralympian #237 Gabriella Smith enjoyed a memorable Paralympic debut at Paris 2024, placing seventh in the final of both the Women’s 100m Breaststroke SB9 and Women’s 200m Individual Medley SM10 – setting a huge PB in the heats of the latter event. We chat to Gaby about some key learnings from her time in the French capital.
Back home part of a squad system at Vikings Swim Club has proved the cornerstone of her success, but Gaby believes competing at Paris 2024 prompted some thoughts that a more tailor-made programme in future might bear fruit.
“Our culture is that we had the same processes before we race. It was interesting to see how other countries train. Hong Kong, for example, did everything together including their warm up. For me, because of my age and where I’m based, I’m very much part of a squad system but on occasion it might be that in future I do some races that maybe differs from the whole squad. What I took away from Paris was a feeling that it would be good to see if I could improve by doing my own training programme.”
A key feature of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games was the noise generated by the hugely supportive crowds at all venues. That was particularly apparent at the La Defense Arena which staged the swimming competition and a key learning for the 18-year-old Cantabrian was becoming accustomed to the noise and not letting it faze her.
“Paris was a very different feel to any other competition I’ve competed in,” explains Gaby. “It was almost terrifying but also addictive. For my first event you can see that I go to the blocks and my face is bright red, I was scared. So, for my next event I had to prepare better for that. As the competition went on, I became used to the crowd, it is not something you can replicate at home or prepare too much for in advance. I tried to focus on my mum (Marcia), dad, (Alastair), and my sister (Sasha) and brother (Shannon), I think that first race I forgot to do this.”
Gaby’s other great learnings from her first Paralympic experience was being a part of a multi-sport event for the first time. Previously having only competed at swimming-only meets, Paris 2024 served up a host of new experiences.
“I wasn’t only with swimmers but shared a room with cyclists and Neelam (in Shooting Para sport) in the Village. It was interesting learning about cycling – I had no idea they competed on both the track and road. The Great Britain team told me about the visually impaired cyclists ride on a tandem bike with an able-bodied pilot on the front. It was very cool to learn about so many other sports in Paris.”
Far better prepared for future Games following her Paralympics debut, Gaby said if she could give any piece of advice to her pre-Games self it would be to stay focused: “As much as I think I am a focused athlete I can get distracted very easily. I can find myself five minutes behind schedule or forgetting my shoes, and other silly things, so I know in future I need to remind myself why I am there.”
Images: Getty Images
