Fran Williamson

Swimmer calls it a day after glittering career

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PARALYMPIC swimmer Fran Williamson is looking forward to life away from the pool after announcing here retirement.

The 26-year-old has decided to call it a day after a career which saw her win 23 international medals.

She said she made the decision after July’s IPC World Championships because she felt she might not be able to win a medal at next year’s London Paralympics.

“I realised that the world has moved on and sped up in a very short space of time,” she said. “It’s sped up to a point that I cannot compete with. I am not ashamed to say this either, I have been in the top three in every race I’ve raced for 10 years until this year. I’m immensely proud of this and this is how I wish to end my career.

“It was definitely no easy decision to make but sometimes you know your time is up and its time to move on to new, and hopefully equally exciting venture, of which there will hopefully be many.

“It will be very strange to think I will not be with ‘my team’ in London next year. However, I will be very excited to watch them all compete from ‘the other side.”

Williamson, who lives in Cottenham and trains in Cambridge, has cerebal palsy. Her career highlights include winning the gold medal in the 50m backstroke at the 2010 World Championships, and competing the 2004 and 2008 Paralympics, where she won four silver medals and two bronzes.

British swimming’s National Performance Director John Atkinson said: “Fran has had a key role in the sport for the past decade and I know this decision must have been difficult for her to make. Her achievements in the sport have been vast and they are an outstanding credit to her and British Swimming.”