Summers-Newton powers to another swimming gold

There is no textbook for dealing with teenage sporting stardom, but Maisie Summers-Newton is as qualified as anyone to write it.

- TOM HARLE

The swimmer was thrust into the spotlight as a 19-year-old just as her idol Ellie Simmonds was leaving it, making for an awkward dynamic as she won gold in Tokyo.

Now 22, she has spent the last three years stewing on the defence of her 200m individual medley title, all while becoming the face of British para-swimming.

“I have a lot of self-doubt,” said Summers-Newton, who is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full-time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support – which has been vital on their pathway to the Paris 2024 Games.

“I think that’s something that has come since Tokyo, there’s a lot of pressure being Paralympic champion and then defending it. I just put so much pressure on myself.”

At least to those in the stands at La Defense Arena, SummersNewton need not have worried.