Alia Atkinson is a 25 year-old pro swimmer from Jamaica who has competed at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. She has represented her country the 2007 Pan American Games, the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She has also swam for Texas A&M. This past Saturday Atkinson completed the 100m breaststroke in record time at the world short-course championships in Doha, becoming the first black woman to do so.
According to The Telegraph, the victory came as a shock to the young athlete,
“Me?,” she mouthed, pointing at herself before the enormity of her achievement was absorbed and so started the celebrations.
She told AFP: “I couldn’t believe it! It came down to the same thing as the 50 and on the 50 I got out-touched so in my mind I went straight back to that.
“I just thought ‘oh okay’ and looked up at the board and it didn’t really click yet and then it really started to click. It took a while!”
Alia Atkinson hopes that her new visibility in the sport will pave the way for more swimmers from the Caribbean.
