Freya Anderson reveals illness that threw Paris 2024 prep into disarray

By Paul Eddison, Sportsbeat

Visualisation is a method used by a lot of elite athletes. When swimming star Freya Anderson visualised her perfect 2024, it did not involve glandular fever wreaking havoc with her Olympic preparations.

The 23-year-old from Birkenhead finished last year with five medals at the European Short Course Championships and looked primed for a big year at her second Olympics – three years on from being part of the relay team that won mixed 4x100m medley gold in Tokyo.

But just before Christmas, she suffered a first bout of illness, and she has since spent most of this year trying to recover.

While Olympic selection was on the line at the British Championships in April, Anderson was given assurances that she would have further opportunities to qualify as she was still recovering from illness.

As it turned out, she did enough to secure a spot, and the youngster feels that a phlegmatic approach has worked well for her as she slowly returns to full training.

She explained: “I just dealt with it as one of those things. It’s something I must deal with; I could sit around and mope but it’s not going to change what has happened. But one thing I have taken from this ‘ordeal’, is the support team I have around me.

“I knew it was there the whole time, but I’m taken aback by how much support I have from everyone at Aquatics GB, and my family, friends, and teammates, it’s been overwhelming. It makes these Olympics a bit special, I’m not just doing it for me, I’m doing it for that team. It makes it a bit different even though it hasn’t gone to plan.

“I did the European short course in December. It went well, and I thought the Olympic season was off to a good start. Then I got bad stress before Christmas, I got ill then. I came back and got ill after New Year. I started to build back up for the Flanders meet then I was struck down. I was bed bound for four or five days and got bloods done. They came back as glandular fever.

“I was due to go to a warm weather camp in Australia, I had to withdraw from that, which wasn’t great. What can you do? That’s what I was saying the whole time.

“I had a really monitored return from training. I was doing 500m swimming and getting out. It ebbs and flows, it’s different every day.

“But in the past few weeks, I’ve been putting together good weeks of back-to-back training. I’ve just got back from altitude training, that went well. So, touch wood, it’s all going quite smoothly and all starting to look good.”

Anderson 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 – this is vital for her pathway to the Paris 2024 Games.

As it stands, Anderson will race in the 4x100m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relays, with decisions still to be made over whether she also adds any individual events.

Whether she competes individually or not, even being in Paris is a victory for Anderson.

And the key over the last few months has been listening to her body and being prepared to rest when she was not 100 percent.

She added: “Around trials time, each day was quite different. Some days I’d be struck down with fatigue and the next I’d be fine. So, it’s been something I’ve had to deal with and learn how to listen to my body more, be kinder to myself. I’m in a good place now.

“We get told that there will be times in your career where you must make choices. What is going to take you towards your goal and what is going to hinder you. With glandular fever, I’ve learned that sometimes going towards your goal is taking a step back and taking the time to recover and look after yourself. It’s been a strange one, but it’s been something I’ve really had to push and look after my body.”

Regardless of her individual ambitions, Anderson believes that Britain’s women have a genuine shot at a podium in both the 4x100m freestyle and the 4x200m freestyle, having finished fourth in the two events at last year’s World Championships.

She said: “I don’t know about individuals but there will be a few relays there which is exciting. There are good prospects there. At Worlds last year we came forth in, so we are all hungry for something better. I don’t want to jinx it but it’s a mutual understanding that all of us girls have. It makes it easier doing it for someone else.”

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