DEARING Alice

General
BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS
She is co-founder of the Black Swimming Association which was launched in March 2020. "So our [Black Swimming Association] focus is on the learn-to-swim side. Because eventually, you'll see that change as you get more county swimmers then regional, national, international and then eventually, hopefully, more black Olympians. A lot of black people think they never learned how to swim and turned out fine so they don't need to teach their children. Obviously there are a lot of flaws with that argument, but if that's being repeated to a whole generation, that swimming is not for you, then obviously it's going to trickle down. There are less and less excuses to not be swimming now." (theguardian.com, 25 Jun 2021; theguardian.com, 14 Jun 2020; bbc.co.uk, 19 Jun 2021; espn.co.uk, 11 Mar 2021)

BEING A TRAILBLAZER
When she competes at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo she will become the first black female swimmer to represent Great Britain at the Olympic Games. "Being a poster girl for black swimming is exciting, because genuinely I love the sport and I want to see as many people doing it as possible. But it's also terrifying because there's a lot of pressure. I have rationalised it, 'if not me, then who?' And I want this to happen as soon as possible, to break that barrier. To be honest I don't want to always be referred to as the black swimmer from Britain. I want to be known for my achievements. But perhaps it is necessary if it helps inspire another child to get in the pool, aged eight, and to just give it a go." (theguardian.com, 25 Jun 2021; theguardian.com, 14 Jun 2020; skysports.com, 25 Jun 2021)

EDUCATION
She graduated from Loughborough University in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in politics. She then undertook a master's degree in social media and political communication between 2019 and 2021 at the same university. (LinkedIn profile, 25 Jun 2021; theguardian.com, 14 Jun 2020)