This is the story behind Anna Hopkin’s “insane” Tokyo triumph.

 

Tokyo 2020 may not have had the fans or fanfare seen at previous Olympics, but it was still a unique and captivating event, where British athletes excelled and history was made.

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British Swimming was among the best-performing sports for Team GB, securing their best-ever Olympic haul with eight medals in the pool.

 

Anna Hopkin was among those guiding Britain to a first-ever Olympic mixed 4x100m medley relay victory. It came in an event introduced to improve gender equality and integration at Tokyo 2020.

 

The team of Kathleen Dawson, Adam Peaty, James Guy and Hopkin secured not only gold, but obliterated the previous world record in the process.

 

“At the time it was overwhelming and thinking back now it’s still a bit insane to think we did that!” Hopkin tells the Women’s Sports Alliance (WSA). WSA founder Jordan Guard spoke to the Olympic gold medal-winner about her career and the crucial role she played in Britain’s stunning relay success.

 

At an age when most aspiring Olympians are beginning to find focus and refine the skills they need to become senior successes Anna Hopkin was done. She needed a break and “I was eight when I started swimming at my local club and by 10 I was training with the Lancashire squad through to 13. Swimming is a sport where you’re training morning and night from such an early age, it’s really intense.

 

Hopkin continued swimming recreationally and satisfied her “drive to win” by competing in trampolining, gymnastics and running. She had “no intention” to ever return to racing in the pool though.

 

That changed in 2014 when her coach – impressed by her times despite limited training – convinced her to “have a bit of fun” and take on the British Championships in Glasgow.

 

“It gave me a taste of doing well again and I got that feeling of accomplishment, said Hopkin. I now had a goal and the motivation spurred me on, so when I went to university (later in 2014), I wanted to see where I could take it.”

 

The swimmer enjoyed success while competing in the USA’s iconic NCAA Championships and made progress senior international progress in 2018 by competing for England at the Commonwealth Games and with Great Britain at the European Championships.

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The Coronavirus pandemic fast-tracked her scheduled return to the UK and she teamed up Adam Peaty’s coach Mel Marshall in Loughborough in early 2020.

 

After “mixed” results early in the following season Hopkin was “nervous” heading into the British Olympic trials in London where she needed at least a top-two finish to be in contention for the Games.

 

She achieved her target and after Team GB selection was soon confirmed Hopkins continued her build up to Tokyo 2020 with five medals at the European Championships.

 

The swimmer then secured a place in the Olympic 4x100m medley relay team by ranking higher than Anderson in the women’s 100m freestyle event in Tokyo.

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The “unique” Tokyo 2020 experience

 

“The Olympics was so different to anything I’d experienced before and of course there were a lot of (Covid-related) restrictions, but you still got the vibe with so many people from different countries and sports which creates a great atmosphere,” she recalls.

 

“Having raced, won and nearly broken the world record at the Europeans everyone knew we had a chance of gold, so it was definitely a race I was desperate to be chosen for! “That said there was pressure because I do freestyle which means I’m on the last leg and no-one wants to be the one who messes it up for the team.

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The mixed 4x100m medley relay consists of two female and two male swimmers who each perform a different stroke. Traditionally most teams lead with the men on the first two legs (backstroke and breaststroke), before handing over to the women who finish off with the butterfly and freestyle elements.

 

Britain did things slightly differently – going female (Dawson), male (Peaty), male (Guy), female, which put Hopkin on the last leg facing the challenge of holding off the charge from near all-conquering American great Caeleb Dressel.

 

“It’s quite difficult being the person on the last leg of a relay because you see the whole race and you have the nerves building throughout it,” she says.

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“With Kathleen on the backstroke against a lot of guys we were behind naturally but then you have Adam going in who is just trying to catch everyone and he’s great to have on the relay. Then you have James Guy and that was a key leg because it was all about how much of a lead he could get us before I began and then Dressel did.

 

“We worked out we needed five-six seconds and he was already four-five ahead at the 50m mark, so I was confident when I dove in, but you never know.

 

“The first length felt great and then I looked around at the turn and I saw Dressel but he seemed like he was quite far behind. Then there was Emma McKeon – the 100m freestyle champion for Australia – who I was aware of, plus China.

 

“I was pretty confident that we’d done enough with 10-15m, but knowing Dressel is going to be storming down is quite daunting but luckily we were all fine.

 

GB touched first, stopping the clock at 3:37.58 to set a new world record.

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Olympic victory but muted celebrations

 

Those from Team GB lucky enough to seek into the venue celebrated wildly, as did millions watching live back in the UK, but three of the four British swimmers seemed somewhat subdued.

 

“It’s a weird one, you don’t want to think about how you’ll react if you win because you don’t want to jinx it, so I hadn’t really thought about it,” she says. I’m not the kind of person who splashed the water or gets on the lane rope – I was just a bit overwhelmed!”

 

“I remember seeing the score board and then I looked up at everyone else and they were celebrating, but at the same time, kind of weren’t.

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Unbeknown to Hopkin at the time Guy thought he’d “gone to early” and performed an illegal take over, something Peaty admitted he feared too – having seen his team-mate soar over him as he went into the wall.

 

“I was like ‘why aren’t they jumping up and down?’ but then when the confirmation came we really celebrated. Even now it’s so surreal because I never thought I’d be an Olympic champion and part of a world record-breaking team!”

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Now for an even busier 2022…

 

2021 may have been a demanding year, but the delayed Olympics has pushed may events previously scheduled for this year into next and as a result 2022 is likely to be one of the busiest in history for swimmers.

 

“We have trials, the World Championships, Commonwealth Games and then we’re straight into the Europeans in Rome so it’s going to be full-on,” says the swimmer.

 

“I think after the Olympics though it’s really nice to have a lot going on, you don’t want to have the post-Olympic blues where you don’t know what your purpose is. So, it’s nice to have that and then it’s all about Paris and the next Olympic Games in 2024.”