Olympian Matthew Richards says, ‘Being in the water keeps me calm'

Team GB’s world champion swimmer Matt Richards has set his sights on bringing home gold once again this summer, four years after winning the Olympics title. Here, he shares how swimming makes him feel, his excitement over his upcoming wedding to fellow swimmer Emily Large and how he copes with the pressure of fame.

The 21-year-old gold medallist from Wales is a leading member of the 30-strong swimming squad selected by Team GB for this year's Olympics, which begin on July 26.

Having burst onto the global stage at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, the then 18-year-old swimmer won four x 200-metre Freestyle gold alongside his teammate Calum Jarvis. From there, he went on to take several international titles, including winning the gold medal in the 200-metre freestyle at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships.

As he prepares to head to Paris this summer, Matt took some time out of his busy training schedule to talk to us about his life, both in and out of the pool...

As you train for the Paris Olympics, you’ve spoken of your hopes to become a household name in the sport. What drives you to succeed and how do you stay focussed?

I find it very easy to be dedicated to swimming. When you love something as much as I love to swim, it is very easy to have my head in the game. I have always been quite a competitive person so my drive to succeed is there, as what I do gets me excited and I just want to go out there and win. Being in the water keeps me calm so it helps that my job enables me to stay focussed.

What age did you start swimming? And how big a part of your childhood was swimming?

I have been swimming for as long as I can remember. Probably since the age of five when I started swimming at Droitwich Leisure Centre, and then I joined the Droitwich Dolphins Swimming Club when I was eight, before moving to Worcester Swimming Club a couple of years later.

When I was at school I would get up early and go for a swim before my classes began and then go again when I got home. It was a huge part of my childhood. I can’t actually remember if I’m honest ever doing any proper homework or revision as all I wanted to do was be in the water.

Being just 21 years old, how do you cope with the pressure of being in the public eye?

The thing is I don’t feel famous or as if I’m anyone special so the attention is strange for me. It’s not as if I’m a Premier League footballer! The way I see it is that I’m just a good swimmer and that mindset helps me feel I can keep under the radar and feel no pressure.

How has your family helped you cope with the pressures?

My parents Amanda and Simon are absolutely amazing. They have been so supportive of everything I have done, as has my fiancé Emily Large. Having Emily by my side is amazing as, being a professional swimmer herself, she understands my job more than anyone. Being in the same working world as me, she just gets it.

She understands the commitment and hard work I have to put in in order to succeed. If I go home after a long day, she totally understands if I don’t want to go to the pub for example. She is an absolute star and I can’t wait for us to get married after Paris ends. Unfortunately, she has been diagnosed with glandular fever and so I had my bloods taken to check I was well and hadn’t got a virus and the tests came back normal which is great.

What is your current training schedule? How do you switch off from training afterwards and relax?

At the moment I train six days a week and get Sundays off. Each day is different but I tend to do a total of 25 hours a week of fitness training, including gym sessions on top of the swimming. I’m a big family man so on my day off I just hang out with them and I’ve recently taken up golf, which I’m not very good at!

Do you have time for a social life?

I tend to mix in a crowd of friends who also happen to be swimmers. James Guy is a good friend of mine and, being an Olympic swimmer himself, we have a lot in common. It is good as we train together and hit a round of golf, although he is far better than I am.

Have you had to overcome any health issues in your sport?

Fortunately, I am in good health, although of course what I do can be very taxing on my body. It helps that I ensure I follow a good nutrition plan to help fuel my body before, during and after performance. I am a huge fan of the Vow Nutrition products, such as their electrolyte drinks that stop me from getting cramp in my legs.

How are you feeling about going to Paris? What are you looking forward to most?

I am just so excited to get there and win as many medals as I possibly can. I am at the pinnacle of my sport and I just feel so grateful and happy to do something I love. And to bring home gold!

Who is going with you? My parents and Emily will be there cheering me on.

Your family unfortunately lost £2,500 in an Olympics ticket scam, after buying tickets online which turned out to be fake. What needs to change in terms of the Olympic ticket buying process?

I think the IOC (The International Olympic Committee) should explore how they can accommodate the families of their athletes better at the games. Whether this be by giving them first refusal to tickets for the families, or even giving one free ticket to each family per event their athlete competes in.

It’s a small price to pay for the IOC as a business but would make a world of difference to athletes whose families can’t afford to spend several thousand pounds to come and watch their athlete compete. It’s another area where I think the IOC needs to review their current situation to come to a more modern solution for what is a multibillion pound machine now.

World Champion and Olympic Gold Medallist swimmer Matt Richards is an ambassador for VOW Nutrition, see www.vownutrtion.com.

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