At the Paralympic Games in Paris this year, Poppy Maskill made her Paralympic debut, which saw her have a hugely successful competition with ParalympicsGB for swimming. Poppy became the Paralympic champion, winning Gold in the S14 100m Butterfly (which was also ParalympicsGB’s first gold medal of the Games), S14 100m Backstroke, and alongside her GB teammates William Ellard, Rhys Darbey and Olivia Newman-Baronius, she won the S14 Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay. Further medals for Poppy in Paris were Silver in the S14 200m Freestyle and SM14 200m Individual Medley, and after her success, she became the flag bearer at the closing ceremony with ParalympicsGB’s taekwondo athlete Matt Bush. Last year, Poppy became the World para swimming champion in Manchester, coming away with five medals including Gold in the S14 Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay, and in 2022, she made her Commonwealth Games debut in Birmingham for Team England, and became the World champion for the first time in Madeira at the World Para Swimming Championships. We found out from Poppy about her success at her debut Paralympic Games in Paris, coming away with five medals at last year’s World Para Swimming Championships in Manchester and becoming World champion in 2022 in Madeira.
You’ve recently competed at your debut Paralympic Games in Paris, what was it like staying in the athletes village and being part of ParalympicsGB?
Very cool, lots of other sports which you only get at Paralympic Games or Commonwealths.
You won Gold in the S14 100m Butterfly, how did you feel winning Great Britain’s first Gold medal of the Paris Paralympics?
Very happy, it felt unreal, I wouldn’t have expected it to be me.
Individually, you also won Gold in the S14 100m Backstroke and Silver in the S14 200m Freestyle and SM14 200m Individual Medley, how did you stay focused during the competition and how was it collecting your medals?
Thinking about how hard I trained to give me confidence, and it felt weird getting my medals, so many people, it was unreal.
What was it like winning Gold and becoming Paralympic champion alongside your ParalympicsGB teammates William Ellard, Rhys Darbey and Olivia Newman-Baronius in the S14 Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay?
It was a very cool experience, especially being a very young team all under 20.
How did you find the experience attending the closing ceremony and being Britain’s flag bearer alongside Matt Bush (taekwondo)?
I enjoyed it a lot. I never would have thought I would get the opportunity to do it, it was an amazing experience and I’ll never forget it.
At last year’s World Para Swimming Championships in Manchester, you won five medals including Gold in the S14 Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay, can you tell us about your time at this competition?
It was a good experience having older members of the team in the relay so I could learn from their experience and it helped me going into Paris.
What was it like making your Commonwealth Games debut in Birmingham in 2022?
It was my first big crowded competition so it was very noisy and made me more nervous but that definitely helped me for the future.
What did you enjoy most about competing in Madeira for the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships and how was it becoming World champion for the first time?
My favourite thing was beating Bethany Firth in the heat of the 100m back because it was my first time beating her and I looked up to her.
How different do you find individual races opposed to racing in relays?
It’s a different feeling because it’s for a team so if you do bad you let everyone down, not just yourself.
How did you get into swimming and was it something you always wanted to do competitively?
I’ve been swimming since I was very young because I live by a canal but then I loved it so I started swimming competitively.
Can you tell us about your training and how do you prepare for major competitions?
I do, like, eight/nine two-hour swims a week and three gym sessions, and training changes into competitions.
Do you have a favourite aspect of being involved with sports?
It makes me feel healthy and fit.
How do you like to spend your free time?
With Georgia.
Do you have any competitions coming up that you can tell us about or that you are targeting?
Singapore is the next big competition, but that’s next year.
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