ATAS Athlete Profile: Eve Wood

Eve Wood has been swimming competitively since she was around eight years old, and is about to head off to university, with her sights now set on a place on the Commonwealth Games team in 2030. As one of our ATAS-funded athletes, she took time to reflect on her journey so far.

Q: Tell us a bit about yourself - what's your sport, and how long have you been doing it?

A: Hi, I am Eve and my sport is swimming, I've been swimming competitively since I was around 8 years old.

Q: How did you first get into it?

A: My parents put me in the Learn2Swim programme when I was a kid, and once I had reached level 8, I was still enjoying it, so I kept it on and joined C squad.

Q: What's your proudest moment or biggest achievement so far?

A: I don't think there is one specific moment I could choose - from winning my two home golds in the Island Games, to getting my Scottish record in my home pool.

Q: What has being part of Orkney's sporting community meant to you?

A: Being part of Orkney's sporting community is special, as everyone is almost on the same boat.

Q: What's next for you?

A: I am going away to university this year, so carrying on swimming and progressing through the sport, hopefully retaining my medals at the Games in the Faroes, but my main long-term goal will be trying to get into the Commonwealth team in 2030.

Q: What would you say to a young person in Orkney thinking about getting into sport?

A: I would say try it, no matter how good you are at it - you can make so many friends and memories through it.

Q: If you weren't doing this sport, what would you be playing instead?

A: I think if I didn't do swimming I would have either done hockey or rugby. I really liked playing hockey when I was younger, and I think I would quite enjoy playing rugby.