Rising swimming star Leah Crisp decides to take the plunge with Bath

WAKEFIELD’S double national champion Leah Crisp has taken a place at British Swimming’s National Centre in Bath with the teen hailing the move as “perfect” for her aspirations in education and sport.
ON THE MOVE: City of Leeds swimmer and double national champion Leah Crisp. Picture Tony Johnson.ON THE MOVE: City of Leeds swimmer and double national champion Leah Crisp. Picture Tony Johnson.
ON THE MOVE: City of Leeds swimmer and double national champion Leah Crisp. Picture Tony Johnson.

Crisp made more waves in the pool in 2019 with the City of Leeds Swimming Club star winning the senior 800m and 1500m freestyle at April’s British Swimming Championships before taking four golds in her age category at the British Summer Championships in July.

The Wakefield Girls’ High School pupil has also been excelling in the open water sphere with the teenager having been unsure whether to commit to a tilt at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics or to take a more patient approach and wait for Paris 2024.

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Yet the rescheduling of the Tokyo Games to the summer of 2021 due to coronavirus has left Crisp optimistic she can make her mark in Japan with the 18-year-old now set to be based at one of the sport’s national centres in Bath.

TOP TALENT: Leah Crisp wins the Leeds Sports Awards' young sportswoman award last year.TOP TALENT: Leah Crisp wins the Leeds Sports Awards' young sportswoman award last year.
TOP TALENT: Leah Crisp wins the Leeds Sports Awards' young sportswoman award last year.

With the University of Bath also offering Crisp’s desired degree course, relocating made perfect sense, even if Crisp will be leaving Leeds and her coach Richard Denigan with a heavy heart.

“I am going to study at Bath as well as swim there,” Crisp told The Yorkshire Post.

“I knew I wanted to go to uni and study so I was looking at places that had my course which is economics and maths and the fact they also had swimming there as well meant it worked out perfectly.

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“It has the National Centre there and also the study that I would like to pursue so it seemed like a really good place to go to further both.

“It was a tough decision because Leeds has been brilliant for me and I have achieved a lot while I have been here.”

Assessing the dilemma of whether to target Tokyo or Paris – and moreover in which event – Crisp said: “I’m definitely focusing in the pool now rather than the open water. I was originally thinking more long term towards 2024 but now they have moved Tokyo back a year so that’s like an extra opportunity.

“I’d say it’s been an advantage to me especially because I won’t have A-Levels to do alongside it. That was my main concern, having both in the same year.”

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