Holly (left) and friends after racing Olympic swimmers in a team relay at the Aquatics Centre last year
“I started swimming when I was four, and I swam seriously for a couple of years, but gave up when I was 10. The training had become too intense and I was in the pool twice a day. It stopped being fun, so I stopped.
I didn’t dip a toe in to the water, apart from holidays, until last year when I did some filming for Swim Dem Crew (swimdemcrew.co.uk), a group of London swimmers who tour different pools, then have brunch together at the local cafe. They were taking on a challenge of helping a group of non-swimmers learn to swim to then complete a mile in open water. It looked fun, so I started taking part in the swims. I’m so grateful I did; it helped me fall back in love with swimming as a way to stay healthy and challenge myself, but with the added benefit of being sociable and enjoyable.