Bethany Firth: ‘They assumed I’d retire, that irritated me’ – Firth on turning into a mum and returning to swimming

There is little doubt that if you speak with Firth now, she has a distinct perspective on life and her swimming.

“People always put a lot of pressure on me. I felt like people expected me to win gold, and it turned into more of a pressure and something that I had to prove myself,” she stated.

“I felt like I wasn’t good enough if I didn’t get the gold, but having Charlotte just changed everything.

“Watching the ladies compete in Paris, I believed it was nice. It made me need to swim, but it surely did not make me really feel like I missed it, or I might change something or I wished to be there, to be actually sincere.

“When I win a medal, you get that buzz for a few seconds. With Charlotte I get that buzz all the time, when she crawls or when she walks or when she does the little things she does.”

So, did she ever ponder retirement? After all Firth is one in all Northern Ireland’s most profitable athletes.

Six Paralympic titles plus three silvers, 5 world titles, 4 silvers and a bronze and a gold for Northern Ireland on the 2022 Commonwealth Games. No one would have had something damaging to say if she had determined to cease.

“I think it was more that people assumed I would finish my career and the more they assumed, the more it annoyed me, and the more I thought, actually, this is really bad for women in sport,” she added.

“Why do we have to choose? Why are people just assuming I’d stop if I had a child?

“It truly by no means crossed my thoughts. I knew it could be laborious, and I feel the problem of it being laborious crossed my thoughts, however having my household assist me and having Charlotte it feels prefer it makes all of it price it.”