Wakefield's Leah Crisp urged to 'seize the moment' as Olympic debut beckons at Paris 2024

The 22-year-old goes to the startline of the 10k event off Pont Alexandre III on the River Seine having only moved across to open water swimming in the last 18 months.

Her selection to represent Team GB was confirmed earlier this year via a 17th-place finish at the world championships in Doha, but it was the body of work she did at City of Leeds Swimming Club from the age of eight to 18 that got her to this place.

Now living and training in Bath after relocating to the south west for academic as much as swimming purposes, Crisp goes into Olympic competition with the well-wishes of everyone who played a part in her journey in West Yorkshire, including her long-time City of Leeds head coach Richard Denigan.

“Leah was the type of athlete that you would look forward to coming to work every day to see what she could do,” begins Denigan.

“Great work ethic, great attitude, great attendance, coachable, hard, resilient.

“Just a model athlete that you would want to coach every day. She worked so hard and pushed herself so hard.

“She had that extra bit of steel inside her to push on when she’s really hurting that most people haven’t got.

“And it’s all come good for her, all those years of consistency that she’s given to the sport.”

Given they spent so many hours working in the short-course pool at John Charles Aquatics Centre, has her switch in discipline and environment taken Denigan by surprise?

“Not really, it was always on the agenda,” he says.

“She did have a dabble at it, she got a world bronze medal in a relay and a medal in the European juniors in the open water so she’s been involved.

“She just wanted to focus on the pool. When you get older and you have to weigh up your options, how much have you got to drop in the pool to go to the Olympics, or is the open water more of a realistic opportunity? You’ve got to take your opportunities and all credit to her for doing that.”

While the City of Leeds club will be cheering on their star alumni this morning, if Denigan were there with Crisp, what advice would he give to the Wakefield swimmer?

“I would be saying to her keep everything the same, keep everything level,” he told The Yorkshire Post.

“You’ve done the work, don’t get sidetracked by all the razmatazz, you’re there to do a job, enjoy the experience, but make sure you do the little things well.

“You can enjoy the external factors of the Olympics afterwards because you might only get one chance at this and you don’t want to waste it. Seize this moment.”