Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.
Lifestyle

From Northfield to Tokyo, meet the intrepid Aberdeen Paralympian on a mission to get children swimming

Toni Shaw, who was born without a right hand, says mainstream swimming lessons took her to Paralympic and Commonwealth glory and she now wants more children to have the same opportunity.
Rosemary Lowne
Paralympian Toni Shaw hopes to inspire children of all abilities to learn to swim. Image: Toni Shaw
Paralympian Toni Shaw hopes to inspire children of all abilities to learn to swim. Image: Toni Shaw

Paralympic swimmer Toni Shaw can’t help but laugh when she reveals her parents took her to Northfield Swimming Pool as a baby to tire her out.

“I’m not going to lie, I think my parents just wanted me to be quiet because I kept crying so they took me swimming to tire me out,” giggles Toni, 19, from Aberdeen.

Unbeknown to her parents Shona and Martin, their baby daughter’s impressive lung capacity and a deep love of the water was a very early sign of the waves she would create in the future.

Taking the plunge at Northfield Swimming Pool as a baby has led Toni Shaw to become a world record breaking swimmer. Photo: Toni Shaw

Nineteen years on and Toni, who was born without a right hand, has a world record and both Paralympic and Commonwealth bronze medals to her name.

Reflecting on her global swimming success, Toni says she would not have got to where she is today without Learn to Swim, a programme run by Scottish Swimming and Scottish Water to encourage children to learn to swim regardless of their age, abilities or skill level.

“At a young age, I actually went through the Learn to Swim programme and was put into mainstream lessons,” says Toni.

“This has had a profound impact on me as it was a really inclusive environment, and just because I had a disability I wasn’t put into a different lesson or my ability discounted.

“If there is someone with a disability, swim teachers can adapt lessons as required.

“It’s great to develop as a swimmer and be seen beyond my disability.”

6.30am pool sessions

This tumble turn moment had such a positive impact on Toni’s life that by the age of 12 she was competing at local and national competitions.

“The mainstream Learn to Swim lessons helped me so much as I didn’t just learn to swim, it also gave me so much confidence,” says Toni.

“Obviously being in a swimsuit you can’t hide anything so it’s definitely helped to shape me as a person.”

Toni Shaw trains six days a week while juggling a university degree and also being an ambassador for the Learn to Swim programme. Image: Toni Shaw

While most people are still tucked up in their beds Toni is already ripping through the water at Aberdeen Sports Village at 6.30 most mornings.

“Typically, my training schedule would see me complete eight sessions a week in the pool and two on land – juggling studying and training has been something I’ve done from a young age,” says Toni, who is studying Business at Aberdeen University.

“The sport doesn’t only build physical skills, but life ones too, and that has really benefited me as I progress my university studies.”

Ellie Simmonds

Toni’s hard work and dedication has paid off as she was soon competing next to her heroes.

“Someone I’ve always looked up to since a young age is Ellie Simmonds and the icing on the cake was being able to compete alongside her at age 14 in domestic championships for the 400m front crawl, which was a real career milestone,” says Toni.

Toni Shaw says former Paralympic swimmer Ellie Simmonds OBE is one of her heroes. Image: Shutterstock

By the age of 14, Toni became the youngest member of Team Scotland to compete at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games where she reached the final of all four of her events.

That was just the start of Toni’s stroke with success as in the same year she bagged six medals at the European Para-Swimming Championships in Dublin.

World record

A year later Toni made a sensational World Championship debut with two gold, two silver and two bronze and made her Paralympic debut at Tokyo 2020, winning bronze in the 400m Freestyle S9.

Reflecting on Tokyo, Toni says it was one of the highlights of her swimming career so far.

Toni Shaw has the Paris Paralympics in her sights. Image: Toni Shaw

“It was kind of crazy to be honest,” says Toni.

“Tokyo is the biggest competition I’ve done and is where every swimmer wants to go, so to get the opportunity to compete there was amazing.”

In 2019, Toni set the world record time for the S9 200m butterfly, and was also part of the team that set a new world record for the 4x100m medley relay at the World Para Swimming Championships in Madeira.

Under pressure

Asked how she copes with the pressure that comes with competing at such an elite level, Toni says her amazing support network always helps her through.

“Like most athletes, before competing it always is a bit nerve-wracking, but I’ve always had a good team around me so it doesn’t feel as bad once I’m in company,” says Toni.

Toni is a proud ambassador of the Learn to Swim programme. Image: Holyrood PR

“I always get asked what is your pre-competition ritual and I don’t really have any other than eating a large bowl of pasta the night before.”

Paris 2024

Toni now has her sights set on the Paris Paralympics next year.

“I would love to compete at the Paris 2024 games. I don’t know if it will happen but that’s the goal,” says Toni.

“There will be a qualifying meet next April so we’ll see.”

Toni Shaw says swimming changed her life. Image: Toni Shaw

Together with her relentless training regime and university studies, Toni also puts her energy into her role as ambassador for the Learn to Swim programme.

“Working with young swimmers has always been a passion of mine and being able to showcase that while learning a vital life skill of keeping safe in and around water, you can have fun, make friends and keep fit, is extremely important,” says Toni.

Conversation