Katie Shanahan is, she realises, in a supremely fortunate position to be just twenty years old and have the full set of major championships ticked-off.
2024 saw the Glaswegian complete the set by becoming an Olympian having already, despite her youth, swum at World and European Championships as well as the Commonwealth Games.
But 2024 has taught Shanahan many lessons as well, some harsher than others.
As she prepared for her Olympic debut at Paris 2024, Shanahan succumbed to a bout of glandular fever.
It was a significant blow to the then teenager, and meant her training ahead of the Olympic Games was severely curtailed.
However, perhaps surprisingly considering her disrupted preparations, she managed to perform impressively, reaching the final of both the 400m IM and the 200m backstroke.
Consequently, as she reflects upon her year of ups and downs, she’s shifted her mindset significantly.
“I wasn’t even sure if I was going to make it to the Olympics so this year has taught me to just enjoy swimming and not put myself under so much pressure,” she says.
“I went into the Olympics nowhere near my best because I’d been ill so I went to Paris without putting myself under loads of pressure and that was actually a really good thing.
“It’s shown me it’s not that it can feel like life or death but it’s really not.
“Going into the Olympics, I wasn’t able to train fully but I raced just as well so it was good to learn that I don’t necessarily need to do loads of training to always race well, that’s good to know going into major champs in the future.
“It does give me confidence thinking what I can do fully fit though and it’s made me want to really push on for the next Olympics because I want to show what I can do.”
The line-up is stellar; Shanahan, who will swim in five events, will not be the only Olympian in action, with Kathleen Dawson, Lucy Hope and Deanna MacInnes also swimming over the next three days.
Having had her training disrupted after having her tonsils removed in October, she admits she’s somewhat unsure what to expect from this weekend’s racing but her decision to skip next week’s World Shortcourse Championships in Budapest is with a view to getting some solid training under her belt as she looks towards 2025.
Next year will be considerably different for Shanahan, however, with the departure last month of the University of Stirling’s head coach, Steven Tigg, to Aquatics GB Swimming Head Coach. Tigg, who had been at Sitrling for seven years, will be replaced by Ben Higson in the next few weeks, and Shanahan and her Stirling teammates, which include Olympic champions Duncan Scott and Kathleen Dawson, will be forced to adapt to a new coaching set-up.
However, Shanahan is optimistic about the change at the helm, despite the departure of a coach with the kind of proven track record as Tigg had.
“I’m so happy for Steven and I think he’ll do a really good job – he’s got so much experience and I know he’s got a lot of ideas about what he wants to do so that’ll be good for the sport,” she says.
“From a selfish point of view, it would have been nice to work with Steve for a few more years because obviously things have gone well with me since I moved to Stirling but he’ll still be around the pool so I’m sure I’ll still be able to ask him for advice.
“Now is a good time to change coach because there’s still loads of time before the next Olympics. So I’m excited to see what the future brings.”
Shanahan heads into 2025 in something of a novel position for her.
No longer is she the “up-and-coming” youngster; rather, she’s now someone who must deal with the expectation that she will be challenging for silverware at major championships.
But rather than be daunted by the pressure, Shanahan is embracing the increased expectations upon her shoulders.
“It’s a good place to be in that people are expecting good swims from me,” she says.
“The saying ‘pressure is a privilege’ is true.
“It motivates me knowing that I’ve done all these major championships and I’ve made a name for myself already but I do want to push on and achieve a lot more. I’ve got a lot more goals.
“Coming off the Olympics, I was a little unmotivated but now, I’m excited about having four years to improve before the next Olympics and I want to make every day count.”
