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.jpg) Santa Clara 2012 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Alia Shanee Atkinson |
| National team |  Jamaica |
| Born | 11 December 1988[1] Saint James Parish, Jamaica[2] |
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[1] |
| Weight | 65 kg (143 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Strokes | Breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle, individual medley |
| Club | South Florida Aquatic Club |
| College team | Texas A&M University |
| Coach | Chris Anderson |
Medal record | |
Alia Shanee Atkinson, СD (born 11 December 1988) is a Jamaican five-time Olympian and a former competitive swimmer whose international competition career spanned 19 years, 2003 to 2021 inclusive, at the senior level. At short course World Swimming Championships, she is a ten-time medalist in individual events, including four gold medals, four silver medals, and two bronze medals. She won a total of 124 medals, of which 74 were gold medals, at Swimming World Cup circuits over the course of her career. She won 14 total medals in individual events, 11 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze, from her first three Central American and Caribbean Games, in 2006, 2010, and 2018.
In 2014, Atkinson became the first Afro-Jamaican to win a world title in swimming, winning the short course 100-metre breaststroke at the 2014 World Swimming Championships with a world record time of 1:02.36. In 2016, she tied her world record in the short course 100 metre breaststroke on 26 August before setting a new world record in the short course 50-metre breaststroke on 26 October. Two years later, on 6 October 2018, she set her second new world record in the short course 50-metre breaststroke, marking her fourth world record time in an individual event. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she became the second Jamaican swimmer to place in the top four at an Olympic Games, finishing fourth in the 100-metre breaststroke.
Background
Atkinson calls Roehampton, Jamaica her hometown. At three years of age, she started swimming.[1] In 2000, when she was approximately 12 years old, her family permanently relocated to the United States, moving to Florida. When she was 13 years old, she to focused her swimming on breaststroke specialization. Before then she mostly swam freestyle and butterfly. She was coached by Chris Anderson from 2001 through to her retirement in 2021. She mostly trained with the South Florida Aquatic Club swim team in Pembroke Pines, Florida in an Olympic-size swimming pool.[2] In college, she majored in Psychology, earning her Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University in 2010, where she also competed as part of the Texas A&M Aggies swim team.[3] In international swimming competitions, she represented Jamaica.[4]
Atkinson stated her swimming mission in her SwimSwam bio as, "To place Jamaica on the world map of swimming; to agitate for the improvement of the infrastructural support for swimming in Jamaica so as to be able to take it to the next level; and to realize my full potential for myself, my parents, and my country."[4] She has also been vocal about not being related to Janelle Atkinson, who was the first Jamaican swimmer to finish in the top four at an Olympic Games.[2]
Career
2004–2011
Atkinson was 15 years old and a high school junior at the time of her Olympic debut at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.[2] She competed in the 50-metre freestyle, ranking 44th overall, and the 100-metre breaststroke, ranking 32nd overall.[5] In March 2006, Atkinson competed at her first Commonwealth Games, the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.[6] She carried the flag for her Jamaica at the opening ceremony of the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she set the Jamaican record in the 100-metre butterfly with a time of 1:02.40.[7]
In the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China she finished 25th in the women's 200-metre breaststroke.[5][8] She also competed in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India in October.[9] She placed first in the 200-yard breaststroke at the 2010 NCAA Championships, swimming for Texas A&M. Her swim made her the second NCAA champion in swimming for Texas A&M after Julia Wilkinson.[3] At the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, Atkinson won the silver medal in the 200-metre individual medley.[1]
2012
2012 Summer Olympics
At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England, Atkinson competed in three individual events.[5] She qualified for the 2012 Olympics 100 m women's breaststroke final after defeating Canadian rival Tera van Beilen with a time of 1:06.79 in a head-to-head swim-off for a spot in the final. She subsequently placed 4th in the final of the 2012 Olympics 100 m women's breaststroke finishing with a time of 1:06.93.[8] This made Atkinson the second Jamaican swimmer to place in the top four of a swimming event at an Olympic Games behind Janelle Atkinson who achieved the feat at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the 400-metre freestyle.[2]
In the 200-metre breaststroke, Atkinson ranked 27th in the prelims. She also competed in the 50-metre freestyle where she placed 37th overall.[5]
2012 World Swimming Championships
| 2012 World Championships (SC) | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
50 m breaststroke | 29.67 |
|
100 m breaststroke | 1:03.80 |
Following the 2012 Olympics, Atkinson competed in the 2012 World Swimming Championships conducted in short course metres and held in Istanbul, Turkey in December 2012. She won the silver medal in the 50-metre breaststroke with a time of 29.67 in the final.[10] In the final of the 100-metre breaststroke, she swam a 1:03.80 and won the silver medal.[11]
2014
2014 Commonwealth Games
She won two medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the summer of 2014, silver in the 50 m breaststroke and bronze in the 100 m breaststroke.[12] She also set two Commonwealth Games records in the heats and semifinal of the 50 m breaststroke.[12] Her swim of 2:25.48 in the long course 200-metre breaststroke set a new national record for Jamaica in the event.[13][14]
2014 Swimming World Cup
At the 2014 FINA Swimming World Cup stop in Singapore in November 2014, Atkinson won the short course 200-metre breaststroke, setting a new national record with her time of 2:17.84.[14][15]
2014 World Swimming Championships
| 2014 World Championships (SC) | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
100 m breaststroke | 1:02.36 (tie WR) |
|
50 m breaststroke | 28.91 |
Atkinson won the 100-metre breaststroke at the 2014 Short Course World Championships in Doha, Qatar in December (equaling the record of 1:02.36 set by Rūta Meilutytė in 2013), becoming the first Afro-Jamaican woman to win a world swimming title.[16][17] Her swim was the second time a woman hit the 1:02.36 mark internationally after Meilutytė. Because Atkinson was the second woman to reach the world record time she was not awarded the $10,000 associated with setting a world record because she did not set a new world record, instead tying the pre-existing one Meilutytė set in 2013.[18] In the 50-metre breaststroke she won the silver medal with a time of 28.91.[16]
2015
2015 World Aquatics Championships
| 2015 World Championships (LC) | ||
|---|---|---|
|
50 m breaststroke | 30.11 (NR) |
 |
100 m breaststroke | 1:06.42 |
In August 2015 at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia, Atkinson medaled in two individual events. She won the silver medal in the 50-metre breaststroke with a time of 30.11 in the final.[19] Her swim set a new national record for Jamaica in the 50-metre breaststroke.[20] In the 100-metre breaststroke, she swam a 1:06.42 in the final and won the bronze medal.[21]
2015 Swimming World Cup
At the 2015 FINA Swimming World Cup stop in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in November 2015, Atkinson swam a personal best time of 1:05.93 in the long course 100-metre breaststroke and set a new national record in the event. Her swim tied her for the 16th fastest swimmer in the event globally with Rikke Pedersen who was the world record holder in the long course 200-metre breaststroke at the time.[22]
2016
2016 Summer Olympics
At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she placed eighth in the final of the 100-metre breaststroke, swimming a 1:08.10.[23]
2016 Swimming World Cup
At the 2016 FINA Swimming World Cup stop in Chartres, France in August 2016, Atkinson again tied the world record in the short course 100-metre breaststroke with a time of 1:02.36.[24] She did not win the $10,000 prize money for a world record as it was not a new world record.[18]
In October 2016, at the Swimming World Cup stop in Tokyo, Japan, Atkinson swam a 28.64 in the short course 50-metre breaststroke setting a new world record in the event.[25]
2016 World Swimming Championships
| 2016 World Championships (SC) | ||
|---|---|---|
|
100 m breaststroke | 1:03.03 |
|
50 m breaststroke | 29.11 |
|
100 m individual medley | 58.04 |
In December 2016 at the 2016 World Swimming Championships in Windsor, Canada and conducted in short course metres, Atkinson medaled in three individual events. She won the gold medal in the 100-metre breastsroke ahead of Lilly King. In the 50-metre breaststroke, she swam a 29.11 in the final and won the silver medal in the event. For the 100-metre individual medley she won the bronze medal, swimming a 58.04 in the final.[26]
2018
2018 Swimming World Cup
Atkinson competed for Jamaica at the 2018 FINA Swimming World Cup in Budapest, Hungary. In the 50-metre breaststroke she swam a 28.56, breaking her own world record in the event she set in 2016.[27][28]