Alice Tai

{{Infobox swimmer

| name = Alice Tai

| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE}}

| image = alice tai 2024 1.jpg

| caption = Tai at the 2024 Summer Paralympics

| full_name =

| nationality = British

| strokes = freestyle, backstroke, butterfly

| club = Ealing Swimming Club

| coach = David Heathock

| collegeteam =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1999|1|31}}

| birth_place = Poole, England

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = 1.65 m

| weight =

| show-medals = yes

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry | {{GBR2}} }}

{{MedalCountry | {{ENG}} }}

}}

Alice Rose Tai (born 31 January 1999) is a British paralympic swimmer. Tai competes in the SB8, SM8 and S8. She has represented Great Britain at European and World Championships and at the Commonwealth and Paralympic Games, gold medals at all levels.

Personal history

Tai was born in Poole, England in 1999 and grew up in New Milton.{{cite web |url=http://ipc.infostradasports.com/asp/lib/theasp.asp?pageid=8937&sportid=514&personid=1064950&refreshauto=1 |work=IPC |access-date=19 August 2015 |title=Tai, Alice |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090506/http://ipc.infostradasports.com/asp/lib/theasp.asp?pageid=8937&sportid=514&personid=1064950&refreshauto=1 |url-status=dead }} Her parents are Steve, a Chinese IT specialist,{{Cite web|url=https://www.paralympic.org/news/alice-bournemouth-ready-take-world|title=Alice from Bournemouth ready to take on the world|work=World Para Swimming|first=Mary|last=Barber|date=28 May 2020|accessdate=12 December 2024}} and Angela, a teacher. She has a brother named Christian.

Tai was born with bilateral talipes (clubfoot), and before the age of 12 she had undergone 14 corrective operations to alleviate her condition, sometimes requiring a wheelchair for long periods of time during recovery.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-16113632 |title=London 2012: Disabled swimmer Alice Tai, 12, to carry Olympic torch |date=9 December 2011 |access-date=19 August 2015 |publisher=BBC}} In January 2022, her right leg was amputated below the knee after worsening pain in her right foot.{{Cite news|last=Houston|first=Michael|date=25 January 2022|title=British Paralympic swimmer Tai claims to be "thriving" after right leg amputation|work=InsideTheGames.biz|url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1118264/alice-tai-swimming-amputation|access-date=25 January 2022}}

She studied at Middlesex University, graduating in 2023 with a first-class BSc in neuroscience. {{cite web |url=https://www.mdx.ac.uk/news/2024/8/former-student-strikes-gold-in-paralympic-games/ | title=Middlesex University congratulates former student on striking gold in Paralympic record time |date=4 September 2024 |publisher=Middlesex University}}

Career

Tai began swimming at the age of eight joining the Seagulls Swimming Club in New Milton. It was not until the winter of 2010 that her family realised that she could be classified as a disability swimmer. In 2011, she was officially classified as a S10 swimmer allowing her to compete in international competitions. In 2012, Tai showed her potential at the 2012 British International Disability Swimming Championships in Sheffield, where she won silver in the Youth final of the NC (Nutella-Classification) 400m freestyle, beaten to gold place by Amy Marren.{{cite web |url=http://www.swimming.org/britishswimming/para-swimming/womens-world-class-pathway-podium/alice-tai/22577 |title=Alice Tai |access-date=19 August 2015 |publisher=swimming.org}}

Tai made progress into senior competitions in 2013. She made the finals of three senior events at the British International Disability Swimming Championships. She followed this with a third place in the MC 50m Freestyle and a second place in the MC 100m Freestyle at the ASA National Championships in Sheffield. In January 2014, Tai was one of four British swimmers selected to compete at the Brazil School Games in São Paulo.{{cite web|url=http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/sport/swimming/10923080.Swimming__Alice_strikes_gold_in_Brazil_on_international_debut/|title=Swimming: Alice strikes gold in Brazil on international debut|author=Guttridge, Roger|date=10 January 2014|publisher=bournemouthecho.co.uk|access-date=19 August 2015}} She won gold in the 50m freestyle and backstroke S10 category and silver in the SB9 50m breaststroke, again beaten by her teammate Amy Marren. She followed youth success by breaking into the British team after a strong show at the Para-Swimming International Meet in Glasgow.

In the summer of 2014, Tai travelled to Eindhoven with the British team to take part in the IPC European Championships. She entered five events, the 50m Freestyle S10, 100m Freestyle S10, 400m Freestyle S10, 100m backstroke S10 and the 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay 34 Points. Tai came seventh in the 50m freestyle{{cite web |url=http://85.17.198.3/static/info/eindhoven-2014/ENG/SW/SWR173A_EI2014SWW110301ENG.htm |title=Women's 50m Freestyle S10 Final |access-date=20 August 2015 |date=4 August 2014 |publisher=IPC |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304103553/http://85.17.198.3/static/info/eindhoven-2014/ENG/SW/SWR173A_EI2014SWW110301ENG.htm |archive-date=4 March 2016}} and fourth in the individual 100m freestyle, 0.31 seconds outside the medal positions,{{cite web |url=http://85.17.198.3/static/info/eindhoven-2014/resipc/pdf/ei2014/sw/ei2014_sw_c73a1_sww130301.pdf |title=Women's 100m Freestyle S10 Final |access-date=14 August 2014 |date=10 August 2014 |publisher=IPC |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814194204/http://85.17.198.3/static/info/eindhoven-2014/resipc/pdf/ei2014/sw/ei2014_sw_c73a1_sww130301.pdf |archive-date=14 August 2014}} but finished on the podium in the other three events.{{cite web |url=http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/sport/11407535.Swimming__Paralympic_hopeful_Alice_Tai_bags_three_gongs_in_Holland/ |title=Swimming: Paralympic hopeful Alice Tai bags three gongs in Holland |access-date=20 August 2015 |date=14 August 2014 |publisher=bournemouthecho.co.uk |author=Guttridge, Roger}} She took bronze in the 400m freestyle and silver in the 100m backstroke while along with teammates Stephanie Millward, Susannah Rodgers and Stephanie Slater, she secured gold in 100m freestyle relay.{{cite web |url=http://85.17.198.3/static/info/eindhoven-2014/resIPC/pdf/EI2014/SW/EI2014_SW_C73B1_SWW912301.pdf |title=Woman's 4x100m Freestyle Relay 34pt |work=IPC |date=9 August 2014 |access-date=20 August 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054016/http://85.17.198.3/static/info/eindhoven-2014/resipc/pdf/ei2014/sw/ei2014_sw_c73b1_sww912301.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016}}

The following year, Tai was one of 18 competitors selected to represent Britain at the 2015 IPC World Championships in Glasgow.{{cite web |url=http://www.paralympic.org/news/strong-british-team-named-glasgow-2015 |title=Strong British team named for Glasgow 2015 |access-date=20 August 2015 |date=30 March 2015 |publisher=paralympic.org}} She was selected for seven events. Tai failed to progress through the heats in the 50m Freestyle S10, 100m Freestyle S10 and 400m Freestyle S10, but finished on the podium in four events. On the fourth day of the competition, Tai won bronze in two events, the 100m backstroke S10 and less than two hours later she was part of the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay 34pts that finished third behind Australia and the United States.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/disability-sport/33564065 |title=Alice Tai wins two bronze medals at IPC World Championships |access-date=20 August 2015 |date=17 July 2015 |author=Hudson, Elizabeth |work=BBC Sport}} The following day Tai won her third bronze, finishing very closely behind Poland's Oliwia Jablonska in the 100m butterfly S10.{{cite web |url=http://85.17.198.3/static/info/glasgow-2015/eng/sw/SWR173A_GL2015SWW230101ENG.htm |title=Results – Women's 100m Butterfly S10 Final |work=IPC |access-date=20 August 2015 |date=17 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304085627/http://85.17.198.3/static/info/glasgow-2015/eng/sw/SWR173A_GL2015SWW230101ENG.htm |archive-date=4 March 2016}} She finished her tournament with a gold medal in the Women's 4 x 100-metre medley relay (34pts), along with Claire Cashmore, Tully Kearney and Susannah Rodgers.{{cite web |url=http://85.17.198.3/static/info/glasgow-2015/resIPC/pdf/GL2015/SW/GL2015_SW_C73B1_SWW952101.pdf |title=Women's 4x100m Medley Relay 34pts |access-date=20 August 2015 |date=19 July 2015 |work=IPC |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304100804/http://85.17.198.3/static/info/glasgow-2015/resIPC/pdf/GL2015/SW/GL2015_SW_C73B1_SWW952101.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016}}

At the 2016 Summer Paralympics, Tai and the team won a gold medal in the 4 x 100 metre medley relay 34 pts, and got a bronze medal in the 100m backstroke S10.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/swimming |title=Swimming - BBC Sport |work=BBC Sport |date=6 April 2018}}

Tai won the gold in the 100m Backstroke S10 at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast, Australia. She narrowly missed out on the British record, but won England's 100th gold medal for swimming in the history of the Commonwealth Games. She qualified for the 100m Freestyle S9 final, and finished with a silver medal, only just losing out on a gold on the final stretch. At 2019 London Para-swimming World Championships, Tai bagged six gold medals across six disciplines from the seven she competed in, coming 4th in the SM8 200m Individual Medley.{{cite web|url=https://www.paralympic.org/news/london-2019-alice-tai-s-fourth-gold-ends-long-unbeaten-run|title=London 2019: Alice Tai's fourth gold ends Long unbeaten run|access-date=13 September 2019|website=paralympic}}

Tai had to withdraw from the delayed 2020 Summer Paralympics due to an injury to her elbow in June 2021,{{Cite web|title=Elbow injury forces swimmer Alice Tai out of Paralympic Games|url=https://www.messengernewspapers.co.uk/sport/national/19397203.elbow-injury-forces-swimmer-alice-tai-paralympic-games/|access-date=2021-06-28|website=Messenger Newspapers|language=en}} leaving her friend Grace Harvey to go with the rest of the team.{{Cite web|title=Getting to know Grace Harvey|url=https://www.britishswimming.org/news/para-swimming-news/getting-know-grace-harvey/|access-date=2021-07-04|website=British Swimming}}

In July 2022, she won gold in the S8 100m backstroke at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.{{cite web|title=Commonwealth Games 2022: Alice Tai wins gold in women's 100m backstroke S8|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/commonwealth-games/62371961/|access-date=2022-08-01|website=BBC Sport}} This was just months after having her right leg amputated below the knee.

Awards

Tai was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to swimming.{{cite news |title=London Gazette |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/61803/supplement/N24 |date=31 December 2016}}

In March 2017, Tai was awarded the Youth Sport Trust Young Sports Person of the Year at the Lycamobile British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards (BEDSAs) held at the London Hilton on Park Lane.{{cite news |last=Hinds |first=Rodney |url=http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/british-ethnic-diversity-sports-awards-honoured-sir-mo |title=British Ethnic Diversity Sports Awards honoured Sir Mo |publisher=Voice Online |date=23 March 2017 |access-date=1 April 2018 |archive-date=20 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620051044/http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/british-ethnic-diversity-sports-awards-honoured-sir-mo |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |last=Trehan |first=Dev |url=http://www.skysports.com/more-sports/other-sports/news/29877/10807310/sir-mo-farah-and-kadeena-cox-honoured-at-bedsas |title=Sir Mo Farah and Kadeena Cox honoured at BEDSAs |publisher=Sky Sports News |date=19 March 2017 |access-date=1 April 2018}}

In November 2019, Tai was named The Sunday Times’ Disability Sportswoman of the Year.{{Cite web |url=https://www.swimming.org/sport/tai-sunday-times-award/ |title=Alice Tai named Sunday Times' Disability Sportswoman of the Year |date=2019-11-22 |website=Swim England Competitive Swimming Hub |language=en |access-date=2019-11-22}}

Tai was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2025 New Year Honours for services to swimming.{{cite web |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/64607/supplement/N1 |title=2025 New Year Honours |publisher=London Gazette |date=30 December 2024}}