Hollingsworth looks to complete medal collection
With nine Island Games already under his belt, Guernsey 2003 is the only Games that Guernsey swimmer Thomas Hollingsworth has not won a medal in. Twenty years later, competing in his 10th and final Games, he is determined to complete his collection.
Waiting in anticipation to race, Tom is excited for his last Games to be on home soil again, coming full circle from his first Games in ‘03.
He said: “It would be nice to get a medal here on home ground. I remember last time being envious of those getting medals and I was just a bit too young, but it spurred me on to do it in the future. When Guernsey was announced again in 2015, I set my sights on it for that purpose.
“It’s a mixture of emotions. It’s very exciting now it’s here, but obviously there’s a lot of training, a lot of grind that goes into getting here. After these Games are done, I’m looking forward to putting my feet up and supporting from the side-lines for 2025 and onwards.”
Tom is competing in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke, as well as 50m and 100m butterfly. He also hopes to be part of the relay teams.
Tom has not had a typical journey to the Games as a Guernsey athlete, given he currently lives and works in Australia. As a swim coach in Australia, he is unable to swim for his team. This means that Tom writes all of his own swim sets and trains on his own when he is in Australia. Only since coming back to the island about a month ago he has been training with the Guernsey team.
Tom is swimming in the heats everyday Monday to Thursday in his quest for his illusive Guernsey medal.
