Choosing a tough combat sport might seem like an unusual decision for a swimmer seeking a break from the pool, but for Stephen Clegg, five months of jujitsu was exactly the mental and physical reset he needed after a challenging Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
Despite bringing home a silver and two bronze medals from Tokyo, Clegg felt a sense of disappointment. The Edinburgh native had set his sights on his first Paralympic title, and falling short of gold left him yearning for more.
Determined to recharge, Clegg stepped away from swimming and immersed himself in jujitsu, a completely new sport for him. The change of pace worked wonders.
In early 2022, Clegg returned to the pool with a fresh mindset, which he believes elevated his performance to a new level.
“After Tokyo, I spent four or five months trying out sports I’d never done before. I wanted to rediscover the joy in sport and find a way to bring that back into swimming,” he explains.
“Jujitsu was the key sport I tried, and I loved being a beginner at something again. It also made me approach swimming differently—focusing on skill development rather than just grinding away in the pool. There’s been a shift in my thinking about what hard work looks like; now it’s about working smarter, not just harder.”
Clegg, who won silver and two bronze medals at Tokyo 2020, is now one of 26 swimmers on Great Britain’s team for the Paris Paralympics. Among them are fellow Scots Louis Lawlor, Toni Shaw, and Faye Rogers.
At 28, Paris marks Clegg’s third Paralympic Games, making him one of the most seasoned British swimmers competing. His experience, he hopes, will be an asset as he applies lessons learned from past Games.
“I’m trying not to put pressure on myself in Paris because in Tokyo, I had high expectations and wanted to bring home specific medals, which ultimately backfired,” he reflects.
“In Tokyo, I linked all my personal and professional progress to one race, the 100m fly. I believed if I didn’t win, everything I’d worked for over the previous seven years was meaningless, and I was a failure. That was an unhealthy mindset because, regardless of the outcome, the progress I made as a person and an athlete was a huge success in itself.”
In Paris, Clegg, who is visually impaired, will compete in the S12 100m backstroke, freestyle, and butterfly events this week. While he’s determined not to overwhelm himself with pressure, as the reigning world champion in the S12 100m backstroke, he admits he’s aiming for the top of the podium in at least one event.
“It would be unrealistic to say I’m not expecting to win in Paris—I’m a competitor, and I want to win every time I race,” he says.
“But I’ve had to change my relationship with the sport, detaching my self-worth from my results. This shift has been key to accepting poor performances and has made this Paralympic cycle much more enjoyable.”
Although Clegg has become one of Scotland’s most successful para-athletes, he’s still not the top athlete in his family. His older brother, James, was a Paralympic swimming medalist at London 2012, while his sister, Libby, is a two-time Paralympic champion and five-time medalist in track events.
This will be Clegg’s first Paralympics without his sister on the British team, but with Libby in Paris as a pundit, Clegg won’t have to look far for support.
While there’s no intense rivalry over medals, Clegg acknowledges he could surpass his sister’s Paralympic medal count in the days ahead.
“There’s a bit of fun competition between us because I have a chance to outdo her medal tally in Paris,” he says. “It would be cool to achieve that, but there’s no real rivalry. Having them in the family has always been helpful, guiding me through the challenges of being an athlete.”
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