FANGIRL POWER
Toni tells how time spent in Australia with Scots pool heroes has inspired her own bid for glory
FANGIRLING Down Under with Scotland’s Olympic swimming stars has fuelled Toni Shaw’s bid to earn her own legion of supporters at the Paralympics.
The Aberdonian, who turned 18 this month, will be the first Brit to take the plunge at the Games tonight in the heats of the S9 400m freestyle in the first of three solo medal shots in Tokyo for the butterfly world record holder who was born without her right hand.
And her trip to the 2018 Commonwealths in Oz as the youngest member of the Scotland squad geared her up to mix with the pool sharks.
Shaw said: “It was such a great experience. I was away from home for quite a long time. It was so good to get used to racing in front of such a big crowd. And to be on the team with people like Duncan Scott and Ross Murdoch, all those people, was unbelievable.
“I couldn’t really believe I was there. And it definitely helped me out at future competitions.”
Swimming has given Shaw the confidence to offset the challenges of growing up with one arm that didn’t fully form.
She added: “There’s nowhere you can hide. You can’t wear a jumper or anything. You’re in a swimming costume. And I think without swimming I would be so different.
“I’ve made some of my best friends through swimming. And the experiences have just been amazing.”
With six medals from the 2019 world championships, Shaw is shooting for the stars in Tokyo as one of six Scots in the UK’s swimming squad.
But a lack of contests due to Covid means she’s got no clue where she stands in the pecking order. She said: “You never know what other people are going to do at the competition. So I want to go personal best times. I want to race faster than I ever have.”
Fellow Scot Robyn Love expects GB’s women to capture a medal in wheelchair basketball to erase five years of hurt since missing out in Rio.
The 30-year-old from Ayrshire will play in tonight’s group opener against Canada in a pool that also includes Japan and Germany.
GB are looking to do better than their fourth place on her Games debut. But Love said: “Rio was our highest finish as the women’s team. It was my first Games. I’d only been playing for about two years.
“We were disappointed to lose to the Netherlands in the bronze play-off. But if you’re going to lose, lose to the team that then becomes first in the world, first in Europe.
“Rio was a real springboard for us for five years now. Going into Tokyo, everyone wants to see a shiny thing around their neck.”
Covid has forced the British team forced to train in isolation for most of the past 18 months and only getting a first proper look at their rivals when they line up on court in Tokyo.
Love added: “Usually I would have flown all over the world, played Canada a few times. USA, Germany, the Dutch, even Australia. And we haven’t had any of that.
“I don’t know what they’re doing, they don’t know what we’re doing.
“Our first international competition is the Paralympics. And we’re going to have to really assess and adjust.”