Whatever happened to BABY GRACE?
A European champion and living the London life, Reid has come a long way since lighting up Delhi as a kid
ALWAYS fearless, forever ready to dive in head first to a new challenge, Grace Reid will attack these Commonwealth Games in typically forthright style.
After all, the girl who first came to our attention as a 14-year-old at Delhi in 2010 usually makes the right move.
Including a flit to London, at the age of 21, to team up with Tom Daley.
That has paid off already, with the pair winning European Championship gold and World Championship silver in the mixed 3metres synchronised event.
Preparing to compete in Australia as a solo artist, so to speak, Reid is enthused by her switch to a training camp in the Big Smoke.
Even if it has come with the odd Out-Of-Towners moment.
‘It has given me a new lease of life,’ said Reid. ‘I am an Edinburgh girl, born and bred, and I am so proud to be Scottish and come from Edinburgh.
‘But the time was right for me to focus on diving for a little bit. Uni was fantastic and I am going to come back and finish my degree (sports science at Edinburgh University).
‘But it is such a heavy schedule and I don’t know how long I will be able to dive for, so I’m taking every opportunity I am given.
‘The opportunity to train in the London Olympic pool, with Jane Figueiredo, who just has the most unbelievable experience in my speciality event, I couldn’t pass that up.
‘I am someone who has always thrived on change and on new environments.
‘I am renting with a friend. I’m East End London but I don’t have the accent — not yet.
‘I am relatively close to the pool and close to central London.
‘I have managed to narrow down the commute but it also means that, on the weekends, as Grace the person rather than Grace the diver, I can go to the Tate Modern or go out exploring to Shoreditch, etc.
‘London has so much to offer and, for a 21-year-old, that is just so exciting.
‘The most poignant moment of my London move was on day two. I thought: “Okay, I’m going to get out and about and explore”.
‘I went down the South Bank but within five minutes I had lost my Oyster Card and I thought: “I don’t think I’m ready!”
‘That was me realising that I was on my own and that this was independent living. It was kind of scary but now I take it all in my stride. I hop on and off like a proper Londoner.’
With greater experience comes a sense of responsibility. Even, whisper it, a certain ‘veteran’ status heading into a third Commonwealth Games.
‘Please don’t say that!’ said Reid, in mock horror. ‘It is kind of scary.
‘Eight years ago, it was Baby Grace and I was a tiny little thing, heading off to India, still in S3, and no one knew me. That was lovely, though. There was no pressure.
‘But now, I suppose I am the veteran, or Grandma Grace, as they often refer to me now, and this is my third Games.
‘It is still exciting but there is a little bit more pressure now and that’s the nature of the beast.
‘I don’t cringe when I look back at Delhi. They are some of my proudest moments.
‘We had a family dinner recently. In the dining room, there are pictures of me stood at the closing ceremony with one of the umbrellas that were used and a Scotland flag wrapped around me.
‘Obviously, eight years ago, I did look a little bit different and I have grown up a lot since then.
‘But it was nice to think about how far I have come since then.
‘So, no, I don’t cringe. I feel proud and I get quite emotional when I think about how I have achieved a lot in those eight years.
‘In Delhi, a lot of it did go over my head because I was so young.
‘I didn’t appreciate the enormity of it all, which I suppose was a bonus in a lot of ways.
‘Coming back from Delhi was the difficult part, not knowing what to do next.
‘The aftermath of those Games was really difficult and it was hard to adjust. But that experience helped me carry on and do what I love now.
‘There were people who really looked after me back then. Some of the hockey girls and Corrie Scott, the swimmer, were with me when I went to Delhi and they really took me under their wing.
‘I am friends with them now and I would like to think that, this time, the younger ones will feel they are able to come and talk to me, whether it’s about their sport, the food in the village...
‘I really hope that I can give back and look after them the way some of the older ones looked after me when I needed it.’