Jordan Catchpole: Paralympic gold medallist on challenges of being an autistic athlete

Routine and repetition are important for most athletic success, but when you’re autistic, it’s often even more important. As part of Neurodiversity Celebration Week and ahead of this week’s Para-swimming World Championships in Sheffield, Jordan Catchpole, British para-swimmer and gold medalist at the Tokyo Paralympics, talks about life as an autistic athlete.

Being diagnosed with autism at the age of 15 was a defining moment for me. I had big problems at school and kept getting into trouble. The teachers had no idea how to deal with me.

Everyone thought I was just being naughty. i hated it A breakdown led to my being diagnosed and it was the best thing for me – it allowed me to understand my strengths and weaknesses.

I don’t know where I would be without swimming. Without them, there is a real emptiness and routine.

For me, the pool is a very calming place. i’m in my own world Everything outside of the pool just gets completely blurry and stuffed into the back of my mind.

Every time I end a session I’m in a better mood than when I started.

I’ve been working with my current coach Tim Millett for almost four years now and we have a great working relationship. He helps me to make my life as easy as possible. Since I found a trainer who knows how to deal with me and understands me, my performance has increased massively.

I’ve had a number of coaches over the years and some have understood me better than others. But some didn’t give me the support I needed, focused on other athletes, or sometimes didn’t show up at all.

One of them went on vacation before a big competition. It was overwhelming and totally messed up my routine. I didn’t perform as well as I could have and it makes sense why I didn’t achieve my goals this year.

You may know someone who is autistic, but none of us are the same. We are all individuals.

Achievement and understanding are closely related. I think you need a coach, no matter what sport you’re in, who understands you and your mindset. Knowing both the person and the talent is really important to be successful.

An end goal is hugely important to me because it gives me something to work toward. Without structure and a finish line, training and life in general is ten times harder. I work best with a plan and a schedule.

When I’m away I just try to get into routine as best I can because it keeps me focused. The biggest obstacles are things that are out of my control. For example, if a meeting does not take place or a flight is cancelled. It really throws me off track.

In 2017 I was selected for my first World Cup in Mexico, but it was postponed after the country was hit by a powerful earthquake that sadly killed more than 200 people. Britain pulled out of the rearranged event, partly for security reasons.

It hit me hard. It took me a long time to accept and process the fact that we weren’t going. I just took a week off from swimming to try to reset. I knew I had to take my mind off it completely.

I get very frustrated, sometimes even angry, when the train is late or I’m stuck in traffic.

I’m not good at dealing with surprises and it’s tiring to mentally adjust to a new plan. There isn’t much you can do other than take some time off or push that stress into the background.

The food is also really heavy when I go away. Obviously, different countries have their own cuisines, and when we went to Japan for the Tokyo Paralympics, it was mostly sushi and fish. I’m not a fan of this so it was quite a headache and another change to react to.

Nowadays, when we travel or compete, my coaches and teammates try to update me about changes as often as possible. They try to tell me as much as possible about swim camps and travel days so I can plan ahead.

I think it’s very helpful to have other swimmers around who are also autistic or have learning disabilities. We all understand what annoys and stresses us, so it’s good to be able to help each other.

My teammate Reece Dunn, who also has autism, is a real source of inspiration for me. We’re very good friends and he’s accomplished a lot, so I look up to him in a lot of ways.

We push each other to do our best and we’ve had some very close races. It’s also just really helpful to have someone like him on the team. He understands me and I understand him.

During the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic, I didn’t swim for six months. When the Paralympics were postponed I lost all motivation and got depressed – but once we knew they were in 2021 I managed to get back on track and it was a dream to win a gold medal in the 4x100m mixed Win freestyle relay S14.

I was awarded an MBE after the Paralympics in Tokyo, and you wouldn’t expect that when you’re swimming up and down in a pool. It felt like a dream. I went to Buckingham Palace and had to get dressed and put on boots.

I’m used to wearing tracksuits and being comfortable, so wearing a suit and being surrounded by the royal family and high-level people was definitely a change.

This year’s World Championships are just around the corner and this week’s event in Sheffield will serve as the qualifying stage.

The fact that the World Championships are being held in Manchester helps me enormously. We are used to this area and used to the swimming pool, it helps with the routine and also reduces the stress of the trip. I look forward to it.

I’m a good swimmer at the moment. I broke a UK freestyle and backstroke short course record late last year so I’m on the right track.

I’m definitely aiming for gold. That’s obviously everyone’s goal. I just need to get faster and see where I am at next year’s Paralympics in Paris.

Of course my number one goal is to win more gold, but I also just want to try to inspire as many people as possible, whether they are autistic or not.

The sports world is slowly getting better at supporting autistic athletes. I still don’t think it’s quite up to date, but it’s definitely going in the right direction.

Raising awareness that life is autistic is so important.

Everyone with autism is different, but many of us don’t have a voice or platform. The more athletes talk about it publicly, the better.

We just need understanding.