Spotlight on – Molly Smalley

Top Namibian swimmer Molina Smalley has been living in Plymouth, England for the past three years where she attends the world famous Plymouth Leander Swimming Club and goes to school at Plymouth College.

She is coached by one of the world’s top coaches, Jon Rudd, while her club mates include world stars like the 50m and 100m breaststroke world champion Ruta Meilutyte from Lithuania and Ben Proud from England, who is the Commonwealth 50m butterfly and freestyle champion. Her move to Plymouth, in fact, came about after she met Meilutyte at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Dubai and although she struggled at first to adapt, she persevered and worked her way up into Rudd’s top Performance Standard training group. Molly spoke to Helge Schutz of The Namibian Sport about her swimming career and life in Plymouth.

How did you end up in Plymouth?

I was watching the 2012 Olympics where Ruta Meilutyte was swimming – she was only 15 at the time but won a gold medal in the 100m breaststroke and I was so amazed – I couldn’t believe that this 15-year-old had won an Olympic gold medal.

That inspired me a lot and I just wanted to do the same. I was 14 at the time – only one year younger, and I thought I want to be like Ruta. Then when I qualified for the Junior World Champs in Dubai a year later I watched her race and I saw how committed and focused she really was. I got to meet her and she spoke to me about (her coach) Jon (Rudd) and the school here (Plymouth College) and training and it was an amazing experience just to speak to her. Then I met Jon and he said there would be a space for me if I ever wanted to come around. So I got more information about the school and asked my coach Janis (Stergiadis) to send a reference and he helped me a lot to get into the school here.

Was it difficult to adapt to life in Plymouth?

Yes, in the beginning it was not easy to adapt. When I arrived it was winter and it was freezing and everything was just such a hassle. The training sessions were different, the school hours were different, and I wasn’t used to the weather here and the few hours of daylight that we have in winter, so it was quite hectic.

What’s it like swimming and training with world stars like Ruta Meilutyte and Ben Proud?

It’s quite hectic and quite scary, because they kind of look down on you because you are obviously not an Olympic champion, but it’s also quite exhilarating because you’re swimming against them and with them, so it’s really a great experience. I wouldn’t say Ruta and I are close, we smile at each other every now and again and sort of remember Dubai, but we never really connected as friends.

Has your swimming improved in Plymouth?

At first my swimming didn’t improve, but I pushed myself to go to sessions and to train harder, and it gradually started to improve and in the end everything worked out perfectly. I got upgraded to the top training group and I improved my times and got more Namibian records, while I also qualified for the World Junior Swimming Championships in Dubai this year. (Molly has broken 18 Namibian age group and Open records since 2013, although many of them have been broken since. At the Junior World Championships in August, she set a new Namibian 17 and over 400m freestyle record and at another meet in Windhoek the same month, she set a Namibian 17 and over 800m freestyle record).

Tell us about your training and how you motivate yourself?

You just have to envision yourself winning in every session. You just have to think that in a couple of weeks or months, I’ll be there at the top, I’ll be beating everyone and that gets you through the session. But you also have to think about the fitness you get, you can’t just swim and say, oh well it’s not going to do anything for me, you have to think about the advantages of doing the training session.

But swimming was always like my emotional getaway, so if I had a bad day, I would just swim it off and I’d be happy again when I got out. If I had a problem I’d just swim and my problem would be solved when I got out and it’s just a really good relief strategy.

As a Namibian living in Plymouth, you were invited to meet the Namibian rugby team and the captain Jacques Burger at their training base at St Marks and St Johns University. What was that like?

Jacques was very nice. He looks quite scary at first glance, but once you meet him, he’s very nice, he’s quite a softie.

Would you say it was a good experience to move to Plymouth?

Moving to Plymouth was a great experience. I’ve learnt a lot and I now know that I don’t have to always count on other people to do things for me, I can do it by myself and I’ve learnt how to be independent here.