LONDON, Olympic, February 3. CITING a desire to focus on her education after being awarded conditional placement at Oxford University in September, British and former Kenyan swimmer Achieng Ajulu-Bushell withdrew from the British Olympic Trials and has quit the sport according to the Daily Telegraph<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Bushell, who was the first black female to swim for Great Britain, has only been competing for the country since the 2010 European Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Bushell, who was born to a British mother and Kenyan father, initially swam for Kenya, representing the country at the 2009 World Championships in Rome prior to making the sports citizenship switch.<\/p>\n
"It is my easiest way of justifying it [not competing at the Games]," she told The Daily Telegraph. "I haven't been overly motivated for a year and didn't get better for two. It is a brutal sport and horrible to go through the plateau when things aren't going right. There was a huge lack of support for athletes not doing well. So many needed attention that it just went against British Swimming's ethos of this being a long-term sport. But I'm not bitter. I just got to the stage where I got fed up. My stroke was changed and I simply lost rhythm and strength in my legs."<\/p>\n
Bushell made her mark as a potential Olympian for Britain when she won both the 50 and 100-meter breaststroke events at British Nationals last year. She missed making the 2011 World Championship squad due to illness and a focus on her academic work. <\/p>\n
British Swimming supported her decision.<\/p>\n
"We fully support Achieng's decision to move on from swimming," British head coach Dennis Pursley said. "She is a young athlete so the doors of opportunity would not be closed to her."<\/p>\n