\u201cThe biggest message is you can do everything while you\u2019re on your period: you can still train, you can still race. The example I use is what if you get to an Olympic final and you\u2019re on your period? Are you going to say sorry I can\u2019t race today? You wouldn\u2019t dream of it.\u201d \u2013 Aimee Willmott<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Type slang words for periods into a search engine and you can come up with up to 5,000 euphemisms for something that affects around 49.6% of the world\u2019s population.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of years of stigma have conspired to bring us to a point in 2021 where there\u2019s still a sense of shame, albeit slowly eroding.<\/p>\n

Periods have been described as the last taboo in sport and only in recent years have athletes started to talk openly about menstruation and its effect on performance.<\/p>\n

Willmott has chosen to use her own experiences and platform to address the subject with the goal being to keep girls in the sport.<\/p>\n

She has spoken to girls and young women whose ages range from 11 to 18 at clubs across Britain and Ireland as well as Swim England Talent and Swim Ireland.<\/p>\n

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Aimee Willmott – Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant<\/p><\/div>\n
Willmott has been a member of the Great Britain senior team since 2010 and will conclude a fine 11-year career at what will be her third Olympics in Tokyo this coming July with the trials coming up next month.<\/p>\n
Now 28, Willmott was 17 when she competed at the 2010 European Championships<\/strong> in Budapest and the Commonwealth Games<\/strong> in Delhi later that year, coming fifth and sixth in the 400 and 200IM respectively and eighth in the 800 free.<\/p>\n
As she embarked on a senior career that has encompassed Olympic and world finals, Willmott had been having irregular periods for almost five years, something she addressed around that time.<\/p>\n
Willmott told Swimming World:<\/p>\n
\u201cEmotionally I was all over the place \u2013 I was the moodiest teenager \u2013 and sometimes I\u2019d be so exhausted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ended up having anaemia because I was having so many periods and so many bleeds which wasn\u2019t normal.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of the energy requirements and demands I was putting in in the pool, my body just didn\u2019t have the time and energy like any other girl my age to get into that rhythm and for my body to learn that this is what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Her mother Alison was proactive and no-nonsense and Willmott was referred to a nutritionist at the English Institute of Sport<\/strong> who said she wasn\u2019t taking on enough fuel and advised her to increase her food intake \u2013 even in the classroom.<\/p>\n
Willmott comes from a swimming family. Her father Stuart<\/strong> represented Great Britain at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles in the 1400IM and 1,500 free and sister Chloe<\/strong> was also a national-level swimmer and county champion.<\/p>\n
Despite her irregular periods and all the changes to her mind and body that accompany teenage years, Willmott never considered giving up.<\/p>\n
Her goal is to ensure girls remain in the sport by sharing her own experiences to encourage communication and counter the isolation that puberty can bring and the subsequent effects on performance.<\/p>\n
She said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt became important to me \u2013 when girls just quit at 15, 16 because they\u2019re like \u2018I\u2019m not PBing and all of a sudden I\u2019ve slowed down. I\u2019m growing, I\u2019ve got a spotty face, I\u2019ve got boobs I don\u2019t really want to hide in a costume\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe clothes you might hide behind, you can\u2019t as a swimmer and I feel that stops a lot of girls carrying on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re developing but they aren\u2019t seeing the result they want in the pool so it could be two or three years but by that point they\u2019ve already stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s raising awareness of yes, you are a girl in sport, you might start your periods at 13 and it might cause havoc for your body.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou might have no energy and even though you\u2019re training hard you\u2019re just growing, you\u2019re not getting the results that you want on the clock.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s trying to get girls to stick with it and continue.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
When girls in their teens leave sport, it is often attributed to changing priorities be that relationships, social life or schoolwork.<\/p>\n
That, it seems, doesn\u2019t tell the whole story with the effect of physical and hormonal changes being seen not only in the water but also on poolside.<\/p>\n
Willmott continued:<\/p>\n
\u201cI went through a stage when I plateaud a bit but then all of a sudden I dropped three seconds to swim 4:37.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I plateaud a bit more and all of a sudden at 19 dropped three seconds to swim 4:33.8 so it\u2019s like if I\u2019d have thought I\u2019m not getting any better and it\u2019s two years and all I\u2019ve achieved is 4:37, that\u2019s never going to win me an Olympic medal, why am I still swimming?<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have stopped before I could potentially have achieved my best.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was still growing and changing shape and until \u00a0I was 17 I had no chest, no bum and I was still very slight.<\/p>\n
\u201cI developed and grew and got that womanly figure and then dropped a bit more time.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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Photo Courtesy: MIKE LEWIS \/ ISL<\/p><\/div>\n
Teenage girls are by their nature self-conscious and there is nowhere to hide on poolside, something that resonates with Willmott.<\/p>\n
She said:<\/p>\n
“I am quite honest and open about my experiences and what happened with me.<\/p>\n
“The fact I had extremely hairy legs and a really hairy bikini line that I was so self-conscious about that I shaved and made it sore and then had to wear dry pants to cover that rather than just leave it because it\u2019s not the end of the world.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s giving girls the confidence to be like \u2013 why should I have to worry about having hairy legs just because I\u2019m a swimmer and other people see them?<\/p>\n
“If you did any other sport you could wear long trousers and a long-sleeved top and it wouldn\u2019t make a difference but we can\u2019t in the pool.<\/p>\n
“So it\u2019s giving the girls the confidence to be like we\u2019re all different shapes \u2013 yes, it doesn\u2019t matter \u2013 but we\u2019re all going through puberty at a total different rate and at a different time.<\/p>\n
“You might have a chest at 13 but it\u2019s nothing to be embarrassed about or the flip side of that \u2013 you might be totally undeveloped until you\u2019re 16 or 17 and that\u2019s also fin because everyone is completely different.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Communication Is Key<\/h3>\n
While Willmott\u2019s relationship with her mum has always been open and communicative, she was shocked to hear some girls say they couldn\u2019t approach their own mothers or their friends about periods.<\/p>\n
One reason is embarrassment \u2013 the consequence of hundreds of years of it not being talked about and hidden away.<\/p>\n
The University of Stirling<\/strong> swimmer continued:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be speaking to 50 11 and 12-year-old girls and talking them through what a tampon is, what size they are, where you buy them.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow has it got to that stage when it\u2019s that bad? That they\u2019re so nervous to tell other people that they\u2019re even having a period.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you can\u2019t speak to your own mum you\u2019ve got no chance of speaking to a coach when you\u2019re struggling.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he doesn\u2019t know what\u2019s going on, doesn\u2019t know that you\u2019ve just started your period or doesn\u2019t know you are always struggling with them or you get really bad migraines.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So too can parents\u2019 worry or panic transfer to their daughters, at times pulling them out of training or competitions.<\/p>\n
One consequence is to magnify the fear of periods that girls who are experiencing them for the first time may feel.<\/p>\n
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Photo Courtesy: Mike Lewis\/ISL<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
Willmott encourages the girls and young women to overcome their embarrassment by stressing the normality of periods \u2013 after all, all women have, will have or have had them.<\/p>\n
\u201cGirls have periods \u2013 you might really struggle but if you were ill you\u2019d turn round to the coach and say I\u2019m not very well so when you\u2019re really struggling with a period why can\u2019t you turn round and say that?<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2019There\u2019s nothing wrong with me and I\u2019ll be fine in a couple of days or maybe even tomorrow but right now I have the world\u2019s worst stomach cramps\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s having that communication you\u2019d have if there was anything else wrong with you.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just to have the same voice and it not be a big taboo that we have a period because every girl in the world has them.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can do whatever while you\u2019re on your period is the biggest message: you can still train, you can still race.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe example I use is what if you get to an Olympic final and you\u2019re on your period? Are you going to say sorry I can\u2019t race today? You wouldn\u2019t dream of it: some of the girls laugh but you wouldn\u2019t race at regionals or counties so it\u2019s exactly the same thing.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Women On Poolside<\/h3>\n
Mel Marshall<\/strong> is the sole woman on British Swimming<\/strong>\u2019s senior staff and is Lead Coach at the National Centre Loughborough.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Willmott also worked with Lisa Bates<\/strong> who was head coach on the performance programme at the London Aquatics Centre.<\/p>\n
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Photo Courtesy: British Swimming<\/p><\/div>\n
Danielle Brayson<\/strong> is assistant head coach at City of Glasgow Swim Team<\/strong> and Emma Collings-Barnes<\/strong> is director of swimming at Mount Kelly<\/strong>, an independent school which combines a performance programme with education.<\/p>\n
The majority of coaches however are male and Willmott feels that although things are improving in terms of communication, more females on poolside would help.<\/p>\n
She said:<\/p>\n
\u201cNormally when I have males in the session, girls don\u2019t answer any questions so I\u2019ve learned if you\u2019re joining in change your name, turn your camera off.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr if you want to listen and be educated because you\u2019re not really that sure as a male coach what happens.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re there sometimes the girls don\u2019t ask questions because they\u2019re just a bit embarrassed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would help I think if there were a couple more females at development level because you do just feel a bit more comfortable speaking to someone else who has been in the same situation rather than go to a male.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what I tell girls regardless if they\u2019re male or female they have wives, daughters, mothers that have this so it\u2019s not unknown.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, they might be a bit shocked the first time you come to them but they shouldn\u2019t be like that either because it\u2019s a normal thing to have the conversation.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
She returns once more to her desired outcome \u2013 girls continuing in the sport when bodily and hormonal changes can wreak havoc and going on to be the best they can be.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust trying to give them the confidence to have the communication with the coach, not to be too hard on yourself if you\u2019re not PBing or if you\u2019re not getting the result you want because if you\u2019re doing everything right, at some point or another, you\u2019ll get the result you want.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if you give up before that you\u2019re doing yourself the injustice.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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