Day twelve review: Dearing makes history, GB women’s hockey team to contest bronze medal match, Heath sets Olympic-best time

SportUniversity
Alice Dearing

Alice Dearing made history at the Tokyo Games. Image: Still Sport Photogrpahy.

Alice Dearing made Olympic history last night by becoming the first British black woman to swim for Team GB.

The current Loughborough student finished 19th in women’s 10km marathon swim in tough conditions in Tokyo Bay. Despite the early morning start, water temperatures still rose to 30 degrees in what is arguably one of the most brutal sports at the Olympic Games.

Dearing’s legacy will certainly live long and following the race she told the BBC that the sport is "available to anyone".

Elsewhere, GB women’s hockey team suffered heartbreak after a resounding 5-1 loss to the Netherlands at the semi-final stage.

Loughborough-linked Giselle Ainsley scored Team GB’s consolation goal but sadly the side won’t have the chance to defend its title from Rio 2016.

Great Britain will now play for a bronze medal versus India on Friday (02:30 BST).

In the water, University alumnus Liam Heath cruised through his men’s K-1 200m canoe sprint quarter-final, going fastest in an Olympic-best 33.985.

The reigning champion will now compete in the semi-finals tomorrow at 01:30 BST.  

In the women’s 400m semi-final, former Loughborough College learner Ama Pipi recorded 51.59 against a strong field in her semi-final heat. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for the 25-year-old to progress to the final round. 

Notes for editors

Press release reference number: 21/160

Loughborough University

Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2021 QS World University Rankings and University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2019.

Loughborough is in the top 10 of every national league table, being ranked 7th in the Guardian University League Table 2021, 5th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020 and 7th in The UK Complete University Guide 2022.

Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

The Loughborough University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.