Commonwealth Games 2022: Kaitlyn McCaw "honoured" to represent Northern Ireland in Birmingham

After a six-year hiatus out of the pool, swimmer Kaitlyn McCaw will represent Team NI at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

However, the lengthy break from swimming is only part of McCaw’s remarkable story.

She was born in Australia, went to an Ivy League university in the United States and may never have set foot in a pool if a doctor hadn’t recommended swimming to help with a medical complaint.

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The 25-year-old, who spent her early years in the Cronulla Beach area of Sydney, moved to Northern Ireland two years ago and is looking forward to her first major games.

“My parents are both from Northern Ireland (Ballyclare and Doagh respectively) and then they moved to Australia where I was born and raised,” said McCaw.

“We came back to Northern Ireland regularly and this place is very special to me, and I move back in March 2020 permanently.

“I learned to swim when I was small, I had really bad asthma which is why my mum put me into swimming under a doctor’s recommendation and I loved it.

“I just kept competing and enjoying swimming for many years, but when I went away to university in America (Dartmouth) to do my undergrad I I stopped swimming to try and push my academics as much as I could and then I came back to Northern Ireland and now I’m swimming again.

“I studied psychology for my undergrad at Dartmouth and it was a great experience.

“I’ve been working very hard and I’m very honoured to represent Northern Ireland and I’m really looking forward to Birmingham.

“My parents are very proud and very excited, and it is nice for them to see me representing their home country and I think it brings them a lot of pride.

“Just