Alia Atkinson
Alia Shanee Atkinson, OD (born 11 December 1988) is a retired Jamaican swimmer and five time Olympian. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she became the second Jamaican swimmer to place in the top four at an Olympics Games, finishing fourth in the 100-metre breaststroke. In 2014, she became the second woman to swim a 1:02.36 in the short course 100-metre breaststroke tying the world record in the event. In 2016, Atkinson set a new world record in the short course 50-metre breaststroke. Two years later, in 2018, she set a new world record in the  short course 50-metre breaststroke for the second time. She was the first Afro-Jamaican to win a world title in swimming. Background. Atkinson calls Roehampton, Jamaica her hometown. In 2000, when she was approximately 12 years old, her family permanently relocated to the United States, moving to Florida. As of 2018 she continues to live and train in Florida. In international swimming competitions, Atkinson chooses to represent Jamaica. At three years of age, Atkinson started swimming. When she was 13 years old, Atkinson decided to focus her swimming in on breaststroke. Before then she swam mostly freestyle and butterfly . She has been coached by Chris Anderson since 2001. Atkinson mostly trains with the South Florida Aquatic Club swim team in Pembroke Pines, Florida in an Olympic-size swimming pool. Atkinson has been vocal about not being related to Janelle Atkinson, who was the first Jamaican swimmer to finish in the top four at an Olympic Games. Atkinson shares her swimming mission in her SwimSwam bio: In college, Atkinson majored in Psychology, earning her Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University in 2010. Career. 2004 Summer Olympics. Atkinson was 15 years old and a high school junior at the  time of her Olympic debut at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. She competed in the 50-metre freestyle, ranking 44th overall, and the 100-metre breaststroke, ranking 32nd overall. 2006 Commonwealth Games. In March 2006, Atkinson competed at her first Commonwealth Games, the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. 2007 Pan American Games. She carried the flag for her Jamaica at the opening ceremony of the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she set the Jamaican record in the 100-metre butterfly with a time of 1:02.40. 2008 Summer Olympics. In the 2008 Olympics  in Beijing, China she finished 25th in the women's 200-metre breaststroke. 2010 Commonwealth Games. She also competed in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India in October. 2010 NCAA Championships. Atkinson placed first in the 200-yard breaststroke at the 2010 NCAA Championships, swimming for Texas A&M. Her swim made her the second NCAA champion in swimming for Texas A&M after Julia Wilkinson. 2011 Pan American Games. At the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, Atkinson won the silver medal in the 200-metre individual medley. 2012. 2012 Summer Olympics. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London , England, Atkinson competed in three individual events. She qualified for the 2012 Olympics 100 m women's breaststroke final after defeating Canadian rival Tera van Beilen with a time of 1:06.79 in a head-to-head swim-off for a spot in the final. She subsequently placed 4th in the final of the 2012 Olympics 100 m women's breaststroke finishing with a time of 1:06.93. This made Atkinson the second Jamaican swimmer to place in the top four of a swimming event at an Olympic Games behind Janelle Atkinson who achieved the feat at the 2000 Summer Olympics in  the 400-metre freestyle. In the 200-metre breaststroke, Atkinson ranked 27th in the prelims. She also competed in the 50-metre freestyle where she placed 37th overall. 2012 World Swimming Championships. Following the 2012 Olympics, Atkinson competed in the 2012 World Swimming Championships conducted in short course meters and held in Istanbul, Turkey in December 2012. She won the silver medal in the 50-metre breaststroke with a time of 29.67 in the final. In the final of the 100-metre breaststroke, she swam a 1:03.80 and won the silver medal. 2014. 2014 Commonwealth Games. She won two medals  at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the summer of 2014, silver in the 50 m breaststroke and bronze in the 100 m breaststroke. She also set two Commonwealth Games records in the heats and semifinal of the 50 m breaststroke. Her swim of 2:25.48 in the long course 200-metre breaststroke set a new national record for Jamaica in the event. 2014 Swimming World Cup. At the 2014 FINA Swimming World Cup stop in Singapore in November 2014, Atkinson won the short course 200-metre breaststroke, setting a new national record with her time of 2:17.84. 2014 World Swimming Championships . Atkinson won the 100-metre breaststroke at the 2014 Short Course World Championships in Doha, Qatar in December (equaling the record of 1:02.36 set by Rūta Meilutytė in 2013), becoming the first Afro-Jamaican woman to win a world swimming title. Her swim was the second time a woman hit the 1:02.36 mark internationally after Meilutytė. Because Atkinson was the second woman to reach the world record time she was not awarded the $10,000 associated with setting a world record because she did not set a new world record, instead tying the pre-existing one Meilutytė set in 2013 . In the 50-metre breaststroke she won the silver medal with a time of 28.91. 2015. 2015 World Aquatics Championships. In August 2015 at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia, Atkinson medaled in two individual events. She won the silver medal in the 50-metre breaststroke with a time of 30.11 in the final. Her swim set a new national record for Jamaica in the 50-metre breaststroke. In the 100-metre breaststroke, she swam a 1:06.42 in the final and won the bronze medal. 2015 Swimming World Cup. At the 2015 FINA Swimming World Cup stop in  Dubai, United Arab Emirates in November 2015, Atkinson swam a personal best time of 1:05.93 in the long course 100-metre breaststroke and set a new national record in the event. Her swim tied her for the 16th fastest swimmer in the event globally with Rikke Pedersen who was the world record holder in the long course 200-metre breaststroke at the time. 2016. 2016 Summer Olympics. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she placed eighth in the final of the 100-metre breaststroke, swimming a 1:08.10. 2016 Swimming World Cup. At the 2016 FINA Swimming  World Cup stop in Chartres, France in August 2016, Atkinson again tied the world record in the short course 100-metre breaststroke with a time of 1:02.36. She did not win the $10,000 prize money for a world record as it was not a new world record. In October 2016, at the Swimming World Cup stop in Tokyo, Japan, Atkinson swam a 28.64 in the short course 50-metre breaststroke setting a new world record in the event. 2016 World Swimming Championships. In December 2016 at the 2016 World Swimming Championships in Windsor, Canada and conducted in short course  meters, Atkinson medaled in three individual events. She won the gold medal in the 100-metre breastsroke ahead of Lilly King. In the 50-metre breaststroke, she swam a 29.11 in the final and won the silver medal in the event. For the 100-metre individual medley she won the bronze medal, swimming a 58.04 in the final. 2018. 2018 Swimming World Cup. Atkinson competed for Jamaica at the 2018 FINA Swimming World Cup in Budapest, Hungary. In the 50-metre breaststroke she swam a 28.56, breaking her own world record in the event she set in 2016. 2018 World  Swimming Championships. After the Swimming World Cup, Atkinson went on to win two gold and one bronze medal in individual events at the 2018 Swimming World Championships in Hangzhou, China in December. The first medal she won in the competition was a gold medal in the 50-metre breaststroke, swimming a 29.05 and finishing ahead of second-place finisher Rūta Meilutytė. Her next medal was a bronze medal in the 100-metre individual medley, finishing third with a time of 58.11 in the final, less than one second behind Katinka Hosszú and Runa Imai. Atkinson's third and final medal  of the competition was a gold medal in the 100-metre breaststroke where she finished before American swimmer Katie Meili with a time of 1:03.51 in the final. 2019. 2019 World Aquatics Championships. At the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea in July 2019, Atkinson finished in fourth place with a time of 30.34 in the final of the 50-metre breaststroke. International Swimming League. In 2019 Atkinson was a member of the 2019 International Swimming League representing Team Iron. She was a valuable member of the team winning the 50m breaststroke in all 3 matches the  team competed in, and she also picked up two wins and one second-place finish in the 100m breaststroke. 2021. 2020 Summer Olympics. On 14 July 2021, FINA released its entry list for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan including that Atkinson was entered to compete in the 100-metre breaststroke. Prior to the start of competition of Jamaican athletes at the 2020 Olympics, the Jamaica Olympic Association saluted its athletes including Atkinson. In the prelims of the 100-metre breaststroke on Sunday 25 July, Atkinson swam a 1:07.70, finishing third in her heat, and did not advance  to the semifinals. She ranked 22nd for all the prelims heats and finished her competition at her fifth Olympic Games by not advancing to the semifinals. International Swimming League. The International Swimming League team London Roar selected Atkinson to be a part of their roster for the 2021 International Swimming League. At the end of the 2021 season, Atkinson ranked 17th out of the 488 swimmers who had competed in the International Swimming League since it started in 2019 and earned a positive number of most valuable player points. 2021 World Swimming Championships. Atkinson entered to compete in the 50 -metre and 100-metre breaststroke at the 2021 World Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Leading up to the start of competition, Atkinson attended the finale of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi with Zach Apple, Lydia Jacoby, and Melanie Margalis all of the United States. On day one of competition, Atkinson tied Qianting Tang of China for first overall in the 50-metre breaststroke before Tang was disqualified, advancing Atkinson as the fastest swimmer to the semifinals with her time of 29.55 seconds. In the semifinals, Atkinson was disqualified, which marked the 14th disqualification  in the prelims heats and semifinals of breaststroke events on day one. The third day of competition, Atkinson swam a 29.14 for the breaststroke leg of the 4×50 metre mixed medley relay, helping achieve a time of 1:45.62 and rank of 17th and not qualifying the relay to the final. Atkinson swam a 1:04.88 in the prelims heats of the 100 metre breaststroke on day four, qualifying for the semifinals ranking third. She ranked fourth in the semifinals, qualifying for the final with a time of 1:04.26. In the final Atkinson placed fourth, finishing in a time of 1:04.03 and  eleven-hundredths of a second behind bronze medalist Mona McSharry of Ireland. Retirement. Following her final event at the 2021 World Swimming Championships, Atkinson announced her retirement from the sport of swimming in December 2021 via Instagram and said something she was glad she got to end her career with was, "I get to retire with my 2 world records in tact." Worlds records. Short course meters (25 m pool). Notes. Not recognized as a new world record as it tied a pre-existing world record.