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by pltm
(PLTM) - An optimistic Elinah Phillip, swimming sensation of the British Virgin Islands, is excited to see what the future holds for the Territory in the discipline of swimming.
In an interview with BBC prior to Phillip’s race today, August 12th 2016, she mentioned what a privilege it is for her to be the first female to represent BVI in swimming at Olympics. She is also the youngest BVI athlete to participate in the quadrennial games.
“It means a lot to me and I’m very happy to be able to make history for them, to be the youngest swimmer and the first swimmer. I’m excited to see what the future holds and to see who comes along after me.”
In the interview, she noted that her goals were to swim as fast as she can and not give up. “Just keep pushing through no matter how hard it gets.”
“I would like to trust that my hard work will pay off and I’m excited to see what will happen. Hopefully a personal best time and I’ll see where it goes from there,” said the young swimmer at the time.
Elinah placed third in the Women’s 50m Freestyle heats of the Summer Olympics in Rio, Brazil.
The 16 year old’s performance secured her a new personal best time and set a new National Record with a time of 26.26.
Unfortunately, Elinah did not advance to the semi-finals scheduled for later today, as only the top 16 moved through. She ranked 48 out of 88 swimmers.
She disclosed that she looks up to tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams.
“I like how hard they work, they work incredibly hard, they always fight for what they want and I know they never give up, so that’s truly inspiring for me.”
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