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Stephens has come a long way from her county championship days with Colchester Swimming Club but the journey has come with obstacles – and not just her childhood dislike of the water.<\/p>\n
“She had quite a few challenges – she was asthmatic, she’s coeliac – and nothing was going to stand in her way,” Young said.<\/p>\n
“It was just written through her, like a stick of rock, champion was written through her.”<\/p>\n
Stephens made her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, finishing sixth in her semi-final and missing out on a spot in the final by a second.<\/p>\n
Now, she will travel to this summer’s Games in Paris with much higher expectations.<\/p>\n
“In Tokyo, I didn’t perform exactly how I wanted to,” Stephens said.<\/p>\n
“That’s something that I’m definitely looking to rectify this summer – to be in the final and hopefully be in the fight for a medal in the 200m butterfly.”<\/p>\n
Young, who coached Stephens from the age of nine to 14, was with the swimmer when she had her first taste of the Games at the 2012 Olympic qualifiers.<\/p>\n
“I remember we were allowed to go in before and we were allowed to go to all the pools and we jumped up on the podium and took photos,” Young said.<\/p>\n
“It was absolutely fabulous to then think she was at the 2020 Olympics and now Paris.<\/p>\n
“From those Olympic trials when she was a little girl, she has now made that journey.”<\/p>\n
Stephens’ story is featured on Hometown Hero, available to listen to now on BBC Sounds.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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