Even as the rain pelts down in Penrith, Tara Simpson-Sullivan is happy to be home. āIn the States now, especially Houston, itās very warm ā like, 45 degrees,ā she smiles. āJust being able to breathe without feeling like youāre dying is goodā¦ā
Time back in drizzly Cumbria is a welcome interlude for Simpson-Sullivan before she returns to Texas, where she combines her studies at Rice University with her progress as an outstanding hammer thrower.
The weekend we meet, she is moving on from a disappointing outing at the British Championship. A week later, Simpson-Sullivan enjoyedĀ a better day at the English Senior Championships by winning a bronze medal. SoonĀ it will be back to America for her final university year.
At 22 her progress in the sport has been considerable, earning her the British title in 2021 and a series of accolades in the Conference-USA athletics scene, including, recently, the female field athlete of the year award.
It is currently a case of trying to maintain and strengthen that progress, whilst enjoying a āresetā in the milder Cumbrian air. āI used to live out at Lowther and I like to go out there sometimes, next to the river, and read,ā she says. āThereās nobody around, itās so serene. I just sit there and thatās my time.ā
Simpson-Sullivan also plunged into Ullswater soon after returning. āI donāt see my friends very often, and they donāt see each other too often because theyāre all at uni ā it was just a chance to get together again. And what better way to have an ice bath to go and dip in a lake!
āThereās a couple of other places I want to go that Iāve seen on Instagram that look beautiful.ā
Social media is a fascinating part of Simpson-Sullivanās story too, but before getting there we chart her athletics journey. She was a multi-talented girl at Ullswater Community College in Penrith before fate pointed her towards the hammer.
āI was always sporty, doing everything, and I was about 14 when I was in a competition, doing long jump, hurdles, high jump ā the ones everyone knows. The team manager was like, āTara, will you go throw the hammer?ā I was like, āYeah, but what is the hammer?!ā I remember lobbing my spikes off, running down this hill and throwing the hammer.
āThere were people there to show me how to do it. I didā¦not great. I threw about 18m. But the thing was, I really enjoyed it.ā
Over the next few weeks Simpson-Sullivan improved remarkably and qualified for the English Schools Championships. āAt that, I fouled out. That first year was very rocky and nothing was perfect. Itās one of those sports that people say takes ten years to master, because the techniqueās so difficult.
āIāve been in it eight to nine years now, so Iām getting on that precipice. But if you ask who the credit goes to, Angela Busby will say it was her, because she was that team managerā¦ā
Simpson-Sullivan initially trained at Carlisle before switching to Wigan, where another Cumbrian hammer thrower, Bethan Lishman, was honing her skills. āDuring that time, I was starting to understand the event a bit more and really see my potential.ā
After leaving Ullswater at 16, she went to Newton Rigg College to do a BTec. It was there that she was introduced to the possibilities for British students with a sporting aptitude to join American universities. The idea appealed to her. āAn agency who had experience in athletics came along and sent my profile out to a couple of schools. I visited two in December 18 ā Rice, and Washington State. Texas was pretty warm, then I landed in Washington and it was snowing. I was like, āI can have that at home if I wantā¦āā
Simpson-Sullivan chose Rice, starting in August 2019. āI struggled at first with the weather and academically,ā she admits. āBut one of the nice things that happened was that Rice do a prep for all the international students before you go to the whole school orientation. I met my four best friends there and we helped each other along.ā
She settled into student and athletics life in Texas. āIn 2020, weād had indoor season, which was great. Then as we were preparing for outdoor season, Covid hit and threw a spanner in the works.ā
As school closed, Simpson-Sullivan flew home and spent six months studying remotely while her hammer training was also limited. Upon returning to America, life involved stringent testing and mask-wearing in practice. It was not the sort of preparation any athlete would have designed, yet Simpson-Sullivan made leaps in 2021.
āIt was an interesting transition period for me,ā she says. āIt was like Iād had this long rest to rethink about everything, recognising this was my time to knuckle down. The 2021 season was the best Iāve had in my life.
"Before I went to the US I hadnāt even thrown 60m. To go from 59.71 to 68 in two years was a big jump.ā
Simpson-Sullivan considered the psychological aspects of returning from an elongated break to perform at unprecedented personal levels. With the help of her coaches at Rice, she learned more about mindset, about visualisation and about staying relaxed before competition. She then came home and, in her debut at the British Championships, became national champion.
āI didnāt think it would happen on my senior debut,ā she says. āDuring the competition, I was in second before my last throw. Anyone whoās watched me compete knows my last throw is often my best. In fact thereās a saying, āLast throw, best throwā ā you go in, clear your head, youāre already in a medal position, and itās now or neverā¦
āI didnāt think it was very good as I came out of the circle, but my friends saw the result before I did. And I was like, āOh my gosh, Iāve just thrown myself into first placeā. Her remaining rival could not beat her attempt and so Simpson-Sullivan was champion. āMy mind went blank,ā she smiles.
She enjoyed the thrill of such a victory, but it was also accompanied by new pressures. āIt was a target on my back, I think,ā she says. āI felt a lot of people were now thinking, āSheās come from nowhere, done this big thing once ā whatās the future gonna look like for her?ā There were a lot of peopleās eyes on me that year. It was a lot of pressure for me going into the next year, just trying to maintain that standard.ā
Simpson-Sullivan says she was able to āparkā that pressure when she returned to the States and rejoined her training group, who keep her grounded. Since then, she has been developing her craft and trying to recognise that leaps forward, such as that she made in 2021, do not come every year.
āWe always say that progress isnāt linear,ā she says. āI wouldnāt have said things have gone backwards since then, more slowly upwards. Not quite a plateau but, even though my distances arenāt quite improving, my mentality towards the sport and understanding of it has improved drastically.
āIāve also got better at finding outlets to relax, so when I go to training and competitions I can be my best self. My nerves used to be all over the shop ā now I feel I have those in control.ā
Simpson-Sullivan says she relies on her friends and hobbies such as reading and āthriftingā ā scouring stores for second-hand clothing. āThings that bring you back to being a 22-year-old. Going over to our friendsā house, watching a film, goofing around, being silly for a while.ā
She insists she is ānot fussedā that her athletics demands limit how much partying she can do at university, and put a cap on the adrenaline activities she would like to do, ālike bungee jumpingā. āIn summer, Iād love to go on holiday, but I canāt because Iām still in season for competitionsā she adds.
āBut this is the time, to do athletics and really commit to it, that Iām never gonna get back. I can always go and do those other things afterwards.ā
Simpson-Sullivan, who initially studied psychology before switching to sport management with a focus on leadership, is preparing for her last year at Rice. Upon graduating she will target the British Championships again and strive for Olympics qualification as well as a future as a professional athlete.
āA lot of that rides on sponsors and winning at meets,ā she says. āHammerās not in a lot of these big meets in the Diamond League, where you get a lot of money.ā She speaks to other athletes about the possible road ahead, and says the period between Olympic years, 2024 to 2028, will be pivotal to her bid to secure this future for herself.
Should she fulfil the Olympic dream in either of those years, what would it mean? āI think it would take a very long time to put into words,ā she smiles. āThere would be a bit of shock for a while. Itās something any young sports person wants to do. You donāt think of it too much until youāre in a position where it could be possible.
āIn terms of goalsā¦70m is a big thing for me. To throw over that would be huge. But to get in the mix for Olympics selection next year, Iām gonna have to throw over 72-73m.ā
Simpson-Sullivan says a major role model during her teenage athletics years was Jessica Ennis-Hill, and says āhalf of being an athleteā is about inspiring youngsters to go forward into the sport. She is also conscious of sending out other positive messages on social media.
The last two years have seen Simpson-Sullivan transform the way she views herself and allows others to see her. She is an advocate for body positivity, and the importance of the female form not to be seen strictly through the Instagram prism of slimline perfection.
Simpson-Sullivan says that, any time beforehand, she would never have dared posting pictures such as the one she uploaded of herself smiling in a bikini in the sea at Key Biscane in 2021. āIn person I felt very confident but when it came to photos I was, āOoh, I donāt knowā¦ā
āI donāt know what flipped me but I remember, after looking at them, thinking, āWell, why should I not post them?ā I was having a great time, itās fun, Iām with my friends, Iām in Miamiā¦
āI posted them, and was very vulnerable and open about how I was feeling.ā
The number of interactions her post received reinforced a new way of using the social platform. āPeople still message me now saying they are thankful for what I post. Things like that make it really worth it.ā
This has been a journey in itself for the Cumbrian. āI had to go through a lot of people I was following and unfollow them. It wasnāt good for my mental health,ā she says. āNow I try to follow people that inspire me, that Iām genuinely interested in, so that I minimise the amount of negativity that I see on my feed.ā
Did she take inspiration from others online? āNot necessarily from athletes, because before that I wasnāt really aware of bigger athletes ā you just see these small, slim sprinters ā but I did follow influencers that were mid-size or plus-size, who talked about stepping into a space that was predominantly for skinnier people. I followed some models who were in Miami Swim Week, saying, āThereās not a lot of people here who look like me, but here I amā.
āIām like, āOk, thereās not a lot of people that look like me, but let me step into this spaceā. Itās still a little nerve-wracking, because youāre opening up to comment and criticism, but the way I view myself has drastically changed over the past two years.ā
This also benefits her as an athlete. āI think it allows me just to do whatās best for my body as an athlete rather than think too much about how my body looks. At the end of the day, I have to put myself in the best possible situation to throw this 4kg ball on a wireā¦ā
This more settled state of mind makes it seem like another leap in performance should be in Simpson-Sullivanās reach. As we look out onto Penrithās rain, we chat about Texas. āApparently you can fit three Englands into Texas,ā she says, in the American accent she has picked up from three years Stateside.
āIāve been to the cities, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, although I canāt say Iāve seen too much of the old style Texas ā no tumbleweed rolling down, no cowboys. Although my friend has longhorn cattle, so I see thoseā¦ā
Upon returning to Cumbria, Simpson-Sullivan was invited to Ullswater Community College to present some of the schoolās sports awards, including sports personality of the year award ā a prize of which she was the first winner some eight years ago.
āIt was quite surreal going back, nice to reminisceā she says. āI couldnāt be more thankful to Ullswater, especially the PE department. It doesnāt feel like two seconds after I left.ā
As well as the backing of her family ā her mum lives at Pennyhill, with her grandmother, while her sister is in Leeds ā Simpson-Sullivan takes plenty of Cumbrian support with her when she competes. Although still young, she is well aware of how she can be a leading light for others. āFor me, I looked at people like Nick Miller and Tom Farrell as huge athletics stars from this area, and they implemented the idea I could actually do that,ā she says.
āI hope, as I progress through the sport, I can inspire some of the younger kids. It doesnāt matter if youāre from a small town in the north of England. You can still go on to do big things.ā
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