Jessica-Jane Applegate says it has taken her a whole year to come to terms with her decision to retire.
A Paralympic champion who won gold at the London 2012 Paralympic Games says it has taken her a year to come to terms with retiring from swimming.
Jessica-Jane Applegate, from Belton, Norfolk, won gold in the 200m freestyle at the age of 16 and went on to win 44 international medals during her career.
In December, she announced her retirement from competitive swimming, which she said has taken a whole year to say out loud.
She said: "It's been really hard to come to terms with it because it's my whole life. Now, I've got to grow up and join the real world because I've just been in this bubble of sport for the last 16 years."
Speaking to Chris Goreham on the BBC Radio Norfolk breakfast show, she said: "I definitely think I cut it sooner than I would have liked. I would have loved to compete in Paris."
In 2013, she was awarded an MBE for services to swimming and an honorary doctorate from Loughborough University for her advocacy work and sporting career.
Throughout her career, she remained motivated despite the gruelling schedule.
"The thing that got me up at 04:00 GMT or 03:00 in the morning when it was snowing or icy and cold was the thought in the back of my mind saying: 'If I don't get up and I miss this session, I know damn right that one of my competitors is doing that session somewhere in the world'," she said.
At eight years old, she said her ambitions were to be a vet or an Olympian.
"It's something I always dreamed of... I was so happy when I got that gold. I never thought I would get to live my dream for as long as I did."
Winning gold at such a young age was a "whirlwind", she added.
"When you're 15 or 16, you're competitive. I'm happy it happened so young so I got to experience more and more as I got older and I could appreciate it."
'It's daunting'
Applegate, who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, began swimming at a young age after her mother took her to Lowestoft and Oulton Broad Swimming Club.
She has also been praised for advocacy work in challenging barriers around disability. However, she said applying for jobs now feels daunting and that she worries she could be "brushed under the carpet".
"It's daunting, to be honest. I'm not 100% sure which path I want to take yet and applying for jobs is very scary for someone who is neurodiverse and has a learning disability," she said.
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Category: General Sports
