British backstroking ace Cassie Wild has called ‘time’ on her career at the age of 23.
Wild revealed on social media she would be hanging up her goggles briefly stating, “Been a journey, thanks to everyone who was a part of it. Onto new things.”
At the 2020 European Championships, Wild took silver in the women’s 200m backstroke and also helped GBR reap gold as a member of the women’s medley relay. A year later at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Wild placed 14th in the women’s 100m back and 21st in the 200m back.
She retires ranked as follows among all-time British female swimmers:
- LCM 50 back – 7th, 27.85
- LCM 100 back – 6th, 59.51
- LCM 200 back – 4th, 2:07.74
Speaking to Yahoo News in 2022, Wild described her post-Tokyo season as ‘tough’.
“I didn’t take a massive break because of the International Swimming League and then it was illness, injury and I felt like there was quite a lot of setbacks.
“I wasn’t just physically struggling then; I think mentally it was quite challenging for me as well. I just felt like I was in a very bad place.”
Representing Scotland at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Wild finished 10th in the 100m back (1:01.81) and 7th in the 200m back (2:18.32).
Wild had been training in Australia for much of 2023 and participated in the nation’s World Championship Trials and National Championships.
