Charlotte may only be approaching her second birthday and learning how to speak, but she has inspired her mum at these Games more than she will ever know.
Firth was going through the motions right up until being summoned to the call room to go out and race in the final, but seeing her daughter in the crowd spurred her on to push aside the doubts and do what she does best – compete.
She started well at the Tollcross Swimming Centre before the “talented” Sheffield surged into gold and Maskill edged her out for second, but Firth’s smile on the podium showed that choosing to see the race through was a fruitful decision.
“I think she made me stronger, I really struggled and thought ‘is it worth going into this call room, coming and not getting what I want?’ But I kept thinking what would I say to Charlotte and she was there at the end of the lane cheering me on,” Firth added.
“I’m so glad I went out there and did it when it was hard.”
The 30-year-old has already emphatically defied those who “annoyed” her by assuming she would retire after having a baby by coming back strongly.
She broke her own world record in her stronger event the S14 100m backstroke at the Dutch National Championships in Eindhoven earlier this month.
The LA Olympics in two years time is a realistic target based on recent performances, but raising her daughter has now taken priority over swimming so it’s too early to look ahead to 2028 as she continues to navigate day by day balancing the two.
“I’m just taking every year as it comes, I don’t know what God has in store for me, we’ll just keep taking it year by year and try really hard.”
