By: Clarissa Andersen

Tammy Cunnington took a risk in 2014, and found herself out of her element and competing on a world stage just a year later.

When the former high-performance paratriathlete learned her sport class was cut from the Rio 2016 Paralympic program, the pool suddenly became her only hope for making that trip to Rio.

“That was my goal, to make that team,” says the 39-year-old from Red Deer, Alta. “I wasn’t ready to retire and I didn’t feel like I had reached my full potential,”

New to the ins and outs of swimming, Cunnington remembers her first meet as challenging. Getting used to the setup of a new sport’s competition model took some getting used to.

“The regular meets that you’re qualifying at, they’re trying to get everyone on the block and ready to go before the next people are even out of the water. So the speed of it was a little bit daunting and the whistles, just all these different aspects that I’d never had to deal with before,” she says.

Cunnington didn’t realize that – after clearing those initial hurdles – success would also bring about its own stressors.

“Doing well became even more overwhelming than just switching sports,” says Cunnington.

She ended up qualifying for the IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, and the Toronto 2015 Parapan Am Games. After winning two bronze medals and a silver in Toronto, she was shocked by her ability within her new sport.

“To have huge success really quickly, that took a new set of mental training,” she says. “Like, ‘Wow I’m going to these two huge meets that I was wishful for but being realistic about.’ It was definitely a bit overwhelming at the start.”

Injured at the age of six after being struck by an airplane at an air show in Ponoka, Alta., Cunnington was left a paraplegic with the full use of her right arm, plus her core and shoulders.

She realized from a young age that she needed a positive driving force in her life. Sports like basketball and triathalon became that for her.

“I knew that being in a chair, even though I was so young, I needed to find things to keep my life moving forward, to keep me active and going,” she says.

“It was not always easy. There were challenges but now I know how to work towards the things that I want and the goals that I’m looking for.”

Although being a high-performance athlete is her passion and goal, Cunnington also loves being a positive influence in the lives of other athletes with impairments like her own.

“I swim here in Red Deer with the Catalina Club which is all kids but me. The more time I spend with them and the better I do the more they open up to me and talk with me,” she says.

“I have a chance to show them where discipline, hard work, and dedication will take them.”

Fuel for thought with Tammy Cunnington

What does it take to fuel a woman champion? It takes training, support, determination, perseverance, drive, and of course a balanced diet filled with nutritious food including at least three servings of dairy daily. Here is a look inside what it takes to fuel Tammy Cunnington.

How important is nutrition to a competitive swimmer?

I know that my workouts are so dependant on food. It’s almost more important to have my food on track because if it’s not on track the workouts aren’t the quality they need to be.

I like lemon chicken. I eat a lot of chicken and brown rice, and vegetable based meals too like zucchini lasagna. Instead of noodles you use zucchini.

I also rely on Greek yogurt. I eat Greek yogurt nonstop because it’s high in protein, it’s super clean, and super lean. I eat it at least twice a day. My relaxation, if I were going to have a day off or a little mental break, would be a small glass of red wine with a chunk of Brie.

What does a typical day of a high-performance athlete look like?

I train double days five days a week but not always in the pool. Typically I do a swim and an indoor hand-cycle on one day and then the next I’ll do a swim and a session of weights and then a double swim the day after that. So I’m training between 2.5-3 hours a day.

My day is pretty much training, and cooking, and eating, and getting more groceries to keep cooking and eating, and going back and training again.

After your retire from swimming, what do you want to be remembered most for?

For me it’s about my dedication, my work ethic and my attitude. That’s what matters to me. If I don’t go out with gold medals I want people to know that I worked my hardest every day to do what I could for myself and helped others along the way.

If you could travel anywhere in the world where would it be?

I really want to go to Africa and see the animals before there is no chance to see them again.

To learn more about Tammy Cunnington’s accomplishments and career you can view her profile at https://www.swimming.ca/en/swimmer/tammy-cunnington/