Alia Shanee Atkinson,СD (born 11 December 1988) is a Jamaican five-timeOlympian and a former competitiveswimmer whose international competition career spanned 19 years, 2003 to 2021 inclusive, at the senior level. Atshort courseWorld Swimming Championships, she is a ten-time medalist in individual events, including four gold medals, four silver medals, and two bronze medals. She won a total of 124 medals, of which 74 were gold medals, atSwimming World Cup circuits over the course of her career. She won 14 total medals in individual events, 11 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze, from her first threeCentral American and Caribbean Games, in2006,2010, and2018.
In 2014, Atkinson became the firstAfro-Jamaican to win a world title in swimming, winning the short course100-metre breaststroke at the2014 World Swimming Championships with aworld record time of 1:02.36. In 2016, she tied her world record in the short course 100 metre breaststroke on 26 August before setting a new world record in theshort course 50-metre breaststroke on 26 October. Two years later, on 6 October 2018, she set her second new world record in the short course 50-metre breaststroke, marking her fourth world record time in an individual event. At the2012 Summer Olympics, she became the second Jamaican swimmer to place in the top four at an Olympic Games, finishing fourth in the100-metre breaststroke.
Atkinson callsRoehampton, Jamaica her hometown. At three years of age, she started swimming.[1] In 2000, when she was approximately 12 years old, her family permanently relocated to theUnited States, moving toFlorida. When she was 13 years old, she focused her swimming onbreaststroke. Before then she mostly swamfreestyle andbutterfly. She was coached by Chris Anderson from 2001 through to her retirement in 2021. She mostly trained with theSouth Florida Aquatic Club swim team inPembroke Pines, Florida in anOlympic-size swimming pool.[2] In college, shemajored inPsychology, earning herBachelor of Science degree fromTexas A&M University in 2010, where she also competed as part of theTexas A&M Aggies swim team under Hall of Fame coachSteve Bultman.[3] In international swimming competitions, she represented Jamaica.[4][5][6]
Atkinson stated her swimming mission in herSwimSwam bio as, "To place Jamaica on the world map of swimming; to agitate for the improvement of the infrastructural support for swimming in Jamaica so as to be able to take it to the next level; and to realize my full potential for myself, my parents, and my country."[4] She has also been vocal about not being related toJanelle Atkinson, who was the first Jamaican swimmer to finish in the top four at anOlympic Games.[2]
Atkinson was 15 years old and a high school junior at the time of her Olympic debut at the2004 Summer Olympics inAthens, Greece.[2] She competed in the50-metre freestyle, ranking 44th overall, and the100-metre breaststroke, ranking 32nd overall.[7] In March 2006, Atkinson competed at her firstCommonwealth Games, the2006 Commonwealth Games inMelbourne, Australia.[8] She carried the flag for herJamaica at the opening ceremony of the2007 Pan American Games inRio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she set the Jamaican record in the100-metre butterfly with a time of 1:02.40.[9]
In the2008 Olympics inBeijing, China she finished 25th in thewomen's 200-metre breaststroke.[7][10] She also competed in the2010 Commonwealth Games inDelhi, India in October.[11] She placed first in the 200-yard breaststroke at the 2010NCAA Championships, swimming forTexas A&M. Her swim made her the second NCAA champion in swimming for Texas A&M afterJulia Wilkinson.[3] At the2011 Pan American Games inGuadalajara, Mexico, Atkinson won the silver medal in the200-metre individual medley.[1]
At the2012 Summer Olympics inLondon, England, Atkinson competed in three individual events.[7] She qualified for the 2012 Olympics 100 m women's breaststroke final after defeating Canadian rivalTera van Beilen with a time of 1:06.79 in a head-to-head swim-off for a spot in the final. She subsequently placed 4th in the final of the2012 Olympics 100 m women's breaststroke finishing with a time of 1:06.93.[10] This made Atkinson the second Jamaican swimmer to place in the top four of a swimming event at anOlympic Games behindJanelle Atkinson who achieved the feat at the2000 Summer Olympics in the400-metre freestyle.[2]
In the200-metre breaststroke, Atkinson ranked 27th in the prelims. She also competed in the50-metre freestyle where she placed 37th overall.[7]
| 2012 World Championships (SC) | ||
|---|---|---|
 | 50 m breaststroke | 29.67 |
| 100 m breaststroke | 1:03.80 |
Following the 2012 Olympics, Atkinson competed in the2012 World Swimming Championships conducted in short course metres and held inIstanbul, Turkey in December 2012. She won the silver medal in the50-metre breaststroke with a time of 29.67 in the final.[12] In the final of the100-metre breaststroke, she swam a 1:03.80 and won the silver medal.[13]
She won two medals at the2014 Commonwealth Games in the summer of 2014, silver in the 50 m breaststroke and bronze in the 100 m breaststroke.[14] She also set two Commonwealth Games records in the heats and semifinal of the 50 m breaststroke.[14] Her swim of 2:25.48 in the long course 200-metre breaststroke set a newnational record for Jamaica in the event.[15][16]
At the2014 FINA Swimming World Cup stop inSingapore in November 2014, Atkinson won the short course 200-metre breaststroke, setting a new national record with her time of 2:17.84.[16][17]
| 2014 World Championships (SC) | ||
|---|---|---|
 | 100 m breaststroke | 1:02.36 (tie WR) |
| 50 m breaststroke | 28.91 |
Atkinson won the100-metre breaststroke at the2014 Short Course World Championships inDoha, Qatar in December (equaling the record of 1:02.36 set byRūta Meilutytė in 2013), becoming the firstAfro-Jamaican woman to win a world swimming title.[18][19] Her swim was the second time a woman hit the 1:02.36 mark internationally after Meilutytė. Because Atkinson was the second woman to reach the world record time she was not awarded the $10,000 associated with setting a world record because she did not set a new world record, instead tying the pre-existing one Meilutytė set in 2013.[20] In the50-metre breaststroke she won the silver medal with a time of 28.91.[18]
| 2015 World Championships (LC) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 50 m breaststroke | 30.11 (NR) |
 | 100 m breaststroke | 1:06.42 |
In August 2015 at the2015 World Aquatics Championships inKazan, Russia, Atkinson medaled in two individual events. She won the silver medal in the50-metre breaststroke with a time of 30.11 in the final.[21] Her swim set a newnational record for Jamaica in the 50-metre breaststroke.[22] In the100-metre breaststroke, she swam a 1:06.42 in the final and won the bronze medal.[23]
At the2015 FINA Swimming World Cup stop inDubai, United Arab Emirates in November 2015, Atkinson swam a personal best time of 1:05.93 in the long course 100-metre breaststroke and set a new national record in the event. Her swim tied her for the 16th fastest swimmer in the event globally withRikke Pedersen who was the world record holder in the long course 200-metre breaststroke at the time.[24]
At the2016 Summer Olympics inRio de Janeiro, Brazil, she placed eighth in the final of the100-metre breaststroke, swimming a 1:08.10.[25]
At the2016 FINA Swimming World Cup stop inChartres, France in August 2016, Atkinson again tied the world record in the short course 100-metre breaststroke with a time of 1:02.36.[26] She did not win the $10,000 prize money for a world record as it was not a new world record.[20]
In October 2016, at the Swimming World Cup stop inTokyo, Japan, Atkinson swam a 28.64 in the short course 50-metre breaststroke setting a newworld record in the event.[27]
| 2016 World Championships (SC) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 100 m breaststroke | 1:03.03 |
| 50 m breaststroke | 29.11 |
| 100 m individual medley | 58.04 |
In December 2016 at the2016 World Swimming Championships inWindsor, Canada and conducted in short course metres, Atkinson medaled in three individual events. She won the gold medal in the100-metre breastsroke ahead ofLilly King. In the50-metre breaststroke, she swam a 29.11 in the final and won the silver medal in the event. For the100-metre individual medley she won the bronze medal, swimming a 58.04 in the final.[28]
Atkinson competed for Jamaica at the2018 FINA Swimming World Cup inBudapest, Hungary. In the 50-metre breaststroke she swam a 28.56, breaking her own world record in the event she set in 2016.[29][30]
| 2018 World Championships (SC) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 50 m breaststroke | 29.05 |
| 100 m breaststroke | 1:03.51 |
| 100 m individual medley | 58.11 |
After the Swimming World Cup, Atkinson went on to win two gold and one bronze medal in individual events at the2018 Swimming World Championships inHangzhou, China in December. The first medal she won in the competition was a gold medal in the50-metre breaststroke, swimming a 29.05 and finishing ahead of second-place finisherRūta Meilutytė. Her next medal was a bronze medal in the100-metre individual medley, finishing third with a time of 58.11 in the final, less than one second behindKatinka Hosszú andRuna Imai. Atkinson's third and final medal of the competition was a gold medal in the100-metre breaststroke where she finished before American swimmerKatie Meili with a time of 1:03.51 in the final.[31]
At the2019 World Aquatics Championships inGwangju, South Korea in July 2019, Atkinson finished in fourth place with a time of 30.34 in the final of the50-metre breaststroke.[32][33]
In 2019 Atkinson was a member of the2019 International Swimming League representingTeam Iron.[34] She was a valuable member of the team winning the 50m breaststroke in all 3 matches the team competed in, and she also picked up two wins and one second-place finish in the 100m breaststroke.[35]
On 14 July 2021,FINA released its entry list for the2020 Summer Olympics inTokyo, Japan including that Atkinson was entered to compete in the100-metre breaststroke.[36] Prior to the start of competition of Jamaican athletes at the 2020 Olympics, theJamaica Olympic Association saluted its athletes including Atkinson.[37] In the preliminaries of the 100-metre breaststroke on Sunday 25 July, Atkinson swam a 1:07.70, finishing third in her heat, and did not advance to the semifinals.[38] She ranked twenty-second across all the preliminary heats and finished her competition at her fifth and final Olympic Games.[39]
TheInternational Swimming League teamLondon Roar selected Atkinson to be a part of their roster for the2021 International Swimming League.[40] At the end of the 2021 season, Atkinson ranked 17th out of the 488 swimmers who had competed in the International Swimming League since it started in 2019 and earned a positive number ofmost valuable player points.[41]
Atkinson entered to compete in the 50-metre and 100-metre breaststroke at the2021 World Swimming Championships inAbu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.[42] Leading up to the start of competition, Atkinson attended the finale of the2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi withZach Apple,Lydia Jacoby, andMelanie Margalis all of the United States.[43]
On day one of competition, Atkinson tiedQianting Tang ofChina for first overall in the50-metre breaststroke before Tang was disqualified, advancing Atkinson as the fastest swimmer to the semifinals with her time of 29.55 seconds.[44][45] In the semifinals, she was disqualified, which marked the fourteenth disqualification in the preliminaries and semifinals of breaststroke events on day one.[46][47] The following day, she helped place fourteenth in the4×50-metre mixed freestyle relay, contributing a split of 25.04 seconds for the second 50 metre freestyle sprint leg of the relay.[48] The third day of competition, she swam a 29.14 for the breaststroke leg of the4×50-metre mixed medley relay, helping achieve a time of 1:45.62 and rank of seventeenth and not qualifying the relay to the final.[49] She swam a 1:04.88 in the preliminaries of the100-metre breaststroke on day four, qualifying for the semifinals ranking third.[50] She ranked fourth in the semifinals, qualifying for the final with a time of 1:04.26.[51] In the final she placed fourth, finishing in a time of 1:04.03 and eleven-hundredths of a second behind bronze medalistMona McSharry ofIreland.[52]
Following her final event at the 2021 World Swimming Championships, Atkinson announced her retirement from swimming competitions in December 2021 viaInstagram and said something she was glad she got to end her career with was, "I get to retire with my 2 world records in tact[sic]."[53][54]
In mid-2022, Atkinson was elected to serve as the chair for a first-everFINA athlete committee focused on addressing gender and discipline-balance.[55][56]
She is also a Global Ambassador forSpecial Olympics International.[57]
| Meet | 50 free | 100 free | 200 free | 50 breast | 100 breast | 200 breast | 50 fly | 100 fly | 200 medley | 400 medley | 4×100 freestyle | 4×100 medley | 4×100 mixed freestyle | 4×100 mixed medley |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAN 2003 | 8th | — | 9th | 12th | — | 9th | — | — | ||||||
| OG 2004 | 44th | — | 32nd | — | — | — | ||||||||
| WC 2005 | 46th | 45th | 24th | 36th | 36th | 46th | 27th | 31st | — | — | ||||
| CG 2006 | 23rd | 24th | 9th | 13th | 11th | 12th | — | — | ||||||
| CAC 2006 | 4th | 12th |  | |  | | | — | — | |||||
| PAN 2007 | 10th | — | 8th | 8th | — | 7th | — | — | ||||||
| OG 2008 | — | 25th | — | — | — | |||||||||
| CAC 2010 | | | | | — | — | ||||||||
| CG 2010 | 8th | 11th | 10th | 12th | — | — | ||||||||
| PAN 2011 | — | 4th | 4th | — | 7th | | — | — | ||||||
| OG 2012 | 37th | — | 4th | 27th | — | — | — | |||||||
| WC 2013 | 12th | 9th | 22nd | — | — | |||||||||
| CG 2014 | |  | 7th | — | — | |||||||||
| PAN 2015 | 11th | — | | 4th | — | 9th | 8th | 7th | — | — | ||||
| WC 2015 | | | 31st | |||||||||||
| OG 2016 | — | 8th | — | — | — | |||||||||
| CG 2018 | | 14th | 8th | — | — | |||||||||
| CAC 2018 | | 4th | | | | | 5th | 5th | ||||||
| WC 2019 | 4th | 11th | 36th | |||||||||||
| OG 2020 | — | 22nd | — | — |
| Meet | 50 free | 100 free | 200 free | 50 breast | 100 breast | 200 breast | 100 medley | 200 medley | 400 medley | 4×50 mixed free | 4×50 mixed medley |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WC 2004 | 39th | 35th | 32nd | 17th | 19th | 24th | 22nd | 21st | 17th | — | — |
| WC 2010 | 6th | 9th | 8th | 41st | — | — | |||||
| WC 2012 | | | 8th | 4th | — | — | |||||
| WC 2014 | | | 10th | 4th | |||||||
| WC 2016 | | | 20th | | |||||||
| WC 2018 | | | | ||||||||
| WC 2021 | DSQ | 4th | 14th | 17th |
| Event | Time | Meet | Location | Date | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 m breaststroke | 30.11 | 2015 World Aquatics Championships | Kazan, Russia | 9 August 2015 | NR | [21][22] |
| 100 m breaststroke | 1:05.93 | 2015 Swimming World Cup | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | 6 November 2015 | NR | [24] |
| 200 m breaststroke | 2:25.48 | 2014 Commonwealth Games | Glasgow, Scotland | 26 July 2014 | NR | [15][16] |
| Event | Time | Meet | Location | Date | Type | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 m breaststroke | 28.56 | 2018 Swimming World Cup | Budapest, Hungary | 6 October 2018 | AM,CR, FormerWR | [29][30] |
| 100 m breaststroke | 1:02.36 | 2014 World Swimming Championships 2016 Swimming World Cup | Doha, Qatar Chartres, France | 6 December 2014 26 August 2016 | =WR =WR | [18] [20] |
| 200 m breaststroke | 2:17.84 | 2014 Swimming World Cup | Singapore,Singapore | 2 November 2014 | NR | [16][17] |
The following medals Atkinson has won atSwimming World Cup circuits.[58]
| Edition | Gold medals | Silver medals | Bronze medals | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 24 |
| 2014 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 21 |
| 2015 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 18 |
| 2016 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 27 |
| 2017 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 19 |
| 2018 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| 2019 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Total | 74 | 22 | 28 | 124 |
| No. | Event | Time | Meet | Location | Date | Type | Status | Duration | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100 m breaststroke[a] | 1:02.36 | 2014 World Swimming Championships | Doha, Qatar | 6 December 2014 | =WR | Current | — | [18] |
| 2 | 100 m breaststroke (2)[a] | 1:02.36 | 2016 Swimming World Cup | Chartres, France | 26 August 2016 | =WR | Current | — | [26] |
| 3 | 50 m breaststroke | 28.64 | 2016 Swimming World Cup | Tokyo, Japan | 26 October 2016 | WR | Former | 1 year, 11 months, 10 days | [27][30] |
| 4 | 50 m breaststroke (2) | 28.56 | 2018 Swimming World Cup | Budapest, Hungary | 6 October 2018 | WR | Former | 4 years, 2 months, 11 days | [30] |
a Not recognized as a new world record as it tied a pre-existing world record.[20]
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Women's 100-metre breaststroke world record-holder (short course) 3 December 2014 – present (tied Meilutytė) | Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Women's 50-metre breaststroke world record-holder (short course) 26 October 2016 – 17 December 2022 | Succeeded by |
Links to related articles | |||||||||
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