Despite enjoying a season which has seen her break the Scottish women’s 100m record twice and reach a Commonwealth Games final, Torphins-born Alisha Rees is ready to open a new chapter for the 2023 season after completing a move to London.
There, she will link up with a new coach in Ryan Freckleton, whilst at the same time studying for an MSc in inequality and social science at the London School of Economics.
The move comes after Rees spent five years in Loughborough under her previous coach, Leon Baptiste, who led her to her most successful season to date in 2022.
Rees finished the season ranked 4th in the 60m, 5th in the 100m, and 6th in the 200m, and was part of the Scottish relay team which broke the national record in Switzerland.
But after five years in the East Midlands, Rees has opted for a shake-up in preparation for 2023, which will feature just one major international in the form of the World Championships in Hungary.
It was not a decision the Scot took lightly, having enjoyed a positive relationship with her coach and training partners in Loughborough – but the sociology graduate explained she felt her time in Leicestershire had come to its natural conclusion.
From Torphins to London
She said: “I just felt my time at Loughborough had come to an end – I really enjoyed the last five years, but during the last year, I had graduated and was away from a lot of my university friends. I just felt like spending five years in Loughborough was enough for me.
“Although I ran really well, I wasn’t fully happy being in Loughborough. For me, I was mainly looking for a change.”
It will be quite a change indeed for Rees. Having left the village of Torphins at the age of 18, she moved to the market town of Loughborough, where she remained until earlier this month.
I am still an unfunded athlete from the governing body…”
The step to London – which has a greater population than all of Scotland combined – is certainly going to be a major one.
She is nevertheless enthusiastic about a new university course, which looks at institutional racism, as well as how certain groups in society find themselves disadvantaged.
“I look at some parts of society and think ‘that’s so unfair.’ Because I think it’s unfair, I just want to help and change something at foundation level so people in the next generation don’t have to face certain kinds of inequality.
“The past year, I’ve been working at a charity which helped vulnerable young people in the community.
“It just opened my eyes to how other people live and how people are trying their best to help disadvantaged people. It really made me thankful for what I had but also made me eager to help even more.”
Nerves didn’t stop Rees from achieving personal best
Rees has undoubtedly been spurred on by the finish to her 2022 season, which was bookended by a 200m personal best of 22.98sec – the first time she has gone underneath the 23-second barrier.
It has opened the door to focusing on the 200m next year, the event in which Rees had enjoyed significant success as a junior athlete under the tutelage of Willy Russell.
“I didn’t really want to do it (the 200m),” Rees admitted. “Leon was saying ‘you owe me a 200m this year’ and because I hadn’t done one for a year, I was so nervous.
“I hadn’t actually done any 200m specific training because I had been focusing on the 100m. But I had a lot of speed in my legs from the 100m, so I think my leg speed helped take me round.”
She added: “I’m definitely going to do both the 100m and 200m (next season). I did really well in my one 200m because I had good speed, even though I didn’t have that much endurance.
“Obviously, I want to keep up that speed, but my 100m is pretty strong at the same time – so I’m going to mix it up and do them both.”
Challenge of being a student athlete
With plenty of plates to spin, being a student athlete has its challenges, and Rees explained she is hoping to find some form of financial assistance over the coming year as she looks to dedicate herself to an academic and athletic career simultaneously.
“Unfortunately, despite going to the Commonwealth Games, and being ranked highly in all three events, I am still an unfunded athlete from the governing body,” Rees said.
“I don’t have any sort of sponsorship from any brand or sports deals, so I really am looking for some sort of financial support whether that be small or big.
“It’s about paying for a coach, paying for travel to get to competitions, paying for kit, paying for spikes. I go through so many pairs of trainers and they’re £100 a go.
“I really am looking for someone willing to support me over the next few years looking forward to Paris 2024.”
With plenty to chew on over the coming months, Rees will be hoping that a new set-up, a new city, and a renewed focus will see her hit the ground running in the UK capital.
