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YSPOTY 2012 nominees: Siobhan-Marie O’Connor Q&A
Siobhan-Marie O'Connor was the baby of the GB swimming team in London
Siobhan-Marie O'Connor was the youngest British swimmer to qualify for the London Olympics at the age of 16 - and she had to miss her school prom to compete and confirm her place as part of Team GB!
At the Games she out qualified fellow British swimmer and former Young Sports Personality winner Kate Haywood in the 100m breaststroke heats, and in doing so gained selection to be part of the women's medley relay team who made the Olympic final.
And it hasn't stopped there for the Bath swimming sensation who has recently won her first senior international medal at the European short course in France.
Here, Siobhan-Marie answers the questions set by the BBC News School Report team from Farringdon Community Sports College in Sunderland.
SIOBHAN-MARIE O'CONNOR Q&A
Who are the nominees?
Q: How do you balance training, education and social life?
A: It is extremely difficult as my training programme is predominantly designed for full-time adult athletes, therefore I have to sacrifice many things with my friends.
Also from an academic perspective I have not been able to go down the normal path that I would have liked to have followed, ie three conventional A-levels because I have chosen swimming as my main focus and everything currently has to fit around that.
I also don't seem to have very much time to catch up on sleep, as most of my downtime is spent catching up with schoolwork because of all of the lessons that I miss!
Q: If you weren't doing the sport you do now, what sport would you be doing?
A: When I was younger I used to compete in gymnastics and really enjoyed that. I chose to pursue swimming when I didn't have time to do both anymore.
Q: What is your favourite music and does it help you train or perform better?
A: I love dance/house music and rap music which I was introduced to by one of my team-mates and coach. Listening to it really helps me to get in the zone before a race!
Q: What is your favourite food and are you allowed to eat it?
A: I love chocolate, which I have to eat in moderation so I don't undo the hard work that I put in during training!
Siobhan was inspired to see Rebecca Adlington win two gold medals in the pool in Beijing 2008.
Q: When you were younger, who was your role model?
A: My role model was Rebecca Adlington. Getting the chance to watch her on TV when she competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was incredible. The following year I queued for ages at age group nationals to get her to sign my float!
I never imagined that one day I would be on the same team as her, and lucky enough to count her as one of my friends.
Q: What was your favourite subject in school and why?
A: My favourite subject is science. I just find it more interesting than all the other lessons!
Q: How do you deal with setbacks?
A: I had a massive setback in March when I missed out on qualifying for London in my best event. It was a huge learning curve and taught me a great deal about myself and also about swimming.
But the setback spurred me on to train harder and become more focus and professional in the lead up to the second trials in June - so it was good for me as it made me more hungry and determined to make the team than ever. It made me realise you learn that more from not achieving your goals than you do from achieving them.
I've also suffered with ill health for the last 18 months as the colitis which I have now just managed to get under control went undiagnosed. This meant I was unable to keep weight on and was continually tired as my body couldn't retain the nutrition it needed.
Q. What is your view of support via social networking sites?
A: I think social networking sites can generally be good for sport as they help to make people aware of opportunities that are out there, and can also keep people up to date with how various teams perform.
Q: Where do you see yourself in four years' time?
A: My aim is to be as good as I can be, if I can stay injury free I hope to be fast enough to win a medal in Rio 2016.
Q: What has been your sporting highlights of 2012?
A: Personally making a home Olympic Games and so not just being able to compete but getting a chance to see some incredible British performances first-hand.
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