Samuel Lawman has been swimming since the age of 10 years old which in terms of swimming is pretty late to be starting. Both his parents heavily influenced his pathway, his mum swam competitively, and his dad played water polo, Lawman wanted to follow in their footsteps.
Lawman completed his undergrad degree at Sheffield Hallam University and his master’s at Loughborough University. So, he has had previous experience with competing in BUCs competitions, but this is his first time competing for Leeds Beckett in the freestyle relay at long-course BUCs.
He shared his short-term and long-term goals: “I’m a bit older than the rest of the guys, so my short-term goals, I’ve got the Olympic trials. So, hopefully, I’ve got another meet to qualify for that in a few weeks’ time and then the Olympic trials are at the start of April. So, that’s my short-term goal to qualify for that and then obviously race there. Then my long-term goals, because I’m over 25, I’m eligible to race in the master swim. So that’s over 25 and I’ve got Shawcross National champs and which is in November.”
Lawman’s dedication and effort are evident in his impressive accomplishments. He has broken world records in the 160+ 4×50 freestyle event, achieving this twice, once recently and back in 2022. Furthermore, he holds prestigious titles as a World, European, and Commonwealth champion in swimming.
In addition to his prowess in swimming, Lawman excels in lifesaving and fin swimming competitions. His success in these disciplines was highlighted when he clinched the world title at the 2022 World Championships held in Italy.
However, his swim career hasn’t been all smooth running, he’s had many challenges and setbacks. He shared: “The one that comes to mind is having a grade two tear in my quadricep during the 2018 season. I could barely swim due to the pain I was in. I could only do two training sessions before the 2018 Nationals. Similarly, I also tore my calf in lockdown due to I was running too much.”
Although he’s had major setbacks, he has always been able to come out on top and get back to swimming. He has set himself future goals and aspirations for his swimming career, he said: “I want to qualify for Olympic Trials in April, and break multiple 100+ relays at the Masters Nationals in October and get the best time in 100m back and fly this upcoming SC season.”
As well as swimming he has also set goals for after he finishes his master’s degree: “I want to gain some experience in the NHS as well as work within the sports physiotherapy sector, hopefully supporting an Olympic sport into an Olympics.”
Lawman shared how being part of a team contributes to his individual performance: “It really helps, especially when you are doing relay events. You cheer each other up and you want to do better, as you don’t want to let your teammates down, you want to win with your team. It really helps because swimming can be quite a lonely sport, especially when you train by yourself, which I do quite a lot of the time, so being part of a team lights up something else inside you.”
He was accompanied by Jordan Cooley, Matthew Rooney, and Francis Dyson. Despite Beckett’s consistent performance in the 4x100m freestyle relay, they finished third with a time of 3 minutes and 29 seconds. After Loughborough University finished first and Bath University followed in second place.
He added that the race met his expectations: “The race certainly met my expectations; BUCS is a super competitive meet. The boys all swam class. I thoroughly enjoyed the race and going toe to toe with some of the best swimmers in the country.”
Lawman elaborated on his intentions to capitalise on this performance as he pursues his future goals.
