An 18-year-old national swimming squad member from Egerton has opened up about her struggle with anorexia and autism during the Covid-19 pandemic, in a newly launched memoir.
Grace Robinson, a member of the City of Manchester Aquatics Swim Team, released her book Anorexia, Autism and Me on May 12 at the Mayor’s Parlour in Bolton. The book chronicles her journey coping with an eating disorder that developed when swimming pools were closed during lockdowns.
“Swimming was one of the only sports that couldn’t be replicated at home,” Robinson said. “You can kick a ball, hit a tennis ball against a wall, or do gymnastics in your garden, but there’s no way to replicate a 25-metre pool.”
The disruption to her swimming routine, combined with her autism diagnosis, led to significant mental health challenges. “When swimming stopped, my routine and normality stopped too. My autistic brain couldn’t cope,” she explained. “I started controlling these feelings by stopping eating because I wasn’t exercising. Before I knew it, I was very poorly.”
Upon returning to the pool, Robinson found herself physically weakened. “I went from being a strong, capable swimmer to struggling to swim four lengths,” she said.
Robinson’s mother, Julie, described the challenges of supporting her daughter through the illness. “Anorexia is an awful illness,” she said. “With Grace’s additional learning disability, it was difficult for her to understand what she was doing to herself and the impact it would have. Our approach to helping her recover had to be different.”
Writing the book was an emotional process for Robinson, but she hopes her story will encourage others facing similar struggles. Currently on the Paralympic swimming pathway, Grace Robinson’s memoir is now available for purchase on Amazon.