
Legends of Welsh Sport: Liz Johnson - Swimming Against the Tide is our new 30 minute documentary following the incredible story of Paralympic Gold Medallist Liz Johnson.
Born with cerebral palsy in Newport in 1985, Liz's mum Bonnie was encouraged to take her daughter to a disabled swimmers' club as a form of therapy - to relieve pain and strengthen her muscles. Little did they know Liz would have a natural gift for the sport, and by the age of 14, the young swimmer was selected for team GB. From there, Liz began her journey to the Paralympics, juggling school with training and competitions, but always supported by Bonnie, who travelled all over the country with Liz as her talent grew.
In 2003 she began training in Swansea with the most elite para-swimmers in Britain. Here, she joined the coach and the squad that would take her to her first Paralympic Games in Athens, where she won a silver medal in the SB6 breast stroke at just 18 years old.
The next four years brought quicker times, championship titles and world records. With her training routine nailed and on track for Beijing 2008, she was swimming the best she ever had in her entire career. Everything was perfect...until Bonnie was diagnosed with cancer, and Liz's world came crashing down.
A story of guts, resilience and a mother's love. Despite personal bereavement, injury, and several other obstacles standing in her way, Liz achieved three successive Paralympic medals from 2004 to 2012.

The 30 minute episode is part of BBC Wales' strand Legends of Welsh Sport. One Tribe TV has previously made shows for the strand - Celtic Media Awards nominated Norton's Coin: The Horse that Defied the Odds in 2022 and a radio production for BBC Radio Wales called The Day We Beat the All Blacks in 2023.
We were delighted to be able to tell this inspiring story and to highlight the incredible calibre of sports professionals coming out of Wales. Since retiring from professional swimming, Liz has been using her platform to advocate for accessibility. In 2018 she set up The Ability People, an organisation aimed at recruiting disabled people and empowering those with disabilities, as well as challenging employers to cultivate a truly inclusive workplace where people with disabilities can thrive.

Given the nature of this documentary, we knew that the swimming pool would be a focal point for much of the story telling, so we wanted to set the scene right. To film the exterior pool shots we used a matador dolly and our CN20 lens. The room was carefully lit in order to add drama and escape the clinical fluorescent lights of the pool set-up by day. We were able to achieve some really beautiful shots from above, as well as some impactful slow-motion underwater swimming sequences captured by our underwater camera operator Rich Stevenson using the Red Gemini Camera and Red Komodo camera in Nauticam housing.

With interviews from Clare Balding and Tanni Grey-Thompson, and archive from Beijing and Athens Paralympic Games, we tell Liz's story from shy teen to determined Paralympic Gold medallist.
The show will air on Tuesday 28th January at 10:40pm on BBC One Wales and will later be available to watch on iPlayer.