Leena Telen

Leena Telén is London based film-maker and writer. She started her career in television, producing and directing documentaries, drama and educational programmes. Her short film ‘River Crossing’ has been shown in festivals around the world.

She is currently writing her memoir. Underwater is a timely story about the cult of the celebrity athlete, the lure of Olympic Gold and the parents who put their own ambitions ahead of their children.

Leena grows up in Helsinki, Finland in the 60s. Her father, a veteran of the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, is a sports fanatic who dreams of training a son to become an Olympic athlete. Instead, he finds himself the father of four girls who he tries to turn into sporting heroes.

Under her father’s relentless training regime, Leena becomes seven times national Finnish swimming champion. At the age of fifteen – with a chance to compete at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico  – she decides to quit swimming, escape to London and shatter her father’s dream.