"I was invited to participate in the Sainsburys regional swimathon in aid of supporting the Paralympics later on in the year. I was joined by 3 other colleagues who also had expressed interest. The swimathon did have a slight difference which involved usins a pad either holding it between your lega and only using your arms to stroke or holding a pad out in front of you and only being allowed to use your legs. This turned out to be a lot harder than it looked. I thought to myself if Paralympic athletes are willing to give it a go then I will definitely put all my effort into this swim to support these brave athletes. My feelings where shared among the group. After winning our heats and then the final, I began to see how hard it is even for a short amount of time to be handicapped. This really drove home how strong and amazing our Paralympic team must be to compete and in such a way they deserve so much praise."