London's calling our Paralympic athletes

THERE may be more than  two and half years to go until  the London Paralympic  Games but some of our sporting stars are already in training.

And they say that competing in front of a home  crowd  will be an incredible  achievement.

Swimmer David Hill, 21,  from Exmouth, is a 100-metre  backstroke competitor. He  has already competed in the  Paralympics in Athens 2004.  Aged just 15, was the  youngest competitor representing Great Britain out of  all the Paralympic athletes.  He was ranked eighth in the  world. Two years later he  represented GB in the World  Championships in South  Africa and came fourth.

Narrowly missing out on a  place on the GB squad in  Beijing last year has only  spurred him on even more to  reclaim his place for the 2012  games.

“Missing out for Beijing  was a massive setback and  really put things in perspective and I had to reassess my  goals. But it’s really spurred  me on to get in the squad for  London.”

David, who was born without  part of his left arm,  joined  Exmouth Swimming Club as  a child. He competed in his  first race aged nine  and  progressed to county championships aged 10. He was excelling against his able-bodied peers and was soon spotted by a GB talent officer who  encouraged him to get involved in disability competitions.

David said: “My disability  was categorised when I was  about 12 years old, so from  then on I would only enter  races with other athletes in  that category. In 2002, I was  put on a World Class Potential Programme which  gave me access to extra support like physiotherapy and  funding for equipment. I was  also encouraged to step up  my training so started at Kelly College in Tavistock,  where I could train in the  school pool outside of  lessons.”

In 2002, David competed in  his first international competition as part of the GB  squad and shortly afterwards qualified for the Paralympics in Athens.

He said: “My coach, former Olympic swimmer  Robin Brew, was quietly  training me up for the Paralympics. I didn’t think it  was within my sights so was  looking instead to Beijing  four years later, but I absolutely nailed the trials and  knocked four seconds of my  best time.”

David is now studying carpentry at Bath College in  order to be close to the  high-class training facilities  at the University of Bath.

 To qualify for the Paralympics, David will have to  be one of the top three swimmers in his discipline and in  his classification, to beat a  set time.

Judith Hamer, 18, from St  James in Exeter, was selected for the GB Paralympic  basketball squad in February, competed in the Paralympic World Cup in May  and the European Championships in August. She said:  “I think every athlete wants  to be able to play at the highest level they can, so I feel   lucky to have the chance to  play for my country.

“I started playing basketball for Exeter’s team the  Otters and then I got to play  in the junior wheelchair basketball regional championships in 2007. I was spotted  by coaches from the GB team  and invited to my first GB  training camp. In February  this year I was selected for  the team to play at the Paralympic World Cup and the  European Championships.

“When I realised my  coaches thought I was doing  well I decided to work as  hard as I could and aim as  high as I could.

“When I’m not injured,  hardly a day goes by when  I’m not training for the  Olympics. My regime includes yoga, gym sessions  and, of course, basketball  training — I train with the  GB squad in Bristol once a  week.”

To  follow  all the preparations for games, visit www.london2012.com.