12 year old Ella Cooper-Holmes, a member of Carlisle
Aquatics and The North West Disability Swim Squad travelled to
Ponds Forge, Sheffield to take part in the EFDS British National Junior and
Youth Disability Swimming Championships on the 2nd/3rd
March 2013.
There were 175 competitors aged between 10-18 years of age
including British Paralympians Josef Craig and Jessica-Jane Applegate all
competing for their home regions. Standards as usual were high and during the
weekend young disabled swimmers scooped five World Records and three National
Records.
Ella has only been back in the pool training for one month
as she had major orthopaedic surgery at the end of September, spent three weeks
in hospital in December re learning how to stand and walk, and the entry form
for this National event had to be handed in before she was even back in the
pool.
Ella entered five events in the 10-13 years age group. Ella
swims freestyle and backstroke in the S7 classification and competed in the 50m
free, 100m free and 50m backstroke. In the breaststroke Ella swims in the SB6
classification and competed in the 50m and 100m events.
After a dodgy start with the 50m breaststroke and a
DQ (disqualified due to an illegal stroke coming out of her first competitive
breaststroke dive) the day could only get better for Ella and over the weekend
she achieved a Silver medal in the 100m breaststroke and new pb’s in her
freestyle and backstroke competitions and earned herself the Gold Medal in all
three events, winning the 50m freestyle by only 0.5seconds, and by smashing 12
seconds off her previous time for the 100m freestyle.
Ella is 0.5 seconds off the qualifying time for the 50m
freestyle British Disability International event to be held at Ponds Forge in
April and will have one more chance to gain this time when she competes with
her team mates from Carlisle Aquatics at the Cumbria Age Group event to be held
at Copeland in a couple of weeks.
Ella is also looking forward to the Cerebal Palsy Sport
National Championships taking place in Nottingham on the 24th March when elite
swimmers with CP will compete and also get the chance to meet up with
Paralympian swimmers Matt Walker, Nyree and Sascha Kindred and Liz Johnson.
If you would like further information about Disability
Sports please contact 0161 228 2868 or for contacts in Cumbria contact Learning
to Change Cumbria on 07799298307 or email: kerryanne.l2c.cumbria@gmail.com
