Down Syndrome Swimming GB

30th October 2017 Final day of training before it all kicks off.  We seem to have recovered from the trials and tribulations of our respective journeys, some rather easier than others. The swimmers have met up. Huge excitement from Florence last night as she saw Will walk into the hotel, nearly knocked him for six. Mark Holmes still seems to retain his iconic status with all the swimmers, old hats and new and the 'Scottish Gals' – Cerys, Fiona and Laura – clearly are an established clan. There are lots of new people to meet, faces to recall and names to remember. It is getting difficult to contain the excitement from some of the swimmers.   Travelling from the pool to the hotel was simple enough. GB has the biggest delegation attending – over 85 in all counting swimmers and support. To avoid complete chaos we've been split into groups. So far so good, no one has got lost yet. Early days for sure but our team leaders seem pretty competent. A shortish del...

29th October 2017 It's been a long, long wait. Hours of training from dedicated and determined swimmers. Long-suffering coaches shouting from the side; faster, slower, pace yourself, kick harder, push off... Endless trips at God unearthly hours to drop off pick up and cheer on tired swimmers from galas and swim meets. Hours spent amalgamating swim times, PBs, qualifications, records. I never knew swimming could be quite so complicated. Finally, thankfully, mercifully we are on our way. Emotions have been running high over the last few months. Fluctuating from huge moments of elation when a new PB has been met to moments of despair when the idea of getting up at 5 am for the third time in a week just doesn't seem like fun anymore. 30 swimmers are coming from all over the UK and will gather in Paris for the 4th European DS swimming competition. Last night, having travelled on a variety of 'trains, planes and automobiles' we met in the hotel for our firs...