Achievements
Sarah Bowling:
Sarah has been a member of Downham and District Swimming club for six years, but had learnt to swim prior to joining the club. Since then she has competed in many different events, ranging from open meets to the Para Olympics trials.
Sarah has an injury in her left arm, Erbs Palsy, which she has had since she was born. Due to her disability Sarah has three classifications, S9, SM9 and SB9. There are many classifications, ranging from S1, which is for people with a severe disability, right up to S10 for people with less of a disability. There are also classes for people with loss of vision (S11-13) and learning disabilities (S16-17).
The main competitions that she competes in are the Junior nationals, which she has competed in since she was ten, these are for 10-17 year olds. And are usually held in March at Ponds Forge, Sheffield. Sarah has even held some of the national records, in the 10-13 year age group there for both butterfly and backstroke.
There is also the DSE (Disability Sport England) long course Championships, which Sarah attends in the summer. This event attracts people from around the world. This is an open event for swimmers 12 years and over. This year it was also used for the Para Olympic time Trials, which Sarah competed in.
There is also the National Short Course competition held in November, which Sarah has just been to Sheffield to compete in. While Sarah was there she won:
1st in the 50m fly - S9
3rd in the 100m back - S9
3rd in the 50m back - S9
2nd in the 4 x 100m free relay S6-S10
3rd in the 50m breast - SB9
She also competed in the 200m IM - SM9, 100m breast - SB9 and 50m free - S9. When she competes at Sheffield she swims for the eastern region.
She also competed in Belper Marlins Open Meet, which is for disabled and able bodied people. Where she won first place in the 100m free, back, breast and fly. She also won first place in the intermediate girls.
Sarah has now been chosen for the World Class Start Programme, for the second year running. This involves filling in monthly monitoring forms, recording how far she swims in metres, whether or not she has been competing and if so, her times.
Sarah also attends training camps which are held around twice a year. These are normally at Nottingham, but they have been at Marragate and Loughbourgh too. These are for swimmers like Sarah who are on the World Start Programme, and they join together for one day, training for three hours, this includes workouts with different exercises, which Sarah can do at home with her cords and stretch bands. There are also talks on nutrition and swimming techniques. There are times that Sarah needs to meet to be able to stay on the World Start Programme, and these are based on times that were achieved from the pervious Para Olympics. Sarah is aiming to move onto the World Class Potential Programme and she hopes to go to the 2008 Para Olympics or the London Para Olympics in 2012.
Sarah is now swimming for 10 - 11 hours a week, with nine swim per a week and one or two land workouts and cord work.
Sarah has been a member of Downham and District Swimming club for six years, but had learnt to swim prior to joining the club. Since then she has competed in many different events, ranging from open meets to the Para Olympics trials.
Sarah has an injury in her left arm, Erbs Palsy, which she has had since she was born. Due to her disability Sarah has three classifications, S9, SM9 and SB9. There are many classifications, ranging from S1, which is for people with a severe disability, right up to S10 for people with less of a disability. There are also classes for people with loss of vision (S11-13) and learning disabilities (S16-17).
The main competitions that she competes in are the Junior nationals, which she has competed in since she was ten, these are for 10-17 year olds. And are usually held in March at Ponds Forge, Sheffield. Sarah has even held some of the national records, in the 10-13 year age group there for both butterfly and backstroke.
There is also the DSE (Disability Sport England) long course Championships, which Sarah attends in the summer. This event attracts people from around the world. This is an open event for swimmers 12 years and over. This year it was also used for the Para Olympic time Trials, which Sarah competed in.
There is also the National Short Course competition held in November, which Sarah has just been to Sheffield to compete in. While Sarah was there she won:
1st in the 50m fly - S9
3rd in the 100m back - S9
3rd in the 50m back - S9
2nd in the 4 x 100m free relay S6-S10
3rd in the 50m breast - SB9
She also competed in the 200m IM - SM9, 100m breast - SB9 and 50m free - S9. When she competes at Sheffield she swims for the eastern region.
She also competed in Belper Marlins Open Meet, which is for disabled and able bodied people. Where she won first place in the 100m free, back, breast and fly. She also won first place in the intermediate girls.
Sarah has now been chosen for the World Class Start Programme, for the second year running. This involves filling in monthly monitoring forms, recording how far she swims in metres, whether or not she has been competing and if so, her times.
Sarah also attends training camps which are held around twice a year. These are normally at Nottingham, but they have been at Marragate and Loughbourgh too. These are for swimmers like Sarah who are on the World Start Programme, and they join together for one day, training for three hours, this includes workouts with different exercises, which Sarah can do at home with her cords and stretch bands. There are also talks on nutrition and swimming techniques. There are times that Sarah needs to meet to be able to stay on the World Start Programme, and these are based on times that were achieved from the pervious Para Olympics. Sarah is aiming to move onto the World Class Potential Programme and she hopes to go to the 2008 Para Olympics or the London Para Olympics in 2012.
Sarah is now swimming for 10 - 11 hours a week, with nine swim per a week and one or two land workouts and cord work.