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Contract: Diane Dart

               6 Radnor Road

               Earley

               Reading

               Berkshire, RG6 7NP

               Telephone 07768 205352

               Email diane.dart@dsiso.org

 

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Tom’s Paralympic dream is shattered

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from Haverhill Echo:

The mother of Haverhill-trained swimming sensation Tom Cole has branded the classification system that will see him unable to compete at the Paralympics next year as “discriminating” against Down’s Syndrome.

Double World gold medallist Cole, 22, will be denied the once-in-a-lifetime chance to line-up in the Games in his home country due to a system which puts people with Down’s Syndrome into competition with people without any physical disabilities.

Cole, who holds six European Down’s Syndrome swimming records, alongside his two World Downs Championship gold medals, will be left to watch the drama unfolding on television next summer wondering ‘what if’.

The current system used by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) would only allow Cole to compete in an S14 category which covers learning disabilities with an IQ under 75.

But this does not take into account common Down’s Syndrome physical disabilities such as narrower windpipes and low muscle tone as well as restricted height.

Mrs Cole said: “We are gutted and every Down’s Syndrome swimmer in Great Britain feels the same.

“Physically there are things wrong as well as a low IQ and I cannot see how IQ would affect swimming.

“I do not know why the IPC do not recognise it when it is a disability you can diagnose before birth.”

Despite their family having launched a campaign for a change in the classification system and with MPs around the country having taken up the fight, nothing has worked with Mrs Cole claiming it is like hitting “a brick wall”.

Phil Ward, a West Suffolk Swimming coach who has worked with Cole, of Great Waldingfield, near Sudbury, at Haverhill Leisure Centre, labelled it “an uneven playing field”.

He said the fact Cole would come up against people much taller and healthier than himself, with far better muscle tone, meant he could not be capable of beating them in the pool.

A spokesman for the IPC said Down’s Syndrome athletes were a ‘very small group of people’ that it would not be realistic for them to cater for with their own classification.

He said classification had to be done by primary impairment, which, in the case of Down’s Syndrome, was deemed to be intellectual.

“We are driven by primary impairment and in the case of Downs it (physical) is a secondary impairment,” he said.

comments:

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Nicola house said...

Does anyone in the IPC actually know anyone with downs syndrome?what a lot of nonsense they speak! Some people with downs suffer more from physical disabilities than mental... It's a syndrome, each person with downs is affected differently, EVERY cell of their body has an extra chromosome, who knows what parts of each individual it will affect, mentally or physically. Most people with ds have hypotomia :Essentially hypotonia can be defined as the muscles lacking stamina. The muscles don't have the energy to keep working to a normal level. So a person with ds may seem to do everything just fine, but keep the same muscles working for any length of time and they will tire faster than a normal person's muscles.
how unfair to make a person who has this compete against someone without?When you consider how muscles are tied to every physical endeavour we do, from eating, to talking, to facial gestures, to just sitting still, you can then start to appreciate the significance this has to an individual suffering from hypotonia. Hypotonia is devastating, more so in the earlier years of life.
Just think about what battles Tom Cole has had to go through to achieve the level of swimming he has... And all the IPC can do is highlight any mental disability he may have and stop him competing in the paraoympics.

August 8, 2011 6:11 PM Description: http://www.blogger.com/img/icon_delete13.gif

 

 

Results available for the May Phillips British Championships  RESULTS

 


 

Sarah Louise Casey back on form................  Sarah Louise takes world record at Paralymic Trials, Pond Forge, Sheffield in the 100 Freestyle.

 


 

May Phillips British National Championships for Down Syndrome 20th September 2008- Reading

Entry Forms


Results for the 3rd British Learning Disability Swimming Championships and Festival of Swimming - 12/13 July 2008 Sheffield

Day One       Day Two

 

 

 


 

 


 

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RECORD-BREAKER SETS NEW WORLD STANDARD

 

09 January 2008

 

Swimmer Anita Linton set four world records in a superb display at the Shrewsbury Masters New Year Gala.


Linton, from Lightwood, stretched her career record to eight world best times at the Quarry Swimming and Fitness Centre.


The 29-year-old, who competes for Wombourne Swimming Club, claimed records for Down's Syndrome athletes in the individual breaststroke, butterfly, backstroke and freestyle, all over 25 metres.
 

Her times were 23.52 secs (freestyle), 26.18s (backstroke), 26.68s (breaststroke) and 30.69s (butterfly), setting records in a new 25-34 year-old category for Down Syndrome competitors.


The times were inside the qualifying mark for the Down's Syndrome International Swimming Organisation World Championships, to be held in Albufeira, Portugal in November.


They have now been sent for ratification by the Reading-based DSISO.

Her mum Barbara, who campaigned to the DSISO for the new age category, said: "Anita is over the moon.

"She can't get over what she has achieved. Everyone at the event was thrilled to bits with her.

"Lots of swimmers with Down Syndrome continue to swim into their 40s and after years in world-class competitions, Anita wanted to continue. So I was keen for them to create a new category.

"Everything this year is leading towards the world championships and all her times in Shrewsbury were well under what she needs to qualify. It's a great start to the year."

Linton set her first of eight world records while competing for Great Britain in the 4x25m medley relay at the 2002 World Championships.

She broke that mark as part of the GB team in the 2004 and 2006 World Championships, and also claimed the individual freestyle record at the DSE Open Long course Championships.

In 2005, she won the Stoke-on-Trent Sports Personality Award for an individual with a learning disability.

She retained the title in 2006 and also won the Unity Cup and Rose Bowl for Outstanding Achievement, following up last year by claiming third place in the Inspirational Achiever category.

Linton is now focused on training at Fenton Manor Sports Complex before her next competition, at the Disability Sport Events West Midlands Gala at the end of this month.

by GRAHAM TONG
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