BBS Sports Blog: Week One – Paralympic Swimmer Susie Rodgers On “A World Of Liquid Freedom”

Susie Rodgers is a British Paralympic Swimmer who picked up bronze medals in the S7 100m freestyle, 4x100m relay and the 400m freestyle at the London Games. She has graciously volunteered to write the first in a series of guest blogs for Blue Badge Style.

Over the next few weeks a variety of Paralympians will be contributing to BBS with stories of how they got involved in sport and advice for how other people can join in with disabled sports. We want to thank Susie for this excellent post which shows the enthusiasm and dedication that goes into becoming a Paralympian:

Swimming for me is not just about competing and getting to the top of my sport, it is also somewhat a spiritual activity.

I first learned to swim as a child in Egypt. My family had moved to Cairo for my father’s new job in 1990 and I was only seven years old. As soon as I arrived in Cairo, I was overwhelmed by the sheer heat. I wear both an artificial arm and leg on the left side as part of my disability and in those days, my leg socket was made out of leather. I just remember constantly feeling overheated and sweaty, which I was not used to after years of seasons and cool temperatures in the UK. My only saviour to escape the heat was a 50m swimming pool in a club over the road from our flat in Zamalek.

At this stage, I could only splash around in my arm bands and it was clear that I wanted more freedom in the water than they could give me. We also started to go on regular trips to the Sinai and I was the only one of the family who could not really get into the water and fully enjoy the Red Sea.

As I take both my arm and leg off in the water, I have to start swimming immediately to avoid balancing on one leg. So, it became clear that I needed to learn how to swim. I watched my father and sister moving sleekly through the water and wished to be able to do the same. One day, whilst in the pool with Dad, he suddenly removed my arm bands and set me going, I splashed around a bit panicking that I may drown, but quickly gathered my confidence and with encouragement from my family, I started to doggy paddle around the pool.

I remember from those early days that a new and fantastic world opened up for me. A world of liquid freedom, without the uncomfortable feeling of walking on land wearing limbs. A total sense of completeness. Which is why I described it as spiritual for me. I loved the sea, the feel of the water on my skin, the movement of the body through water, but above all I loved the freedom. It is something that any person with a disability can experience. Through competing and racing and meeting other swimmers with varying disabilities these past few years, I have met others who feel exactly the same way. Whatever your disability, the water can help you do sport with less load-bearing impact. It can support you to work as gently or as hard as you like.

As a Paralympic swimmer, I naturally tend to push towards the harder end of training. I do nine sessions a week lasting 1.5-2 hours each. I also train in the gym twice a week to build strength. A typical day involves me getting up at 5.45am, travelling to the pool either at Crystal Palace or near London Victoria. I warm up, carry out my session and then get myself ready. I hop on the train to work (at the British Council in central London) and complete a day or half a days work, then hop back on the train, get ready for the session and complete another 2 hours! After that I head home, refuel (eating proteins and carbohydrates and drinking plenty of fluids) and then head to bed early for 10pm!

I have always been an active person and even if I was not competing, I would still train to keep fit and healthy. Despite hating the early starts, I work hard to enjoy my “down time” when I relax and rest. I also love the buzz I get after a particularly tough training session.

The lead-up to the Paralympic Games in London in 2012 was hard for me however. I love sport, I love training but the requirement to be an elite athlete pushes you to your limits on a daily basis. I would complete a session feeling exhausted, go to bed only to get up early and have to push myself again the next day. It was tough, but I knew it would not be easy.

I suffered a knee injury three months before the Games were due to start, resulting in an operation by key-hole surgery. I honestly thought my number was up, but I didn’t lose hope. I worked hard on my rehabilitation, I did what training I could to keep everything ticking over and I tried hard not to lose sight of my dream to compete in front of a home crowd at my first Paralympic Games.

The Games was a fantastic experience in every way. It was hard, it was nerve-racking. There were moments when I was in tears after coming fourth in one of my favourite event.  But there were moments of pure joy and elation when I finally did medal and win three bronze and set a European record in my last swim – the 400m freestyle race. The perception of the Paralympians was brilliant. We were seen as athletes not athletes with impairments.

Swimming at the Paralympics really did showcase that whatever your disability, there is always a way you can get involved in sport. The category system in swimming proves that, by ranging from S1 (the most severely physically impaired category) to S10 (the least physically impaired). There are also categories for visual impairments (S11 to S13) and the S14 category for those with learning disabilities.

The best way to get involved in swimming at any level is to contact Disability Sport England through the national links found on the British Swimming Disability section. Then you can find a local club to train with and see what level they are. You can also go to your local pool and just start simply building sessions yourself and using it to improve fitness or lose weight. Swimming pools are usually very good at accessibility and the invention of the PoolPod should make getting in and out of the swimming pool a lot easier and more dignified than the previous use of the hoist.

If you want to swim, though, you will find a way to get involved. I first started training and competing at University in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. I researched local clubs and spoke to coaches on the phone before going along and trying out a session. I would not have thought it would lead me to European titles and representing GB at the Paralympics 10 years later, but that just proves the magic of sport, taking a chance and developing a passion.

Thanks to Susie for a fantastic article. Next Friday the BBS Sports Blog will feature an interview with Five-time Paralympic Gold medalist Sophie Christiansen.