Para-swimmers race against the clock at SportsAble gala

Swimmers raced against the clock to beat their personal best times at a junior para-swimming gala run by SportsAble on Thursday, September 22.

The para-swimming gala was relaunched by the charity to celebrate the Rio Paralympic Games and was held at Newlands Girls’ School in Farm Road.

Paralympic gold medallist Jeanette Chippington also paid a special visit to the gala to support the swimmers.

Sharon Bridge, swimming coach at SportsAble, said: “It was brilliant and we had lots of support from parents.

“Jeanette also came down which was just lovely and at the end we threw all the toys in the pool so the children could play.

“We held our adult para-swimming gala on Sunday night which was also a success.

“I had phenomenal backing from our president John Jenkins, who was one of our timekeepers and an ex-international swimmer, Damian Ng who has recently retired as an international swimmer and now works for SportsAble, and Dave White who is our Para-Pathway swimming officer.”