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Blog: "Being active has made me feel more confident."

The English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) website features a blog post every Friday. This year, we'll be sharing the experiences of disabled people involved in sport and exercise at all levels, finding out what impact being active has on their lives. Today, 13-year-old Ellen Stephenson talks about her love for swimming.

Ellen Stephenson in pool ready to swim in a race.

Hi, I’m Ellen, I live in Newcastle upon Tyne and I have Mosaic Down Syndrome.

As soon as I could swim as a baby, I did, and I have been swimming ever since. I am now a member of the Newcastle Swim Team, North East Disability Swimming Club and Down Syndrome Swimming GB team (DSS-GB team).

I’m very committed to my swimming. I train six days a week and currently do most training with the Newcastle Swim Team. I also swim with the North East Disability Swim Club once a month and meet the DSS-GB team at training camps three times a year all over the UK.

The things I enjoy most about being active is that it keeps me fit and it has given me the opportunity to make lots of new friends. My team mates at DSS-GB are a great example as we give each other lots of support and become really good friends because of our sport.

I can say that being active has played and is playing a supporting role in my daily life as it makes me feel more confident. Also, at school I feel happy as everybody knows I am a swimmer.

I love swimming but exercising can have its toll on me and can make me feel tired but overall I feel happier for doing it.

I’m quite lucky as I have a lot of support from my family and friends. It really means a lot to me as they always come to competitions to cheer me on and it’s their support that helps me to do well.

I’ve recently been selected for Sport Newcastle's Platinum award and it will see me recieve a bursary from them every year for the next three years. I have also just competed at the National Para-Swimming Championships in Manchester in December 2017. In 2018, I will hopefully be taking part in regional and national para-swimming events again, and I am excited about going to the World Down Syndrome Championships in Canada in July.

My advice to other disabled people who are thinking about getting into a sport or being more active is- give it a try. You make plenty of friends along the way and if it keeps you fit then it would be good to give it a go.  

If you want to be more active but aren't sure how to start, visit our dedicated webpages for advice.