Teesdale swimming team in Sheffield for national games

A SPECIAL team of swimmers is facing its biggest challenge in four years.

Teesdale Special Olympics squad is competing at the National Games in Sheffield this week.

The seven-strong side will be up against the best in the country at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in a number of heats running until Friday.

Team coach John Richardson was full of praise for the team’s commitment and had his fingers crossed things would go well.

He said: “They have come on unbelievably and they have worked so hard.

“We have given them instructions over what we would like them to do and they’ve taken to it like ducks to water.”

Special Olympics is the “third arm” of the Olympics movement alongside the Paralympics and the Olympics. With 4.5 million Special Olympics athletes across the world, the aim of the global movement is for athletes to see themselves for their abilities and not their disabilities.

Months of training at Teesdale Leisure Centre have seen the team improve markedly and team organiser Michael Elston puts this down to Mr Richardson.

Mr Elston said: “John has made a huge difference to the way they swim.

“At the moment we just have a swimming team – we did have athletics and we are certainly hoping to add golf to our roster.

“We have a lot of contacts and Barnard Castle Golf Club have said they are going to get involved as well.”

Team member Adam Rowntree is a relatively new member of the squad and this week will mark his championship debut.

His mum, Pauleen, said the family was taking the caravan down to Sheffield to support him and the team.

She said: “He only started the group about a year ago – it's been very good for him.”

Teesdale’s squad have come a long way since their last appearance at the National Championships in Bath four years ago.

Barnard Castle’s Jonathan Taylour has been one of the stars of the last few years and he will bolster the team’s bid for medals.

Tireless fundraising and volunteering has attracted more members to the squad as well as allowing more family members to attend events.

Mr Elston added: “We have a couple who are approaching 40 but most of the team are really young – they like to change competition as they get older.

“For the next games we hope to be doing more than just swimming.”

Read how the team got on in next week’s Mercury.