Average Disabled Jen vs Paralympic Sports
In September 2024, inspired by the paralympic games in Paris, I decided to try & reignite my love of sport by exploring what disability & inclusive sports are available in my local area. I was pretty sporty before becoming disabled but have really struggled to find something that works for me as someone who is disabled & chronically ill. I know that movement is helpful for both my physical & mental health but I really struggle to pace myself. I really hope that sharing these ideas & my experiences of what is available for the average disabled person helps you find something that might work for you and shows you you don’t have to be a Paralympian to enjoy disability sport. I am very excited to expand this series further in 2025 with more disability sport and other new things to try as your average disabled person.
Swimming
First up we tried swimming! I have always loved to swim but I’ve been less and less over the past few years as I can’t get myself out of the pool so I was so excited to find a way to make swimming MUCH easier for me using the pool pod at my local everyone active gym & I’m also wanted to see how fast I can swim & how that compares to the paralympians.
First up they had this awesome changing places changing room and toilet with loads of fab features including a full ceiling hoist. The pool pod has been a complete gamechanger. You can use one of the two different pool wheelchairs or if you’re more ambulatory sit in the built in seats with a carer opposite you.
Now in the pool it’s time to see how your average disabled Jen compares to a paralympian. So paralympic classifications are difficult and I don’t fit neatly in a category but would put myself as an s9 or s10. The world record for S9 50m freestyle is 28.29 seconds. I managed to complete my lap in 36 seconds. …..over just half the distance (25m) so I wont be challenging for a medal any time soon. But I really loved finding a way I could get back in the pool in a much more accessible way.
Cycling
Next up I tried cycling a go with my support worker Eboni. We went to a Sport for confidence session at everyone active Basildon . These classes are supported by occupational therapists which is amazing. Para cycling is the one sport I have tried since becoming disabled and have used a recumbent trike before and although the position was great I couldn’t do it regularly as there weren’t many sessions available. This time I tried out all the different cycles they had on offer including a standard trike, a hand bike, a side by side tandem and a bike my wheelchair could go on the front of. There was really something for everyone.
The hand cycle was MUCH harder than I imagined & in the moment I was not enjoying it but in retrospect it’s the one I’d go back for! I found the trike wasn’t supportive enough for me & recumbent would definitely be a better option. Eboni & I really enjoyed testing out the tandem and wheelchair options and she found them easy to cycle even with the added weight on the front of the bike.
It took me about 8mins to get round the 400m track on the hand cycle so I’m definitely waaaayyy off the Paralympics but it was a lot of fun trying something new!
Gymnastics
Gymnastics isn’t in the Paralympics?! Well it should be!
We headed to south Essex gymnastics to give Rhythmic Gymnastics a try with the brilliant coach Katie O’Connor and you can head to my YouTube channel to watch a fab chat with Katie about growing up as a disabled gymnast & how she’s helping make things more inclusive alongside the South Essex Gymnastics team.
One of the highlights of the Olympics for me was watching the gymnastics and it’s one of the events I’d really love to see at the Paralympics!
Katie started me off gently with a bit of ribbon work & I was feeling way too confident! Making circles with a ribbon, easy right? The professionals make it look easy whilst I tied myself up 😂
Then we moved onto clubs & after hitting myself on the head and nearly falling out on my wheelchair I was getting there with the skills until Katie told me they had to be thrown twice as high to count in competition
Gymnastics was one of the things on my list where I thought how on earth are they going to adapt that but I was so happy to be proved wrong. Katie, Abbie & Myself all have totally different disabilities but everything was adapted to work for all of us and seeing that was something I loved the most
Overall I really loved this and I think I’m going to go back! British Gymnastics is fighting hard to get gymnastics into the Paralympics in Brisbane 2032 and I would love to see it.
Boccia
As one of the only sports at that Paralympics that doesn’t have an Olympic counterpart and one I haven’t tried before I was so excited to give Boccia a go!
Its a deceivingly simple sport where you throw balls at a jack ball and the ball closest to the jack wins and the more balls you have closer to the jack than the other team the more points you win. But as I learnt (too late) this game is more about strategy than it is about skill. I thought I was pretty good at getting my balls near the jack but then the other team would block us or knock our balls out of the way and I was gutted that my team ended up losing 15-3 👎🏻
Whilst at the Paralympics Boccia is mainly played solo it was great that this sport for confidence session was in team & it was fab to be part of a team environment which I haven’t had with the other sports I’ve tried. We got competitive, talked tactics and celebrated the wins. There were loads of people there with lots of different disabilities who compete alongside each other and non disabled players too.
Sport for confidence is such an amazing organisation working across Essex & London run by Occupational Therapists to support people with all sorts of disabilities get into sport and movement so definitely recommend checking them out!
I loved trying all these sports and seeing what’s available for the average disabled person to get involved with I really enjoyed all of them! I’m definitely planning on doing more swimming and would love to give gymnastics another go plus try out some other sports like wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball. Let us know what other activities you would love to see me try as part of this new average disabled Jen series!
