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| Sam Hynd |
FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH
Swimming’s Paralympics star Sam Hynd continues to swim from strength to strength, as he prepares for Beijing, with the Paralympic World Cup ahead this week in Manchester, 7th-13th May.
Having smashed his second world Record in the space of a month at the Beijing qualifiers in Sheffield in April, for the men’s 400m Freestyle, 16-year-old Sam was named as part of the squad for Beijing last week, 1st May.
EIS Strength & Conditioning Coach Matt Bramhall has been working with several athletes involved in the Paralympic World Cup based at Loughborough, including hot swimming prospect Sam Hynd of the Nova Centurian swimming club.
“The main focus for Sam’s preparation has been to continue to build his strength and to keep him injury free” said Bramhall. “He’s a great lad to work with and he works extremely hard in the gym as well as the pool, where he’s had great success already this year” he added.
Sam’s also getting ready for the fight ahead and hoping the World Cup is another stepping stone to success in Beijing he said;
"I'm really looking forward to competing at the Paralympic World Cup. It's a great event and it will the first time I have competed at it so it will be a good experience for me. I will be swimming against some of the best swimmers in my classification so it will be good preparation for me if I am selected for the Paralympic squad,"
"The past 12 months have gone well for me so hopefully I can turn those performances to medals in Manchester."
Although Sam will be just 17 by the time of the Beijing Games, he won’t be the youngest of the 36-strong squad, with the fresh faces of Eleanor Simmonds (13), Elizabeth Simpkin (14), Louise Watkins (15), Kate Grey (19) and Rachael Latham (18) all making their Paralympics debut this year, with experienced champions like Sascha Kindred, Dave Roberts and Jim Anderson also nominated.
Sam currently holds the British records for the S9 50m Freestyle, S8 100m Freestyle, S8 200m Freestyle, S8 400m Freestyle, SB 50m Breaststroke, SB8 200m Breaststroke, SM8 200m Individual Medley, SM10 400m Individual Medley.
by Rebecca Lee
07.05.08
Photo courtesy of British Swimming
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