Get Isabella to Rio!

Aim

Our amazingly talented Para-Swimmer Isabella has been asked by ESSA to compete in Rio De Janeiro in the World games in August!

Isabella is a Swim Bournemouth member who inspires all of us! 

Isabella has been competing all over the country this year, and after some incredible swims has been asked by ESSA to compete in Rio De Janeiro in August in the World Games, representing England!! What an achievement!

Isabella is an S9 swimmer, what this means is she falls under the "Para" umbrella, Isabella has a below knee amputation (S9), that has never stopped her performing and continuing to smash all of her goals! Her main goal being that one day she will be a Para-Olympian, and getting her to Rio will only get her one step closer to achieving that goal!

But who better to tell you why she wants to go than Isabella herself-

"I am Isabella, I am 14 years old and I am a classification S9 swimmer (through the 

knee amputee).

Why I love to swim.

I am not sure really, but I think that swimming is something I excel at and that I can improve on overtime. Swimming brings me purpose and fuels my competitive drive to win. I enjoy seeing my progress at the end of a meet and knowing that in that moment I was faster than I ever was before. In training what pushes me to commit to early mornings and the hard sessions is that this is a time to improve myself and my swimming. No matter how hard it is I have to do it eventually, there are harder things to overcome in life and I can sleep as much as I want later. 

Swimming has given me unique feelings and emotions, moments when time just feels off / weird. Like waiting behind the block at an event, the whistle blowing and release of nervous energy when I hit the water. Nothing else feels like that.

When swimming with Swim Bournemouth I feel equal and accepted as part of a bigger Team. Swim Bournemouth allows me to dream big and pursue my dream of becoming a Paralympic swimmer. 

ISF World School Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2023. Competing as a para-swimmer means that I get to go to competitions without other swimmers from Swim Bournemouth. It is good as I get to meet other para swimmers and share their experiences. Competing in the big events has helped me mature and grow in confidence. I feel strong, capable, and confident when I am in the water. The opportunity to go to Rio represents my next big step towards my dream of the Paralympics. This is my chance to travel abroad with a team of swimmers I haven’t met before and without my parents to hold my hand. It is a little scary, but gaining the experience of traveling internationally is just amazing and I want to prove to myself that I can do it, that I am ready for the next challenge."

Isabella the whole of Swim Bournemouth is behind you, always, and we are all so proud of you! 

This project successfully funded on 9th July 2023