Curious Incidents of a Flailing Mermaid

Viva La Vida

Soundtrack to My Life – Track twenty

I *think* I have spoken about the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games before. I can’t find it in my blog but I am pretty sure it is here somewhere.
At the Games, I won one bronze and one silver medal. The silver looks like this (but with the Paralympic logo instead of Olympic), real solid silver with real jade set into it:



The bronze medal wasn’t very dramatic: it was what I expected to win in that race.
The Silver, however, has two stories attached to it. The first of which is the one I believe I’ve already told here – my shoulder was falling off, couldn’t move my arm, told not to swim, I did anyway, won silver then had surgery. It is a story I tell at all my schools to demonstrate determination and not wanting to give up.

But the other story is one that I’m 90% certain I haven’t told here. In fact, I don’t really tell it to anyone anymore. There is very little point. But I will today.

In 2006, I won gold in the 50m backstroke at the World Championships. I beat the rest of the field by 6 seconds! I was over the moon and found myself right at the top of the world rankings. And I stayed at the top until May 2008 (three months before the Paralympics) when suddenly I was relegated to 2nd in the world, which I didn’t realise until I was chatting to a friend.
Me: so, yeah I’m aiming for gold and that 17 year old World Record that no one can seem to break [at Beijing]
P: Ahh…
Me: What?
P: it’s just been broken by 5 seconds… you have a new girl in your class.
Me: Oh shit!

So, my dreams of easily getting a gold medal were smashed. But the story doesn’t end there…

I didn’t get to see this new girl swim until we got to Beijing. I then saw here in the warm up pool a few times and I watched her race because she was in the heat before me in my bronze medal race. She was very very able. She might have been slightly weaker than me, but her control was perfect and her arms went round like windmills. It was very clear she was in the wrong class

(in disability swimming, swimmers race in classes according to their physical impairment. So, S1 are the most severely disabled and S10 are the least – I was a S3)

In the race I won bronze in, the new girl got silver. Afterwards, a few people told me I’d been robbed. But the 50m back was the next day so I needed to focus.

The next day I was in agony, stressed and in a bad mood. In the morning heat, the new girl broke the world record again and I qualified in 2nd for the final. I remember storming to the swim-down pool and having the following, heated, discussion with my coach:

Me: This is ridiculous, she’s clearly in the wrong class
C: I know…
Me: Yes, everyone knows. Do something about it!
C: I can’t
Me: Errr as a country we can appeal
C: We’ve been told not to
Me: WHAT? Why?
C: Because we don’t want other countries appealing against our borderline swimmers
Me: You mean our cheater?
C: ahem… they have a good chance of gold
Me: I WILL get gold in six hours if this becomes a fair race
C: I know and I’m sorry. But I promise you it wont
Me: Fuck this shit *swims of to cool down*


Soooo yeah politics stopped me getting gold. I won silver, three seconds faster than the bronze medallist – despite a severe injury.

Anyway, the music: Just before I raced to silver I listened to track twenty on repeat. I mostly chose it because it was catchy. But actually the words fit quite well:

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"

Coldplay – Viva La Vida