It's all going swimmingly

Words by Jenny Hudson

After being injured in October 2018 after falling off a horse, I was paralysed at T5 and became a wheelchair user. Before my accident I was very active and independent, and I was also newly married to my wonderful husband.

However, the BIG question for me, once I was out of rehab and back in the big wide world with all my able bodied friends, was how do I keep fit?

Here are some examples of what I do as a disabled swimmer:

• Back stroke – this is an easy stroke for me to do. if I pull my arms hard through the water, I can concentrate on making my stomach muscles and my shoulders work. It is also easy to get the breathing right with this stroke

• Breaststroke – not so easy I have not worked out yet how to get my head out of the water to take a breath, so I swim the length of the pool (40ft) in two or three does but again pulling my arms hard through the water really works the torso

• Crawl – the morning of my accident I had swum 50 lengths of a 40ft pool then I went on my fateful ride. These days I am really working on my crawl, this stroke like it did before my accident is the stroke that makes me work the hardest. Being T 5 its surprisingly difficult to get my arms out and over my head but I am getting there and its really satisfying

And it doesn’t stop there, I have also tried water yoga, and volleyball (however caution -wear a buoyance aide)

I love being able to swim post-injury and encourage others to do the same and try swimming if it’s a sport they’re interested in. I have found a lot of enjoyment and pleasure from being in the pool and would recommend it to anyone.