53-year-old David Hill from Maidenhead in Berkshire has won the ASA Achievement Award for people for people with disabilities. The award is made to celebrate an individual who has overcome, or continues to overcome, a disability and is progressing in their chosen aquatic discipline, accomplishing great things in the pool throughout the year. This individual has completed either a personal or structured aquatic challenge in the last 12 months. This could be for their own enjoyment and sense of achievement or perhaps to raise money for charity.
David has cerebral palsy and attended SportsAble Aqua Stars in July 2013 as a non-swimmer. He did not have a good experience at school so never learnt to swim.
In April 2015 David was set the challenge of swimming the equivalent of the English Channel - 22 miles in 22 weeks - along with everyone in his class. David has gone from swimming 6 lengths at the beginning of the challenge to 28 lengths at a recent session.
An incredible achievement considering he has limited use of his right arm, little power in his right leg and struggles with his breathing.
David is an inspirational swimmer to us all, demonstrating that it is never too late in life to take up something new.
