French Swimmer Prepares for Paralympics Glory

Mentally-handicapped French swimmer Alicia Mandin is one of her country's biggest hopes for the Paralympics Games in London.

Published

9 months ago

Categories

Sports, Olympic Sports

Topics

Paralympic Games

People

Alicia Mandin

Places

France, London, United Kingdom

Transcript

SCRIPT: It's a dream come true. Alicia, a French swimmer with learning difficulties is going to London as part of her country's Paralympics team. Although Alicia is among the great French hopes for the Games, her camp prefers to keep expectations low, for the moment. SOUNDBITE 1 Bertrand Sébire, Coach (French, 5 sec): "A medal would be extraordinary, more than extraordinary, a paralympic dream." Since childhood Alicia has had to cope with both epilepsy and severe dyslexia. But that hasn't stopped her from taking her passion for swimming to the highest level. At 22, she already has several French championship titles under her belt. She's also a European silver medalist, and world champion in the 50-metre breaststroke category. As much as she targets further success in the pool Alicia also sees her role as providing an inspiration for future generations. SOUNDBITE 2, Alicia Mandin, Swimmer (French, 14 sec): "Well, I'm happy because the Paralympics will make people come and support us, and also help children who could be doing sports but don't think that they're able to." Alicia doesn't like to think too far ahead, because the competitive nature of top level sport presents a huge challenge for her. She tends to panic when faced with rapid change, and that makes her future unpredictable. Her coach, meanwile, says this is the reason why she needs to develop interests outside of swimming. SOUNDBITE 3, Bertrand Sébire, Coach (French, 17 sec): "What worries me is what happens after the Games. We need to prepare her return into social life so she doesn't crash. It's hard to be at the top and then return to a lower level in society." But in the meantime Alicia will do her best in the two events that she's signed up for, one race in breaststroke and another in freestyle. ---------------------------------------- SHOTLIST : DATE: MAY 22 AND AUG 13, 2012 LOCATION: POITIERS, France SOURCE: AFPTV - VAR Alicia training in pool Soundbite 1 - VAR Alicia doing exercises - VAR Alicia swimming Soundbite 2 - VAR Alicia training in pool Soundbite 3 - VAR Alicia and her coach