Meet the Team - Gemma Almond
Get to know first-time Paralympic swimmer Gemma Almond. Read her Tweets, view images, watch her in action and being interviewed, check out Gemma in numbers, see how her Paralympic rivals compare, and more.
D.O.B.
14.04.1993
Born
Shrewsbury
Height
4ft 11in
Training base
Swansea
Performance Centre
Coach
Billy Pye
In Action
SM10 200m Individual Medley on 30th August
S10 100m Butterfly on 1st August
S10 400m Freestyle on 5th September
S10 100m Freestyle on 6th September
Did you know?
- Gemma competes in the S10 category, due to bilateral hip dysplasia. This means that she doesn’t have a fully formed hip joint on both sides and therefore has no support for weight bearing on her legs.
- She found her passion lay in the water aged four after having hydrotherapy following an operation. As a non-weight bearing activity, it provides her with minimum pain.
- Gemma lives with a group of first year swimmers while studying history at Swansea University.
Gemma's Career
Making her Paralympic debut, Gemma has transferred the successes she has had nationally and at a junior level onto the senior international stage. Dominating disability events in breaststroke, freestyle and fly at the UK School Games for three years running, Gemma added to her trophy cabinet with a bronze in SM10 200 IM at the IPC European Championships 2011 – her first international swim, and medal. Since then, Gemma competed at the 2012 British Gas Championships in London, smashing her previous personal best by nearly four seconds to secure the SM10 200m IM Paralympic Qualification Time. She is also rapid over 100m Butterfly, winning bronze at the 2012 British Champs then smashing the British S10 record for silver at the British International a month later.
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