Boylan Makes a Splash
On Sunday 18 October, Nicholas Boylan will become the first British male to compete in the newly formed S14 category for those with learning disabilities at the IPC European Swimming Championships in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Athletes with learning disabilities were banned from competing at the Paralympics in Athens and Beijing following controversy at the Sydney games in 2000. The Spanish basketball team won gold at the Games but were later stripped of their medals when 10 of the 12 man squad were found not to have learning disabilities as they had claimed.
Ever since then the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has monitored the situation and worked with Learning Disability Sport to establish a new classification for learning disabled athletes. In May of this year the IPC stated learning disability events will be introduced on a phase tested basis – starting with the S14 category at the European Swimming Championships in Iceland.
Nicholas, 25 from Ashford, competes for Canterbury ASA Swimming Club and is supported by Kent’s Rising Stars programme. Competing with seven other athletes in the S14 classification, Nicholas won a silver medal in Iceland, for second place in 100m breaststroke, recording a new personal best taking – taking 3 seconds of his previous p.b! The result marks a great year for Boylan. In July he captained the world record breaking GB 4x100m relay team who won gold at the INAS-FID Global Games in the Czech Republic. He also went on to grab a bronze medal in the 4x50m medley relay and has continued to record a number of good results throughout the year.
As an ambassador for Ashford Borough Council, Nicholas was involved in the Olympic Handover celebrations in 2008 and it is hoped that the positive performance by all S14 athletes in Iceland will help persuade the IPC to include the category as part of the 2012 Paralympics.
Follow this link for more information on the IPC European Swimming Championships
For information on Kent’s Rising Stars programme, follow this link
