Imagine swimming blindfolded as tens of millions of individuals worldwide watch on.
That’s how Stephen Clegg will really feel when the Paralympic Games in Paris roll spherical this summer time – the S12 swim star has round half a metre’s imaginative and prescient in every eye. From expertise, three-time Tokyo medallist Clegg estimates it might take ’10-plus’ years for an achieved swimmer to find the identical speeds with out sight and there are not any manuals or books that will help you alongside the way in which.
“I think there’s a misconception of how visual impairments work,” mentioned Clegg, who has Stargardt’s macular dystrophy, which results in the lack of central imaginative and prescient. “Everyone thinks we can’t see this and that. For example, I can’t see the wall very well, so it means I struggle to turn as quickly as other people.
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“But as time has evolved, I’ve realised that impairment is all about skill acquisition.” So how does Clegg navigate the flip in backstroke or keep within the centre of his lane?
“At this point, it’s quite intuitive,” mentioned Clegg, who beforehand counted 38 strokes per size for backstroke. “It’s something you build yourself up to. As you do it so repetitively it just becomes so instinctual and you know the wall is coming.
“My technique has got better and more consistent over time and I don’t leave the lane either anymore. I know if I keep my technique consistently even on each side, I’m going to swim in a straight line. So I don’t need to work on stuff like that anymore, which is a really nice position to be in. But that’s taken time and a few concussions along the way.”
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The 28-year-old hopes it’s third Games fortunate in his pursuit of gold having completed fifth, fourth, third – twice – and second in his 5 Paralympic finals throughout Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. Clegg, whose sister Libby is a double Paralympic dash champion, is banking on a change in mindset to assist him over the road this time spherical.
“After Tokyo I had a long period of reflection on what went wrong, not just in Tokyo but also my approach in the months leading up to it,” he mentioned. “I remoted myself from the skin world and I used to be so end result oriented. I realised I wasn’t having fun with my life exterior of sport.
“After Tokyo I went away for a pair months, I used to be browsing in Brazil and having fun with my greatest life. I attempted a number of different sports activities and had that room to experiment. There, I rediscovered the love of being new to one thing and never searching for fantastic margins as an elite-level athlete.
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“I was able to translate that back into swimming and over the last three years I’ve experimented with new ways of learning. Learning how to develop skills became really fun and interesting and I think it’s why I’ve kept improving.”
The omens are actually constructive, with Clegg having claimed his first two world titles on this cycle. He shouldn’t be one for complacency, nonetheless. At his base on the University of Edinburgh, he and coach Mathew Trodden proceed to innovate.
“We add resistance to the water in sure locations so it feels extra emphatic when issues are going fallacious,” Clegg explained. “So one thing we do is stick a big plastic hand paddle on the small of the back. If our hips drop or our back arches, water catches the paddle and it’ll fly out, or we place a paddle on the top of our head and try to stay as stable as possible when we breathe.
(Image: Getty Images)
“Matt is doing that with the other 20 or so able-bodied swimmers I train with every day and it’s really working for them too.”
Clegg is one in all over 1,000 athletes supported by UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, permitting him to coach full time, have entry to the world’s greatest coaches and profit from pioneering medical help.
And due to the help of National Lottery gamers, Clegg believes he stays firmly heading in the right direction for a maiden Paralympic title within the French capital this summer time.
“None of the lights would go on without The National Lottery,” he mentioned. “They give people the opportunity to showcase their abilities. Everything we do is down to The National Lottery and I don’t think any athlete can thank them enough.”
National Lottery gamers increase greater than £30million per week for good causes together with very important funding into sport – from grassroots to elite. Find out how your numbers make wonderful occur at: www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk #TNLAthletes #MakeAmazingHappen