Swimming: Paralympic star growing into role-model status

Sophie Pascoe says she never imagines how life might be without disability, rather it's "the best thing that ever happened to me". Photo / AP

Sophie Pascoe trains about 26 hours in six days a week, has won a bundle of gold medals at the highest level and is among the country's best-known sports women.

The fact that she is a disabled athlete is by the by. And if you're tempted to feel any sympathy for her, or her fellow top-class Paralympians, best do it outside their hearing.

Indeed the 20-year-old from Christchurch, preparing for the world championships this month, exudes positivity about her life.

She's become a champion of the disabled athlete cause, her profile rising as doors open, including advertising beef and lamb alongside fellow female Olympic medallists Lisa Carrington and Sarah Walker, whom she calls her "fellow iron maidens".

Now consider this: "To this day I believe it is the best thing that ever happened to me."

Pascoe is talking about the day, aged 2, when an accident with the family lawnmower resulted in the loss of her lower left leg. "I never look back and think what if," she said.

"Look what I've created for myself and how proud are my parents now to see what could have been a tragic accident and the way their daughter has turned out.

"To be able to give something back to them and make a positive out of what people think of as a negative, that's an amazing feeling. If I can get someone who has had an accident and basically thinks life is over out of that mind frame, by what I've done in and out of the water, I'm doing something right, not only for myself but for others."

Pascoe's determination and decisiveness shine through as she ponders what she has achieved in the last two Paralympics and what lies ahead, at the worlds and in the Rio Paralympics in 2020.

Four medals at Beijing in 2008 as "a naive, young 15-year-old" were followed by six more in London. Cue the third straight Halberg Disabled Sports Person award. Life has changed "absolutely" since Beijing.

"I've been very fortunate to make swimming a career, something I love doing, but it comes with hard work. It's challenging for me, that's why I get up every day, it's a new challenge."

Now there are sponsors and responsibilities. She has her own team - including coach Roly Crichton, training partner Katie Kennelly and bio-mechanist Matt Ingram, who have been preparing for the worlds in Flagstaff, Arizona - all geared to keeping Pascoe at the top of the game.

She loves motivational speaking and thinks if she can inspire one person in the room, it's worthwhile.

Pascoe will contest five events in Montreal but admits she hasn't had the ideal buildup this year. She's reluctant to go into specifics, but said both mental and physical issues had presented "a few hurdles this year, something I haven't experienced before since coming back from London".

She is competing in the 100m freestyle, butterfly, backstroke and "maybe" breaststroke, plus the 50m freestyle. Expectations? "That stays between us [her team] until I produce in the water".

Pascoe isn't going to overdo it in Montreal, aware of the challenge of pushing too hard after a big year.

"I trained four years for that [London] and obviously there can be a come down from a big high. I haven't had the most steady year so far, but no excuses. I'm going there to do personal bests."

She hasn't a clue how many world records she's set - "it's not really about that for me. Every time I go into a race it's about clocking a good time. Gold is just a bonus on top."