December 01, 2011 at 1:00 PM
Young Burpengary swimmer Emily Schmidt is hoping to get something special for her 19th birthday – selection in the 2012 Paralympic Games.
Emily has just returned from the INAS Global Games – World Championships for Intellectually Impaired Athletes in Italy, where she won a gold medal in the 4 x 50m medley relay and managed to shave 12 seconds off her personal best time in the 200m breaststroke.
Although Emily said she got a bit tired of pizza and pasta, the Italian food must have agreed with her because after the games, Emily found out she had broken two Australian records for the 50m and 200m breaststroke in her class.
Emily’s mother Jan said the Global Games had been a terrific experience for her daughter, although Emily still had a lot of hard work ahead of her before final team selections in April next year.
“Although she’s already in the shadow squad, it’s really down to next year’s Australian Championships and then it’s all systems go. Luckily, Emily seems to handle the pressure much better than I do,” she said.
“Emily has Sotos Syndrome which is quite rare and in the past it would have meant a short life expectancy. Early intervention is the key, and we started Emily swimming to keep her out of a back brace and to help with her asthma.”
To help the Schmidt family with the cost of competing in the Global Games and other events, they have received sponsorship funding as part of the Caboolture Sports Club's Rising Stars program.
“We’d really like to thank the sports club for all their support and continued assistance to help Emily compete at an elite level.”