Chelsey Gotell, Star Athlete!

Chelsey Gotell is a 24-year-old world-class swimmer, who happens to be visually impaired.
Ten years ago, she was a high school student from Antigonish, with the school where I was teaching. She was competing in Nova Scotia at the provincial level and was already winning medals. I interviewed her by telephone for an article I was writing for the parents newsletter, and was impressed at her poise and P-R skills even at that age.

She swims in the Paralympic S13 class, meaning that she has only 10 per cent of normal vision in each eye. Over those ten years, she has worked her way up through regional, national -- and then international competitions -- in Sydney, Australia, Athens, and Beijing, and is IPC World Record holder: 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke, her specialty.

The Paralympics were founded in 1948 as the Stoke Mandeville Games in England for athletes in wheelchairs, by Dr. Ludwig Guttman, a rehab. neurologist.
The games were first staged internationally 50 years ago, following the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome. Canadian athletes were later invited to compete, and, right from the start, they achieved great performances. You can check out a comprehensive account of Canada’s Paralympic History .

In 2008, while a student in Sports Psychology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Chelsey captured five medals at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, including the women's 200-metre individual medley in a world-record time of two minutes 28.15 seconds.

This past summer, she claimed the gold medal, with a time of 1:23.10, in the women’s 100 metres breaststroke, at the IPC World Championships in Eindoven, Netherlands, and also won a silver in the 100-m backstroke, and a bronze.

You want rankings? We have rankings!
Here are her current IPC S13 rankings ....
First: Women's 100 m Breaststroke;
2nd: Long Course Women's 100 m Backstroke;
3rd: Women's 200 m Individual Medley; and
6th: Women's 100 m Freestyle.

Where does Chelsey go from here?
According to a SwimCan report from 2008, her long-term swimming goals include qualifying for nationals in the Able-Bodied category, as well as breaking the world record in the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke.

We’ll be cheering in the grandstands!