Firth ‘more determined’ than ever ahead of Rio 2016

“I have never been good at back-to-back competitions so having qualified for Rio in all of my four events the week before and then reaching the podium at the Europeans was amazing.”

Great Britain’s Paralympic champion Bethany Firth is fully recovered from the injury that saw her miss last year’s World Championships, and is now focused on reaching her best possible shape ahead of Rio 2016.

The London 2012 100m backstroke S14 gold medallist broke her wrist just days before the Worlds got underway in Glasgow, in 2015.

“It was a fluke accident and was awful when it happened,” she said.

“But it has made me more determined to show people what I can do and I am looking forward to the future.”

Firth is now fully recovered and deep into her preparations for September’s Paralympic Games.

“I have taken a year out of my Sports Science studies at SERC Bangor so that I can focus on getting ready for Rio,” she said.

“My trainings are getting harder and my coach, British Swimming and the Sports Institute Northern Ireland are all helping me on my preparations for the Paralympics.

“I have great support behind me and it is with their help that I will be able to meet my objectives.”

Firth also experienced a minor setback in the lead-up to the 2016 IPC Swimming European Open Championships, in Funchal, Portugal, in May.

After achieving qualification for Rio 2016 at the national trials, she arrived in Funchal when the competition had begun thus missed the 100m backstroke, her favourite event.

But Firth still collected two silver medals in the 100m breaststroke SB14 and the 200m individual medley SM14.

“I was very pleased,” she said.

“I have never been good at back-to-back competitions so having qualified for Rio in all of my four events the week before and then reaching the podium at the Europeans was amazing.”

With the Paralympic Games fast approaching, the 20-year-old is excited but, at the same time, wants to remain down to earth.

“I am trying to be positive but there is a lot of good talent out there so I will just have to see how it goes each time I race,” she said.

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Sport fans from around the world can now buy their Paralympic tickets for Rio 2016 from authorised ticket resellers (ATRs)

The IPC’s Global ATR is Jet Set Sports, and Rio 2016 tickets and packages can be purchased on the CoSport website.

Residents of Brazil can buy 2016 Paralympics tickets directly from the Rio 2016 website.

Visa International is the exclusive payment card and the official payment system for the Paralympic Games.