Aquatic Athlete - Laura Jervis
Location: Northwich, Cheshire
Coach: Anne Calver
Laura is aged 22. She has been coached since the age of 10 by Anne Calver who has known her since she was a baby. When she first came to a youth club run by Anne she could barely swim. Now she is one of the most dedicated members of the SO group of 64 swimmers. She trains twice a week in Northwich and competes in every possible event. Laura has twice competed in SO national games.
Laura has Downs Syndrome which means some physical challenges as well as learning difficulties. Anne says this means instructions have to be broken down and repeated. There are hundreds of ways to teach a technique or stroke and she has to find the key to what works best for Laura. But she says Laura is the one who puts in the hardest work and she has seen her develop and improve with steady and consistent progress.
Laura competes in about 10 competitions a year and has won a lot of medals, including many gold. She competed in the Cardiff, Portsmouth and most recently Glasgow national games where she won gold in the 50m front crawl, and at a recent Mencap gala she won two gold medals, one individual and the other for the relay. At the US national games in Florida four years ago she was one of 20 SOGB swimmers invited to take part in special events and she won the overall trophy. Her biggest event in the past year was the Mencap national competition in Sheffield where she won a gold and two silver medals.
Laura’s boyfriend Richard Perris is also an excellent swimmer. He has been put forward three times for world games (including Shanghai) but has so far not been selected. But he is excited for Laura and will give her every support in training for the big event. Laura’s times have improved hugely in the past few years so there are high hopes of gold in Shanghai.
Laura loves the challenge of competition and has a winner’s instinct. She has moved past her early nerves and now there’s never any sign of them. She competes in backstroke and breast stroke but it is in her freestyle that she really excels. Anne says it’s taken Laura a long time to get to where she is now but her freestyle is a joy to watch, her strokes are smooth and she glides in the water like only the best and most natural swimmers do. Laura can swim up to 100m. She has a problem with distance because she is asthmatic but she has learned to adapt her swimming to this and is working towards 200m. She has in the past also competed in SO table tennis and badminton.
Laura has good understanding, reading, writing skills. She is at a college where she does a lot of adventure activities like abseiling, climbing. It’s a kind of sheltered workshop where they work with animals, gardening, clean the chalets and lots of other activities.
Outside college she has a lot of what her coach describes as ‘Voom’. She is always doing something, almost never at home. Her social life is hectic and includes cinema, bowling, table tennis. But her big love is ballroom dancing. She goes to classes with a teacher called Harry. When the class went to watch a professional ballroom event in Blackpool Laura insisted on getting up on the floor with Harry and impressed everyone watching with her dance skills. Laura’s confidence is also reflected in how she dresses. She loves fashion, smart clothes, big earrings and very high heels.
Laura has a family who are very supportive of her sporting achievements. She lives at home and has two older brothers, one of them at home.
TO ARRANGE AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ATHLETES OR COACHES, PLEASE CONTACT THE SOGB NATIONAL OFFICE.
TELEPHONE: 020 7696 5569 OR EMAIL TO: pr@sogb.org.uk