Matthew Sultana, 15, may be the youngest and only Maltese athlete taking part in the London 2012 Paralympic Games but he will not let the pressure get to him.
“I have to focus on the race and not let anything else distract me – that is the most important thing right now,” Mr Sultana told The Times.
Tomorrow at 9.30 a.m. Mr Sultana, who has an upper limb deformity, will take part in a heat in the 50m freestyle. If he makes it to the top 10, he will then compete in the final race later in the afternoon.
While he is “extremely excited” and “very proud” that he is the only Maltese athlete taking part, Mr Sultana said he did not attach much importance to his age.
“It doesn’t make that much of a difference to me that I am the youngest – I’m here to take part and I’m not going to let it affect me,” he said with a smile.
“It’s such a great experience being here at the Paralympic Village – everyone is so friendly and nice. It’s great to be here.”
He flew to London with his trainer Ebi Mohammadpour on Saturday and two days ago took part in a classification race that will allow him to take part in tomorrow’s heat.
Featuring a total of 600 athletes competing for 148 medals, swimming will be the second biggest competition at the London 2012 Paralympic Games that kicked off last night and will run through till September 9. Mr Sultana will also be taking part in the 100m butterfly race on Saturday and 100m breast stroke on September 8.
For the past two-and-a-half years Mr Sultana has been training with the NGO Inspire but last May he upped the momentum for the Paralympics – working out for one hour at 6.30 a.m. and another 90 minutes in the evening.
Keeping his feet firmly on the ground, Mr Sultana said his main goal was to improve his personal time. “I want to shave off one second to 29 seconds in the 50m freestyle and possibly finish the 100m butterfly race in 1.20 or 1.19 instead of the present 1.24,” he said.
“I am here and it’s more than enough. I want to continue training to be ready for the next Paralympics in four years’ time.”
He encouraged young people never to give up and to work at what they wanted to do. “I turned to swimming to become healthy but I started training and enjoyed the whole experience – swimming is my life now and I don’t know what I would do without it,” he said.
Mr Sultana has a strong support system behind him; including his parents who are flying up today to support their son throughout. His proud and excited mother Ruth said it was “a great honour” for her son to take part.
“He is very excited for the whole event but is very calm. Realistically, he wants to improve his time,” she said.
http://www.london2012.com/paralympics/swimming/schedule-and-results .