Paralympians return to the pool

Kindred is back in the pool after a month's relaxation

Herefordshire swimming stars Sascha Kindred and Nyree Lewis return to the pool this weekend for the first time since the Beijing Paralympics.

Kindred told BBC Hereford and Worcester that they are ready to get back into competitive swimming.

"We've been back from Beijing for a month now and we've hardly done any training - we had a holiday," he said.

"All the Paralympians are starting to get back into training so it's a bit of a fun meet for us," he added.

They will return to the pool at Ponds Forge in Sheffield for the National Short Course Championships and, while both hope to be competitive, their lack of practice means any talk of record-breaking swims is right off the agenda.

After the long build-up to the Beijing Games, Sasha and Lewis felt they were due a break from the strict training regime so spent 10 days in the United States.

Kindred picked up two golds and a bronze in Beijing, but for Lewis Beijing was to prove something of an anticlimax.

"The Games themselves were probably the best ones I have been to - they were my third Paralympics and the Chinese put on a great show and they were an awesome Games," she said.

"Competition-wise, they were probably my worst because I just didn't swim as well as I should have done.

"I came out with a silver medal which I am pleased with, but it should have been gold as that was what I went for," she added.