CORSHAM swimmer Stephanie Millward is glad to be proving her doubters wrong after securing her place in the British squad for the World Para-Swimming Championships this week.
Millward had her funding from British Swimming cut earlier this year, a move that led the 35-year-old, who suffers with multiple sclerosis, to take them all the way to high court, before eventually losing her battle.
With Millward staring at the only option of stepping away from the sport that she loved, Hitachi Capital UK stepped in to provide her with the sponsorship she needed to carry on.
Last week, she took to the pool in Sheffield at the British Summer Championships where she claimed a gold medal, a silver medal and two fourth places to leave selectors with little choice but to include her in the 26-strong team heading to Mexico at the end of September.
“It’s incredible,” she told the Gazette and Herald.
“I was kind of thrown from the team and I just didn’t expect to be included again.
“The past few days, I was sat there wondering if they would take me or not, it was a very worrying time.
“It was like a breath of fresh air when they told me on Monday morning that I was part of the team.
“I still believe I am at my best so I can now carry on showing everyone how good I am and how good I believe I am.
“Hitachi Capital UK are amazing for stepping in when they did. They saved my life. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be swimming now.
“I have no idea where this leaves me with central funding, I don’t know why they cut me the first time.
“Hopefully, I will do as well as I can and British Swimming will want to take me on funded.”
Despite concerns about a shoulder injury heading into the championships in Sheffield last week, under new coach Chris Addlington at Team Bath, Millward is enjoying her swimming again.
Millward, who swam in 10 races over four days secured her World Championships qualifying time on day one as she took the Women’s MC 400m freestyle title in a time of 4 minutes 51.11 seconds.
Millward also went on to claim silver in the 100m freestyle, as well as fourth place finishes in the 100m backstroke and the 200m individual medley.
“I’ve been training really hard with Team Bath and have been still enjoying every single day,” she added.
“I had a slight injury and I was worried about it beforehand but then I felt fast when I started racing and I just enjoyed it.
“There were 10 races in total in four days, which was pushing us a little bit but I tried to enjoy the whole competition.”
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