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Dream-A-Way is excited to announce the appointment of Devon based Paralympic Swimmer and ParaTriathlete David Hill as our latest Vice-President. David was born in Exeter in 1989 with his left arm missing below the elbow.
David, aged 8
David grew up in Exmouth and at the age of 3, his parents, Gill and James, taught him to swim as they wanted him to be safe and competent in water. He started to complete his swimming badges pretty much straight away and his parents also taught his older sister, Keira, to swim. She enjoyed training regularly with Exmouth Swimming and Life Saving Society (ES&LSS) and as he grew older, David became intrigued by her willingness to train and some sibling competitiveness took over. He went along to a training session with her and loved the social aspect the club brought and was keen to progress up the lanes to become the best that he could be.
Athens 2004 with Nan, his number one fan!
His hard work paid off and in 2004 he was selected for the Athens Paralympic Games where he was Team GB’s youngest athlete at just 15 years of age.
During his 15-year career as an Elite Athlete, he became a World and European Medallist and British Champion in the 100m Backstroke.
In the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Paralympics David was a Top 10 Finisher in the Sprint Triathlon which comprises a 750m Swim, 20km Bike, 5km Run and typically takes about an hour to complete.
He now works in the new industry of Athlete Mentoring utilising the experiences and skills he learnt first-hand through sport to help inspire, motivate and empower young people who face disadvantage to lead more positive lives. This role came about post London 2012 when Lord Coe’s ambition for the games coming to the UK was to ‘inspire a generation’. A lot of David’s work is also now focused on engaging and enabling school pupils to establish and aspire to achieving their dreams.
He is also the Athlete Team Leader for the South West to empathise with and support all athletes that have competed at the highest level through transition from elite sport into other successful and meaningful careers. More about what David offers can be seen here: https://www.DavidHillGB.com/ David is also now Head Coach at Exmouth Swimming Club where he took his first strokes as a 3-year-old!
David says: “After meeting the Dream-A-Way team I was hooked and really keen to get involved because of all the volunteers’ kindness and passion to provide much needed help to local young people and families. I look forward to helping the charity grow and create even more smiles by spreading their message in my role as Vice-President.”
Dream-A-Way Chair Jeff Merrett MBE added: “We are extremely proud to announce that David has agreed to join our team as he has exceeded expectations in all he’s done in life. He will act as a huge inspiration to our younger guests and to have his support really is exciting as we race towards our 25th year and celebrate our Silver Anniversary.”
Life has certainly thrown some challenges at David, but looking back, he says he wouldn’t change a thing.
You can follow David on social media at:
https://www.facebook.com/DavidHillGB/
