Port Elizabeth swimming sensation Kevin Paul who surprised himself and the world when he won gold for the 100 m breaststroke at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics talks about swimming and his faith in this interview with Kingfisher FM presenter Gareth Burley.
Paul, a second year law student at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University has broken his world record time of 1:08.58 several times since Beijing and is working hard for the 2012 Olympics in London.
He said the 2012 Paralympics would be very different to 2008 when he was an unknow 17-year-old schoolboy. “It is going to different going there next year with a target on my head.”
Paul said a top Russian swimmer had also broken his world record time and there were only 80 clicks between the top four competitors in his category.
“It will take lots of hours in the pool, l will have to put a lot into it. I am just going to see what happens. God has his plan set out for me – I just have to train.”
He said his success in swimming has given him an opportunity to affect other people’s lives.
“So I try to use my faith and everything that’s going well in my life to show other people that it doesnt matter if you havent got certain things that you really want: rather just make use of what God’s given you. Like me, I have a disability but I HAVEN’T SEEN it as a disability. It’s just another ability given to me by God and I just have to use that every day.”
