A FORMER Kelly College student is taking to the world stage this month as he competes for a medal in the Rio Paralympics.

Michael Jones started his swimming career at the age of ten despite being born with spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy, which affects all his limbs, but mainly his legs.

After training while at Kelly College, now Mount Kelly College, Michael moved to Manchester to train at the National Performance Centre, working alongside like-mided athletes and managed to achieve his goal of qualifying for the Rio Paralympics.

Michael will be competing at Rio Paralympics in the 50 metre freestyle tomorrow (Friday), the 400 metre freestyle on September 14 and the 100 metre freestyle on September 16.

Michael said his greatest struggle was coming back after an operation and a broken leg in 2012, where he went from swimming at the Paralympic trials to two weeks later not being able to move at all. He said how hard it was on him mentally as well as physically, meaning he had to start as if from scratch and train himself back up to the level he had been competing in.

He said: ‘When something throws you down, you can either choose to give up and let it defeat you, or you can struggle on, even in the face of adversity. So that’s what I chose to do.’

Michael has been training everyday in the pool, following a nutritious diet and attending the gym in preparation for Rio as well as having physiotherapy and soft tissue massage twice a week to help recovery and prevent injury.

‘We have been doing harder sets and regular gym exercise in order to make those small gains that add up.’

He acknowledged that his training while at Mount Kelly was paramount to his success. He said: ‘Without the training from the coach there, Robin Francis, I would have struggled to be where I am now. His knowledge and experience really helped and I am still in contact with him and he has continued to pass on advice in the build up to Rio.’

The Paralympics started yesterday (Wednesday) and will continue until September 18.