Doncaster disabled teenager is making waves in the pool

An autistic teenager from Doncaster with a love for swimming is making waves with his progress after joining a swimming club.
Braddan ScottBraddan Scott
Braddan Scott

Braddan Scott, aged 18, became a member of Adwick Amateur Swimming Club in 2015 and has gone from strength to strength, even winning a gold medal in a Special Olympics event.

Gill, Braddan’s mum, said: “Braddan started swimming at the age of four shortly after his diagnosis of autism and a learning disability. He was always fascinated with water from a very early age, but he had no awareness of danger, so I thought it was important he learned how to swim and be safe around water.

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“Until about the age of eight, Braddan was with a one-to-one support worker in the pool, as he found it very difficult to focus in a busy swimming pool and he sometimes needed physical instruction, as he found verbal instructions hard to understand.

“By 10, he could swim a length so he joined a swimming club that had a specific lane swimming session for children with disabilities and I really didn’t imagine that he would go any further than that but over the next few years he gradually began to improve his strokes and his stamina, and he started to remember more of the technicalities, such as when to breathe.

“In 2012 he was asked to go through the process of applying for an S14 British Para-swimming classification for athletes with a learning disability. It took nearly two years but by July 2014 he finally had received it.”

Braddan, who lives with his mum and sisters in Blaxton, benefits greatly from the structure and discipline of the Adwick ASA sessions and since starting with the club has really improved his times and strokes. He has also taken part in a number of swimming galas. In 2016, he won a silver medal for the British Long Distance Postal Swim, qualified for the British Para-swimming International meet in Glasgow and won a silver and gold medal at the Special Olympics regional swimming gala in Harrogate.