James O'Shea

A former pupil of the John F Kennedy school in Hemel Hempstead, and now residing in Berkhamsted, James lost his legs in 1998 due to a train accident.

He went on to become a dancer for Candoco, an internationally acclaimed contemporary dance company, and it was from there that James was invited to take part in the BBC3 series ‘Dancing on Wheels’, as a professional dance partner to TV celebrity Caroline Flack.

It was whilst filming this show that James met fellow contestant and 6 times world champion Mark Foster, who encouraged James to start training seriously in the sport of swimming.

After being introduced to an elite coach at Barnet Copthall swimming club, James worked hard to qualify for London 2012 in the SB5 class, 100m breaststroke, and managed to reach the final. Despite being bed bound for 2 days before the final with illness, James finished fourth in the final and completed a remarkable story of swimming for Paralympics GB, breaking the British record and making a Paralympic final with only 1 year of elite level training under his belt.

Mark and James are now planning how to approach Rio in 2016, with several of the top coaches in the world wishing to work with James to help him win gold.

James has had significant national press exposure on his journey, and with this James has joined with the Hertfordshire Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Partnership to offer talks in schools and swimming clubs as part of the county’s legacy ‘Education Pledge’.

He is also hoping for sponsorship to give him the best possible support in his ‘Road to Rio’ where he can bring home a gold medal.

This article has been taken from the Hertfordshire is Ready for Winners newsletter December 2012.

You can read the rest of the newsletter by clicking on the document link below.