A University of Manchester student and Olympic hopeful is making waves in the sport of swimming, after overcoming her disabilities and securing a coveted sportswoman of the year award.
Eleni Papadopoulos has been given the award by the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) after amassing more than double the amount of points the university achieved last year in the BUCS league.
Eleni, who study’s law as well as training 30 hours a week, has conquered multiple disabilities to excel as an elite disability swimmer and paratriathlete.
This season she has smashed 10 British, European and World records and has qualified for the Great Britain team at August’s IPC European Championships at Eindhoven.
But admits at times it can be stressful.
“It’s hard to balance my sport and other activities,” she said.
“But as I’ve been swimming at an international level from the age of 16 – I’m sort of used to it.
“My days are quite full – the daytime is dominated by my studies and the swimming pool before and after getting up at 4am four times a week.
“I do need my time to rest in the evening – as if I’m overtired, my epilepsy could be a problem and that could mean I get behind in my training.
“But with decent time management and pre-planning I do manage to fit everything in.”
