Emma Carlisle swam her way to victory by winning Ireland’s first medal in the 2019 Special Olympics.

As part of her ‘Oral Communication in the Community’ qualification, Emma delivered a superb presentation to ESB Assessor, Joan Blackham, on her swimming training schedule in preparation for the big event, this year held in Abu Dhabi.

Joan had quite a job keeping note of all the details of Emma’s intensive training, and was impressed by her enthusiasm which shone throughout her talk. Said Joan:

Emma delivered her talk on swimming with such passion, it really was no surprise to us all that she came out a winner!

Emma’s classmates at Belfast Metropolitan College followed the press coverage of her swimming successes, including bronze medals for back stroke and front crawl and ultimately gold for four-length front crawl!

Fellow student, Joshua McKinnell recalls, “I was very impressed by the hard work Emma had put into preparing for her Olympic challenge. It was great to see her sporting the ‘Team Ireland’ t-shirt!”

Emma was greeted with cakes and high-fives from her fellow ESB learners when she returned to Northern Ireland an Olympic champion.

Please watch the mini BBC documentary ‘The Kennedy Who Changed the World‘ on iPlayer to find out how the Special Olympics began, and how sport can change the lives of people with learning difficulties.