Road to 2012 - Aiming high - East London disability swim group - Dervis

My name is Dervis Konuralp. I am a resident of Hackney- the London Borough of Hackney. I have been here, well since I can remember. Since I was a little’un. Be it I went to primary school here, I went to college here, and I am still here. So most of my life. I have seen Hackney go through all of its changes. You know all of the seasons over the years and my most favourite spot must be Broadway Market. Considering what it used to be to what it is now. It’s an absolute transformation. And so I think it really encapsulates what Hackney is about. It’s that transforming borough. And so Broadway Market is my magical point. I have seen many changes throughout the borough. Many, many changes- the clientele, the people, the attitudes, the general cleanliness, the buildings... It’s just been an evolving borough. And it’s one that you would not have recognised when I was growing up to what it is now. The parks are a real focal point now. Whereas in the past people were scared to go through the parks. This park that we are in now- be it London Fields- at the weekends when the sun is out it’s absolutely crammed. And to see the kids in the park enjoying the facilities, to see the canals all cleared up and people being able to walk up and down those, and just the general cleanliness of the roads and the streets and the buildings. It makes for a really enjoyable, comfortable environment. And one that you really want to get out there and see. I absolutely love swimming. Hence doing the crazy miles that I do, and the hours and the dedication, and the training, and putting everyone else through it as well. And the reason I love it so much was because when I was being first told about my disability it was the first thing that I could actually do with my friends again. In the classroom I couldn’t see to read a book and so I was somewhat you know, abstract from the whole scenario there. But in the swimming pool I could do it with my friends and it was that first liberating experience for me. And so I loved it. And to be given an opportunity to swim in Hackney, in this fantastic lido- a 50 metre pool, one of only a few in this country, is just a real privilege. I have waited my entire swimming career to have this opportunity- be it to have a 50 m pool in my back garden- and now it’s here. I love various sports you can imagine I love the underlining competitiveness of sport. So to see tennis at its top- be it Wimbledon and all the other Grand Slams- to watch the rugby- men really pushing their bodies to the absolute limit, football- just seeing them for 90 minutes being able to pace up and then apply the skills that they have obviously honed in, and swimming naturally. Sport for me is an absolute pleasure to watch and every single sport is obviously a skill within its own right. It has taken an absolute lifetime for most of these athletes to get to the pinnacle of their sport, and so to watch it in it’s finest form is an absolute pleasure. The Games coming to east London, coming to these shores full stop was a fantastic achievement for everyone who was involved in that bid team. But to have it in east London- a place which in the past has been shunned and not always seen to be a place of opportunities, it’s just really encouraged the regeneration which I am sure would have happened, but the Games were a catalyst to that. And to now see all of the investment which is going on- Westfield Shopping Centre being put in, the public transport links- all of this is because of the Games. And not only of those infrastructural advances have we got, but also just sport in general. Sport has now been given a focal point. And that focal point is east London where we have some absolute raw talent which has never been tapped into. And so hopefully the Games coming to east London will inspire the local community- show them that irrespective of their background, irrespective of the opportunities they may have had, the Games are going to be there. The Games are going to remain after the Games have gone- be it the facilities are going to be there- and so hopefully we can create and support the next generation of Olympic and Paralympic athletes in east London. Once the Games are gone- they are only a two month affair- be it the Olympics and the Paralympics- all of the investment, all of the time, all of the effort has not gone in just for those two months. It’s gone in mostly, and more importantly for me, for that legacy aspect. We have not got those facilities in this country. And so to be given these facilities, to be having a focal point for sports excellence is just amazing. And to think that 30 per cent of the Games is going to be hosted in Hackney- it really just shows you that we have an opportunity not only for our generation, not even for the next generation, but even more generations to come. And so we should be really grateful for it. We should grasp those opportunities- take them full on. And really just maximise what we can achieve, and inspire hopefully the next lot of people to take up sport at whatever level. I also think about the older generation who may not have opportunities to achieve. But again sport can give them those opportunities. And so it’s about taking those opportunities (opportunities is the word here) and really embracing it, and enjoying it. Inspiration for me- I don’t need to look too far- in that I can just look to my own family. My father, he came to this country. Language- be it English- was just not in his vocabulary at that time in the 70’s. Came here, took it to be an opportunity, grasped those opportunities, learnt the language, learnt the culture and for that became a very successful businessman. And one sentence he always said to me which has always seen me through my sport was ‘son, I was born to win. And so were you’. And I have always kept that at the back of my mind, and always pulled it to the front when it has been needed. Because it’s that motivation- I just need to see what he’s achieved, and then see that I’ve had more opportunities, and so why can I not go even further?