Paralympic profile: Dan Pepper, swimming

Like most learning  disabled athletes of his  generation, Pepper has  suffered the frustration of living on the sidelines; excluded from Paralympic sport for precious years of his career – and therefore cut off from funding and support.

“I’ve kept going because I love the sport,” he says, “but by 2009 [when it was decided to allow some learning disabled athletes to compete at London 2012] I was at the end of my tether, training really hard but not getting to go to any events.”

The grind of training, unsurprisingly, took its toll. “It was really demotivating… I did give up for a couple of years but my coach persuaded me to get back into the pool,” he said.

With no financial  support between 2000 and 2009, Pepper knows he wouldn’t be at the Games if it weren’t for the sacrifices made by his family.

“We’ve had to work so hard to prove ourselves so much, in so many ways, that we’re going to do our best but we’re also just going to enjoy it,” he says.

“The coach knows that in our class we can’t get too worried or we will mess it up, so at this stage we’re cooling down and enjoying it. I want to walk away with my held high; knowing I gave it everything and that I’ve had a good time.”