In honour of World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD), which was celebrated last Friday, 21 March, Kingston-resident, Caitlin Trevor shared that people with Down Syndrome can push the limits and achieve their goals.
The 21-year-old has lived in Kingston since she was three and currently trains and competes as a para swimmer for Kingston Royals Swimming Club (KRSC), having joined the club in 2017, while also studying a programme at what she calls the 'Allium College' with an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
She studies English, Maths, ICT, Art, and PE and has been working on Lamda and coaching qualifications with Disability Sports Coach, a charity which offers coaching courses in its Inclusive Activity Leaders programme, which is sponsored by Nike.
Caitlin thinks being a disability sports coach is "really great".
As part of her coaching, Caitlin has been working with Nike on its This Girl Can campaign.
For the past two weeks, she has been in the Nike studio, creating new material for the campaign and has made a series of yoga videos with a Nike trainer.
As Caitlin's mum Kelly is originally from New Jersey, she also swims for the Down Syndrome International Swimming Organisation (DSISO) in the USA. Caitlin began swimming at the age of 13.
Speaking about what made her take up swimming, she told Kingston Nub News: "I was always so scared of swimming, but when we were in America, my youngest brother Joe had a way of getting me into the pool.
"From that moment, I fell in love with swimming. And here I am today as a person who has been in a swimming club and has also been a club captain, as nominated by a former coach."
Caitlin hopes she will be able to swim at the Paralympics one day, which she says is a "massive goal" for her.
However, at the moment, nobody with Down Syndrome can compete because the category that they are included in is a very broad group for anyone with an intellectual impairment", explains Caitlin's mum Kelly.
"She said: "It's based on your IQ, not any of the physical attributes of Down Syndrome.
"So, the qualifying times are just too hard, so one of the reasons we went down the US route is that they were trialing a category that subdivided the S14 para classification group.
"We hope this will be brought to all countries."
Moreover, Caitlin plays football for the Fulham Football Club in its Down Syndrome programme and has nearly completed her Duke of Edinburgh Gold award.
Speaking about how she got into football, Caitlin said: "When I was young, me and my brother used to play a lot outside and I just really wanted to play football. So that got me into playing football for Fulham."
Caitlin also plays for the Down Syndrome Association (DSA), which is a non-profit organisation that her parents run.
For the DSA, Caitlin's parents run soccer camps in different countries, which Caitlin thinks is "pretty great because they bring a lot of effort into making it a great camp".
On top of all her sports and studies, Caitlin also runs her own little business, The Allium Collection, where she sells homemade cards in local shops and online to support good causes including the DSA.
Speaking about The Allium Collection, Caitlin said: "Basically, it has all these different cards that I make myself.
"I was inspired to start the business by my GCSE art teacher at Canbury School in Kingston who helped me create my drawings into cards."
Caitlin was also recognised by the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames as the Disability Sports Personality of the Year in 2018.
Despite having Down Syndrome, Caitlin is not letting her disabilities get in the way of achieving her goals, and in honour of WDSD, she hopes to inspire others that they can do the same.
She said: "Even though I have Downs, it doesn't really stop me from doing what I love doing.
"My art teacher made a profile on Instagram for World Down Syndrome Day called Caitlin Can.
"I hope other people with Downs will see it and say, 'Yeah, I'm going to go off and compete, I'm going to go and do my best'.
"So, on the day I just said, 'I can do anything I can do to push the limits to do what I want. And that's really what I'm all about. Because even though people may see me as a person with Downs, I don't see that for myself."
She continued: "I see that I can push myself to the limit to get to Paralympics or wherever I go, and I know that my mum will always be there for me."
