Saltdean’s Fabienne Andre, the newly crowned double European Champion in wheelchair racing, has revealed why she swapped the pool for the track, and how the decision has changed her daily life.

The 24-year-old had many successes in her career as a para swimmer at national level, culminating in winning a bronze and three silver medals at the Cerebral Palsy game in Barcelona, in August 2018.

In the same year, she was also named Swim England South East Region Disability Swimmer of the Year, due to her ability and willingness to get others to engage with the sport.

However, Fabienne, known as Fabs to all who know her, has never shied away from trying a new challenge, so set her mind on doing a triathlon.

Having made connections at the World Games, she was invited to the Weir Archer academy, home of David "The Weirwolf" Weir to try out a training session in a race-chair and things changed very quickly.

She told the Argus: “I went to the Cerebral Palsy games and did well there, but had got to a point where I wanted to try something new, so my original thought was that I would try triathlon, so carry on with the swimming and learn more sports as well.

“I started wheelchair racing initially just to try it and then I could do hand cycling and do a triathlon but because of my swimming background, which had given me good upper-body physique and stamina, the club said to me that I could be very good at wheelchair racing, so I got into competing on the track.

“So, that is how it happened really. I still swim a little bit, but I don’t compete anymore because I had to make a decision of which sport I wanted to compete in and I chose the Wheelchair racing.”

At her first competitive meet, Fabs posted times that alerted British Athletics of her arrival as one to watch and she was picked up quickly, then placed on the Para Potential Programme for the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.

Earlier this month, Fabs competed at her first European Championships as a Para-Athlete with Team GB and enjoyed some great success.

She won gold in the women's T34 100m in a personal best (PB) of 18.94 and also won gold in T34 800m.

With the achievement still sinking in, she admits she was not expecting to come home with two golds and as a European Champion and shared with us: "It was incredible. I wasn’t expecting to win and I went out there with no expectations. I just wanted to go out, race my race and get the experience of being with Team GB. I wanted to enjoy the races because opportunities to compete have been very limited this year.

“Getting gold medals and a personal best on top of that was great and to come away with two gold medals was just incredible.

“I went out there to enjoy it and it was just amazing to come away with the titles.”

The Argus:

But now Fabs has tasted success at the European Championships, what is next for her?

She said: “We have got quite a calendar of competitions coming up; the UK are doing quite well in putting on competitions that are covid-safe, so we can still compete, so there will be a few competitions, but in terms of major championships we will just have to see.

I am on the pathway for the Paralympics in Paris 2024, so any opportunities before that will be a bonus.

“I am just going to carry on training hard, and making the most of the opportunities to compete and will see what happens.”

Most elite athletes at Fabienne's level do not work and focus solely on training and competing.

However, Fabs balances her training and competing around working full-time as an NHS physiotherapy assistant at Chailey Clinical Services, but says she would have it no other way.

She said: “A lot of athletes, when you get to this level, do not work as well but I really value my role and working for the NHS through the pandemic has really helped me, because it gives me another focus and allows me to switch off from training.

“I also really enjoy working as a physiotherapy assistant, so I love working and training too.

It is a challenge, and I do rely on a bit of help from my parents to be able to work pretty much full-time, train full-time and travel to and from London to train as well.

“When we were not allowed to travel during lockdowns, it was tough but I trained from home, after a room at home was converted into a full blown gym!

“It is quite a juggling act, and you have to be organised but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

With the Commonwealth Games and Paralympics happening close to home in the next few years, we feel that with her attitude and ability, this may not be the last article that Fabs features in.