PENNY SWEEPS THE BOARD AT MEDICS' OLYMPICS

PENNY SWEEPS THE BOARD AT MEDICS' OLYMPICS
10:40 - 05 July 2007
A Clifton physiotherapist swam away with eight gold medals in an international competition for health workers.Penny Porter became the first British female swimmer to win all of the top awards in the World Medical Health Games in Agadir, Morocco, last week.The former international swimmer, who became British record holder for the 50m butterfly in 1995, was competing in the medical and health profession's version of the Olympics.Penny, 29, was up against other former competitive swimmers from across the world.She had won a couple of gold medals in the past but this was the first time she swept the board, winning the 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke, 100m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 100m breaststroke, 400m freestyle, 800m freestyle and the 4x50m freestyle relay, and was amazed to do so well because she'd barely trained.Penny is a physiotherapist at Bristol Rugby Club and a consultant for the British Swimming Team.She also runs her own aquatic and fitness consultancy at Clifton College, where she teaches people of all abilities to swim and specialises in exercise for health.Last year she created a fitness booklet and DVD to show people how to exercise safely.Penny was in Kenya for the Safari Sevens rugby event before she set off to Agadir so had limited time to train.Penny was able to take part in the medical games thanks to sponsorship by Cambridge Health and Weight Plan.Penny said: "I was quite amazed as I stopped swimming professionally in 2002 and my times have become much slower since then."I haven't been doing so much training since then, and there were some quite good swimmers at the competition."Penny has also been selected as physiotherapist for the Great Britain swimming team for the European Championships which take place in Antwerp from July 15 to 23.