Para-swimmer Connor Boyfield is back in business and aiming high

Now aged 26, Connor only took up the sport when he was 13, swiftly going on to become a star performer in the S9 category in which he swims due to a congenital absence of forearm and hand.

His progress was then heavily interrupted due to a series of injuries that kept him out of the pool altogether, that in turn leading to his physical and mental health declining and his desire to swim diminishing.

But he’s now back with a bang, having just won his second county championships in a row and with his sights set on more honours – and maybe even a Paralympics place in Los Angeles in three years’ time.

So how did a youngster just entering his teenage years suddenly decide that swimming was for him?

"I was a pretty naughty kid, and struggled to concentrate at school,” he said.

"I’m autistic, so that was sometimes a factor too, but in year eight swimming became mandatory and my class teacher, who was also the PE teacher, suggested I tried to join a local club to help burn some energy and socialise more.

"So I went along to Boston Swimming Club and after the first session was so ill and left early, just because of the stress of the situation and being so unfit.

"But rather than put me off, it spurred me on and made me determined to go back and do better. My mum wasn’t so sure and was worried every time.

"I was the first para-swimmer the club had and it was hard as the coach hadn’t dealt with that before, and wasn’t sure how to adapt his usual training, but it was good in some ways because he didn’t pander to me, I had to swim with others and that made me try harder.

“I struggled to start with, even against swimmers much younger than me – I was unfit and didn’t have the technique nor understanding.

"But it soon clicked and by the time the Rio Olympics came around in 2016 I was swimming at national levels and won my first national gold medal when I was 17.”

Connor’s success didn’t end there. A place in the World Series finals in Glasgow saw him the third fastest S9 swimmer.

“At that point I realised I was quite good, doing so well against Olympic level competitors,” he said.

"But I’m never the sort to be arrogant and try to manage my expectations. There was lots of pressure on me when I was younger from people expecting me to make the Paralympics and also because I had lots of sponsors, and I was county champion and regional champion throughout the year, every year, picking up lots of medals.

"Then I broke the British record in the 200m butterfly which was my greatest achievement. It was a record that stood until last year when it was finally broken.”

Connor’s S9 classification has served him well although as with many para-swimmers, the vague nature of classifications can leave some athletes frustrated.

Connor said: “At the moment it’s not great for me as I am having hip problems. Also, S9 is for those missing a hand or a foot, but those missing a foot have an advantage as they have more pulling power in the water, but it’s always hard to be 100 per cent fair.”

It was whilst trying to get fit for a shot at the Tokyo Paralympic squad that Connor’s swimming career would then come to an enforced halt.

He said: “My body was under a lot of pressure and stress and I was also studying for a degree at the time, so there was a build-up of pressures and one day I hit a cupboard door in anger and broke my hand and wrist.

"It was a complete mess, with bone protruding and everything and took a long time to heal.

"It took six months to get to feeling functional again, but then when I started training I was riding a bike and it malfunctioned and I went over the handlebars and in trying to break my fall, broke my hand and elbow again.

"This time it took longer to heal, and coupled with the fact that Covid then struck and closed all the leisure centres, it was a really bad time. Even when I tried to swim, I was always getting pain in my elbows and it put a lot of mental stress on me and I ended up becoming depressed.

"I ended up going out a lot and partying and so on and put on a lot of weight, at one point getting up to around 20 stone. I was on a big downward spiral – I had a job but no aspirations.”

Enter his girlfriend Holly, whom he met in 2021 and who gave Connor a spring in his step that suddenly changed him back to his old self.

He said: “We did lots of walks in lockdown and I stopped drinking as I was happy. Then my grandad passed away which hit me hard as with my mum being a single mum, he was like a father figure to me.

"But it made me more determined to do something so I did numerous things including martial arts to help get fit and even got asked to star in a Bollywood movie, playing a para-swimmer from 1972.

"Doing that, I met Paralympian Ollie Hynd who I became good friends with and who encouraged me to get back in the pool. It was just about getting my fitness levels up as I was still quick.”

Subsequently, a return to the pool proved a huge success, as Connor began to again start winning medals and rediscover his love for the sport.

Trying to fit it in around his day job proves tricky, particularly given the travelling involved now he swims out of South Lincs SC, but his work is paying off with the county championship successes and with hopes of more on the horizon.

But what is his ultimate aim?

“I’d like to think I’d have a shout at the Paralympics in 2028. It will be tough but it’s good to have a goal like that and three years is a reasonable target,” he said.

"But Holly has been a huge inspiration to me and if I go on to have children I want them to think highly of me and be the best dad I can, so that will also be a driving force behind whatever I do and we’ll see how things go.”

*Connor would welcome contact from any individuals or businesses who might like to sponsor him in his swimming journey.

His current sponsors are Stark Brothers Services Ltd, Cawthorns Garden Maintenance, Starky’s Recovery Services, Acorn Taxis and New Look Barbers.

You can contact him via his Instragram page – @Connor_boyfield, or on Facebook by searching ‘Connor Boyfield’.​