A solicitor and trainee will this week join up with Great Britain's Paralympics team in the quest for medals at next week's games in Athens - although one of Britain's greatest Paralympians is not competing as he focuses on his legal career.


Caroline Matthews, a solicitor in the Cardiff office of Eversheds, is in GB's women's wheelchair basketball team, which picked up bronze in last year's European championships.



Jemma Houghton, a trainee at north London generalist practice Southgate & Co, is a member of the GB swimming team, which won more medals than any other nation at the 2000 games in Sydney.



Ms Matthews is a four-year qualified property lawyer currently on secondment to Annington Property in London and follows the lead of solicitor Bernadette O'Driscoll, who was in the basketball team in 2000, when it finished eighth.



Although Ms Matthews said this is 'probably the best-prepared GB basketball team that's ever been to the Paralympics', it goes into the games ranked bottom of the eight teams.



Ms Matthews explained: 'If we win any of the games, that'd be a bonus.' However, she said that did not stop the team aiming for a medal.



Matthews: aiming for a medal
Ms Matthews played able-bodied basketball before worsening arthritis forced her to stop. Despite the 'crushing' experience of her growing disability, seeing wheelchair basketball on television during the Sydney Olympics encouraged her to continue her sport and Ms Matthews was named in the GB team within six months.



She added that both Eversheds and Annington have been hugely supportive of her sporting efforts, while her experience at Eversheds as a disabled person 'has been tremendous'. The firm's Cardiff offices are fully wheelchair accessible, and Eversheds helped her obtain her wheelchair through the access-to-work scheme.



Ms Houghton is competing in four events in one of the categories for partially-sighted athletes. She is 18 months into her training contract, and says she is interested in becoming a conveyancer when she qualifies.



She became involved in swimming at a time when children with visual impairments were automatically sent to special schools, and potential athletes were drawn from them. However, Ms Houghton explained that now many visually-impaired children go to normal schools, a lot of potential athletes are lost in the system, leading to a substantial fall in the number of partially-sighted swimmers.



'I hope to make all my finals and get a medal,' she added, explaining that she was helped by her events being spread out across the ten days of the games.



Ms Houghton also reported a good experience in the profession 'so far', with her firm providing special IT to assist her and helping her in other ways - such as colouring in property plans as she is colour blind.



Chris Holmes has competed in four Paralympics and won nine swimming golds in the partially-sighted category. He is due to qualify into the pensions and employment department of City firm Ashurst later this month. 'I'm stepping back from this one and focusing on my work,' he told the Gazette.



Now 32, Mr Holmes said it was unlikely he would compete at the Paralympics again, but added: 'You can never say never.' Having won so many gold medals means he needs to find new challenges, but Mr Holmes said 'there may still be things out there in the pool' for him.