Famous+Ex-Dragons

We have been fortunate to have had many great swimmers come through our books during our history including nine members who have gone onto represent Great Britain at the Paralympic Games. Here we have a look at these famous ex-members.

__**David Roberts CBE: **__ Our most notable member is the 11 times Paralympic Gold medalist David Roberts. He was one of the original members of the club who was with us at our inception in 1993. He represented Great Britain at the Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, picking up a combined total of 11 Golds, 4 Silver and 1 Bronze. To mark his successes, David was appointed as the flag bearer to carry the British flag into the stadium at the closing ceremony in Beijing. He has also competed for Great Britain in three IPC World Championships; winning 8 Golds, 3 Silver and 4 Bronze. He also won medals for Wales at two Commonwealth Games, Manchester 2002 and Melbourne 2006, taking Bronze on both occasions. He was awarded an MBE in the Queen's honours in 2004 and then a CBE in 2008. When his schedule allows, David occasionally pops in to share his experience and knowledge in a coaching role for the Dragons.

__**Nyree Kindred MBE (Nee Lewis): **__ Nyree was another original Dragons DSC member. She has represented Great Britain in 4 Paralympic Games; Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. She has picked up a combined total of 2 Golds, 4 Silvers and 2 Bronze. She has also represented Great Britain at IPC World Swimming Championships, winning seven medals. Nyree was awarded the MBE in the Queen's 2009 Birthday honours.

__**Elizabeth Johnson: **__ Liz started off at the Bedwas Penguins ASTRA swimming club alongside David Roberts before moving to the Dragons. She has represented Great Britain at three Paralympic Games; Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012, winning 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze. She has also won medals for Great Britain at various IPC World Championships. Liz was chosen to read the athlete's oath at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

__**Rhiannon Henry: **__ Rhiannon joined the Dragons from Bridgend County after being identified by their then coach Billy Pye. She has competed for Great Britain at three Paralympic Games; Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012 where she has won 2 Bronze medals. Following the 2012 games, she swapped sports to cycling.

__**Gareth Duke: **__ Gareth Duke represented Great Britain in two Paralympic Games; Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. He won the nation's hearts in the 2004 games after his emotions got the better of him when receiving his Gold medal on the podium.

__**Nathan Stephens: **__ Nathan has had an eventful journey after leaving the Dragons to try out different sports. He first tried out his skills at sledge hockey, proving good enough to represent Great Britain at the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Turin. He then moved to athletics, competing in javelin and discuss, again proving good enough to be selected to represent Great Britain at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Paralympic Games.

__**Sara Head: **__ Another former Dragons member who left the sport of swimming to try her hand at other sports was Sara Head. She has moved onto competing in wheelchair basketball and table tennis, a sport in which she was selected to represent Wales at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games and again in Melbourne in 2006. After missing out on the Beijing 2008 Paralympics, Sara was selected to represent Great Britain at the London 2012 Paralympics, winning a Bronze medal.

__**Kate Arnold: **__ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Kate was a popular member at the Dragons picking up the nickname 'smiler' as she always has a smile on her face! She started to gain success in swimming, making some of the junior GB teams but decided to give athletics a try prior to Beijing. She gained selection to represent Great Britain at the Beijing 2008 Paralympics.

__**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Jordan Howe: **__ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Jordan was a promising swimmer who again was lured away to athletics. Competing in the sprint events, Jordan represented Great Britain at the London 2012 Paralympics.

__**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Chris Hallam MBE: **__ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">We were privileged that a true pioneer of disability sport, Chris Hallam, joined the ranks for a short while. Even though his stay was brief, he made a big impact on the members of the club.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">A photo gallery from our archive of some of our famous ex-Dragons members:
 * [[image:img007.jpg width="320" height="235" caption="David Roberts and Rhiannon Henry"]] || [[image:img008.jpg width="348" height="239" caption="Amongst others, Kte Arnold, Gareth Duke and Liz Johnson"]] ||
 * [[image:img009.jpg width="328" height="239" caption="Amongst others, Kate Arnold, Gareth Duke and Liz Johnson"]] || [[image:img010.jpg width="352" height="237" caption="Amongst others, Liz Johnson, David Roberts, Nyree Kindred"]] ||
 * [[image:img011.jpg width="336" height="250" caption="Nyree Kindred, Liz Johnson and David Roberts"]] || [[image:img012.jpg width="354" height="243" caption="David Roberts and Nyree Kindred alongside Stephen Andrews, Alan Iles and Rhian Jones"]] ||
 * [[image:img013.jpg width="346" height="243" caption="Liz Johnson and Nyree Kindred"]] || [[image:img016.jpg width="366" height="242" caption="Liz Johnson with Lynn Davies"]] ||
 * [[image:img014.jpg width="278" height="397" align="center" caption="Liz Johnson"]] ||  ||