THE APPLIANCE OF SCIENCE!

Dec 18 2007 Paisley Daily Express

PARALYMPIC swimming hero Kenny Cairns is relying on science to get to the bottom of his most recent performance slump.

Cairns is planning a trip to London to meet medical experts in the hope of discovering why his swim times are not up to scratch.

The Linwood-based swimmer, who turns 50 on Thursday, was due to take part in the Welsh Open Meet more than a week ago ,but was unable to compete as his energy levels were alarmingly low.

And the gold medallist from the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney will now seek the advice of top docs at the British Olympic Association’s medical committee to get to the bottom of his performance set-back.

He said: “Health-wise I feel fine and I don’t have an illness as such but my energy levels seem to drop when I get in the pool.

“I’ve had a few ear infections this year and maybe that’s got something to do with it but what I’m planning to do is speak to the medics at the British Olympic medical committee and, hopefully, they can do something for me.

“I’d like to get an appointment before Christmas, though I’ll need to wait to see how they are fixed. The sooner, the better as far as I’m concerned and, if it can happen this week, then I’ll be happy to go down there.”

Cairns did, however, have the chance to get the inside track on possible rivals at next year’s Paralympic Games in Beijing as a result of the Welsh Open Meet.

He explained: “Although I didn’t compete in Wales, it was a chance to see some of the European countries who will be making a push to qualify for the Games.

“The Portuguese were there and so were the Dutch and both those countries will be looking to make the push for Beijing.”

Despite his mystery set-back, time is on ‘King’ Kenny’s side as he doesn’t have any further competitions to take part in until 2008.

And the GB team don’t start their Beijing qualification times until April, which buys Cairns even more breathing space.

He said: “In terms of competitions, that’s me for the year but, hopefully, I can be back in the pool soon and improve on my times.

“April is really when it all counts and, hopefully, I can be back to my best then.”

Cairns has already competed in five Paralympic Games, dating back to Stoke Mandeville in 1984, and has won medals in every one, the highlight of which was his gold medal victory seven years ago at the Sydney Paralympics, where he won the 100m Freestyle.