Oliver Henry Mangion did what some might deem as an impossible challenge.

Last week, Oliver completed a two kilometre swim (80 laps) in

the indoor pool at “Razzett Tal-Hbiberija” in slightly less than an hour.

Of course any good, well trained swimmer can do this feat but what made this a real challenge is the fact that Oliver is a 10-year-old swimmer with a disability.

Oliver was born with severe deformities of all four limbs and has undergone countless reconstructive surgical procedures to help correct his hands and legs. Oliver dreams about being a swimmer in the 2012 London Paralympics, and it seems that he is on the right track to fulfil this dream.

Asked about why he is doing this, Oliver said that he wants to help ‘Razzett Tal-Hbiberija’ raise funds for financial support which, in turn, also increases awareness of the services offered, and hopefully encourages all those persons who have a disability, to do sports. ‘Razzett’ believes and focuses on the ability of the person and not on the disability.

In fact, Oliver has been a regular user at ‘Razzett tal-Hbiberija’ Pool since the age of 5 when he still did not know how to swim.

Like Oliver, there are over 1,000 persons with a disability who make use of Razzett’s educational, therapeutic and leisure facilities, free of charge.

Anyone who wishes to support ‘Razzett tal-Hbiberija’ can send an sms on 50617359 to donate Lm1, 50618080 to donate Lm2, and 50618926 to donate Lm3 and write Oliver Mangion on the sms.