Goncalves relishing chance to compete at home Euros

“I’ve been working hard and impossible is nothing.”

Portugal’s Emanuel Goncalves is looking forward to a ‘very special’ experience from Saturday (30 April), as the 2016 IPC Swimming European Open Championships get underway in his birthplace, in Funchal, on the island of Madeira, Portugal.

The S10 swimmer is hoping to reach the qualification times for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. If he does, it will be the first time he will line up at a Games.

Goncalves is feeling good with just two days to go until the Euros: “I’m very confident, I’m in a good shape and very enthusiastic for performing in front of my own people. It will be a very special Championship for me.”

The 26-year-old is also relishing the chance to compete against top swimmers such as Brazil’s multiple Paralympic champion Andre Brasil, as athletes from around the globe have made the journey for the last major competition ahead of Rio 2016.

“It will be the first time we will have an international para-swimming competition in our country and the best swimmers of the world are coming here, so it will be a huge opportunity to watch all of us in an international level,” Goncalves said.

Goncalves was diagnosed with his impairment – a condition which affects his peripheral nervous system – when he was six years old.

Whilst his young age allowed him to adapt, it was swimming which made him dream big.

“The fact that I was included in a regular swimming team made me become more ambitious in achieving my goals, something that I could not have made it alone by myself,” he said.

“The friends and the companionship were very important for me in order to overcome all the bad times and complications of the process.

“I learnt not to see barriers but to see solutions!”

Goncalves will compete in the men’s 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m butterfly S10 and 200m individual medley SM10, all with an eye on qualifying for Rio 2016 in front of his home crowd.

To do so would make it extra special for the Madeiran.

“My aim is to beat my personal bests, achieve finals and achieve the best result possible for Portugal,” he said.

“I’ve been working hard and impossible is nothing.”

Free tickets for the 2016 IPC Swimming European Open Championships, featuring 453 swimmers from 52 countries, are available to download at Funchal2016's website.

Live coverage and results will be shown at www.Funchal2016.com from 1-7 May. Morning sessions begin at 9:00am (WET) and evening sessions at 5:00pm each day.