A talented 19-year-old swimmer who competed nationally says she lost all of her confidence due to her continuously fainting during competitions. Carys Havard, from Crickhowell, swam competitively at Welsh national level for three years and had aspirations to swim at British level, but astonishingly she later realised she’d been swimming nine times a week while suffering with a serious respiratory condition which was causing her to faint in the water.
The former Crickhowell High School pupil, who is now a student of medicine at Keele University, was finally diagnosed with laryngomalacia after years of desperately struggling for breath while in the pool. “I’d start swimming and when I’d get out of breath and wheeze everyone thought it was asthma, and so did I,” she told WalesOnline from her home in Powys where she is now preparing for the Miss Wales final on May 8.
“I used to have to stop often. I’d faint in the pool during competitions because I wouldn’t want to stop. I was told I was faking my condition and being lazy. People started not to believe me and in my head I actually started to ask myself whether I was making it up without realising.
