Skip to content

Love of swimming rekindled after visual impairment

Harriet Heywood
BBC News, Cambridgeshire
CamSight Jean Zhang is facing the lido and away from the camera. She is wearing an orange swimming cap with a large graphic of an eye on the back that has a line through it. It reads 'beware'. Her black hair is coming out from under the cap and onto her neck. Her blue goggles are also over the top of the cap. The lido, in the background, is long and very blue with three lanes marked out. A woman looks to be getting out of the pool. CamSight
Jean Zhang says the length of the lido made her less anxious about doing full strokes or running out of room

A woman with a visual impairment who joined a befriending service has spoken about the boost it has given to her confidence.

Jean Zhang, 59, from Cambridge used local charity CamSight to get back into swimming with the help of Lucy, 25, a volunteer she was matched with.

The sight loss organisation aims to help blind and visually impaired people do the activities they enjoy.

After swimming at the city's lido, Ms Zhang said: "All the people we meet using the facility have been friendly and it's made such a difference in this hot weather to get out and exercise somewhere I feel safe."

CamSight Lucy is standing in the lido withe the water up to her waist and her arms stretched out to her sides. She is smiling at the camera and the water is a bright blue. She is wearing a black wetsuit - with Zones written in the centre - and a black swim cap with goggles on her head. CamSight
Lucy, pictured, was matched with Jean Zhang based on their shared interests and hobbies

Ms Zhang said Lucy's recent assistance at the Cambridge Lido helped her get back into swimming.

"The lido is fantastic for visually impaired swimmers and I feel safe, supported and free," she said.

"As the pool is 90m in length, I feel less anxious about doing full strokes and I'm not going to run out of room quickly to turn at the end."

She added lido staff had been "so helpful and happy" for her to have her guide dog, Amber, sat poolside.

CamSight Amber is a black Labrador and is wearing a yellow harness. Attached to it is a type of lead for Ms Zhang to hold. It reads 'Guide Dog'.CamSight
Ms Zhang and Lucy have also been taking Amber, the guide dog, out to learn new routes

The pair had also been to a yoga class.

Lucy said: "I taught Jean some key poses for her to use at the next class when we go again.

"The centre was incredibly accommodating and let Amber sit in the corridor while we had our class. I also helped Jean to outline the countries on some large maps in her study with a glue gun so she could learn geography of the world.

"I have learned so much about guide dogs and, of course, loved getting to know Jean too."

Zoe Dunstan, a senior volunteer coordinator for CamSight, said: "When you match a befriending pair together, it's essential that you find out about lifestyles and interests.

"Befriending is more than just conversations, though sometimes a good chat is all it takes to make a difference.

"It's about enabling service users to reconnect with a hobby or activity they may have enjoyed before they became visually impaired and showing them how they can still try new ones."

CamSight Lucy and Jean are sitting together at a kitchen table and are both smiling at the camera. Jean has her arms crossed and is wearing a red long-sleeved top. It has a collar which has been lined around the edges in white. She has black hair that has been tied back. Lucy has her hands resting on her knees. She is wearing a white top with a pink line around the sleeves and collar. It also has a green rectangle in the centre. CamSight
Lucy (right) has been volunteering as a befriender to Jean Zhang (left) since January this year

Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

More like this story
Related internet links