Maximuscle Sponsor Paralympic Swimmer Sarah Bailey swaps swimming for Cycling!

Sarah Bailey - one of Britain's most successful Paralympic swimmers - is swapping the pool for the velodrome to compete in her first Paralympic Open European Cycling Championships.

The 27-year-old has been named as a member of Great Britain's 20-strong squad for the Europeans, which get underway in Alkmaar, the Netherlands on 13th August.

Sarah will compete in track and road races in Alkmaar - but she says she still has unfinished business in the pool.

The four-times Paralympian, who lives in Manchester, tried out the city's Velodrome track to keep herself fit after returning from swimming at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games.

A series of ear infections have limited her time in the pool this year, so she has spent more time on a bike instead to ensure she stays in shape.

Her performances at the Velodrome, where she trains alongside the likes of British Olympians Chris Hoy and Jason Queally, have been so impressive that she was invited to compete at the Europeans.

"It started off as a bit of fun and a way of keeping fit - the Velodrome is right on my doorstep and it was a bit of a change of scenery," said Sarah. "It's been a really steep learning curve, but I've picked it up really quickly and I've enjoyed it.

"I didn't ever think of the Europeans when I started," she said. "Everyone at British Cycling has been fantastic, I improved really quickly on the bike and I've come close to world records in training.

"It's a win-win situation really. My ears have been quite painful, so this has been a good way of finding a positive out of a bad situation. I've tried to make the most of the opportunity, which is the way I try to look at life."

Sarah will take part in the 3km pursuit and the 500m time trial on the track in Alkmaar, as well as the 50km road race and the 15km time trial on the road.

But she can't wait to get back into the pool again when doctors give her the all-clear - and she aims to compete at the swimming World Championships in South Africa next year.

"Eventually I will have to give up swimming. Every athlete has to move on at some point, but it will be very hard to leave swimming behind," she said.

"Swimming is my first love and I'm still ranked number one in the world in the SM10 200m individual medley. I've swum at every Paralympic Games since Barcelona in 1992.

"I'm very excited that these new opportunities are on the horizon, but I haven't finished with swimming yet. I plan to go back to swimming with all guns blazing."

Sarah is something of a sporting all-rounder - she represented Cheshire at athletics, cross-country, netball and table tennis as a schoolgirl.

She made here Paralympic Games debut aged just 14 at Barcelona in 1992 as a swimmer and instantly made a big impact - winning two gold medals, both in world records, as well as three silvers and a bronze. She added three more golds, a silver and a bronze to her personal medal haul at Atlanta four years later and won two silver medals at Sydney 2000. She won a further two silvers and a bronze at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games.

Sarah is not the first British Paralympian to try to make the transition from swimming to cycling. Ian Sharpe won eight medals from four Paralympic Games in the pool before competing in the visually impaired tandem cycling event at Athens last year. He and pilot Paul Hunter won a brace of bronze medals in Athens.

Sarah takes a range of Maximuscle products including Promax, Protrient and Immune Support.