He recently won three gold medals, two bronze and the u.19 swimmer of the tournament title at the SA Intellectual Impaired Age Swimming Championships held in Durban.
Nineteen-year-old Phillip swims in the senior division. As a junior he was part of the 2012 Protea swimming team that represented South Africa at the world championship for Down Syndrome swimmers in Loano, Italy. At various times he has held world records in his age group for numerous swimming disciplines.
Last year Philip and his family moved to George from Malmesbury. His father, Hennie, was the headmaster of Swartland Primary School. Philip's mother, Cobie, said that two motivating factors for moving to George was the world-class Up with Downs facility that can provide accommodation and care for Down Syndrome adults as well as the three heated 25m swimming pools that ensure that year-round training for Philip is possible. "Another reason for choosing George is the fact that I am a former Kwagga and my heart really never left the Garden Route."
Philip is comfortable with his image and is an inspiration not only to his friends, but to everyone he meets. His 'never give up' approach and the fact that he is constantly challenging his own boundaries made him the hero of Malmesbury.
Now an adult and finished with his school years, his mother says the real challenge of caring for a young adult with special needs is facing the family. "The reality is that there are just not enough facilities to meet the requirements that ensure a quality of life that we aspire too."
Janet Seegmuller, founder and chairperson of Up with Downs George, says this is the reason the facility was extended to include adults. "Improved understanding and better social mixing skills has resulted in an increased quality of life with a resultant increase in life expectancy. The long-term goal of Up with Downs is to provide a facility that caters for people with different special needs from schoolgoing age all the way through to old age. Those that can be trained will hopefully enter 'sheltered employment' and, for those that do not reach that level, we will have workshops and enough activities on site to keep them busy and fulfilled."
Creating awareness for the need for this home is a young man from George, Roche Schoeman, who is currently swimming the Orange River unaided and continuously from source to sea. "His adventure began on 12 January this year and next week we are going to fetch him at Alexander Bay, at the mouth of the Orange River - a distance of 2 460km."
Seegmuller is overjoyed that they have their own role model that can inspire others to reach heights that in the past they could only dream about.
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Philip Weideman (back) arriving back in George. Welcomed by, from left: Inari Stols, Landi Potgieter, Nicole Seegmuller, Bianca le Roux, Kate Andersen and Samantha Rubin at the Up with Downs centre. Photos: Myron Rabinowitz
ARTICLE: MYRON RABINOWITZ, GEORGE HEARALD JOURNALIST
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