Hester Poole on achieving Paralympic selection and a Cambridge offer

Hester Poole has always had the ‘audacity to dream big’ but even she would have struggled to envisage a Paralympics call-up and Cambridge offer within a month.

The 18-year-old visually impaired para-alpine skier from Bath only found out she had been selected to represent ParalympicsGB at Milano Cortina in February, three weeks before the Opening Ceremony.

That came just a fortnight after she received an offer to study English Literature at the University of Cambridge, having juggled A-level revision and university applications with competing on the World Cup circuit.

“It’s been a nail-biting wait but it feels all the sweeter for it. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet,” said Poole.

“I had the audacity to dream big from a very young age. I was always a little weirdo and decided I’m going to go to Cambridge at eight years old.

“That’s definitely been a dream at the same time as the skiing dream. I’m quite pleased that I’ve managed to keep them parallel. It’s all come together in quite a nice way.

“I really have to applaud my support network and my teachers, who have rolled their eyes and accepted my half-finished essay plans instead of the essays they’ve asked for over the past four years.

“I can’t lie and say it’s been easy. Every athlete knows the struggle of trying to balance sport with whatever it is. It’s been a challenge.”

Poole will make her Paralympic debut on the Italian slopes of Cortina D’Ampezzo alongside her guide Ali Hall, who is familiar with the juggling act and is currently studying psychology at the University of Edinburgh himself.

Poole was born with a congenital condition that meant her retinas did not develop fully, leaving her with holes in her vision that her brain has to work to fill in.

And having watched Kelly Gallagher, who now coaches her, compete and win Britain’s first-ever Paralympic gold at Sochi 2014, she was inspired to chase the same goal herself.

“I was already training at a baby race club in the Mendips but that really lit the fire and catalysed it,” recalled Poole.

“Since then it’s just become something that is possible. I was picked up on the radar of GB aged 12 and it’s just been ramping up.”

And having seized on the opportunities on the slopes and in the classroom, Poole is keen to use her own experiences for good as an ambassador for Guide Dogs for the Blind and Ethiopia Aid.

“It all comes down to opportunity and choice,” she said. “Especially Ethiopia Aid, they support children with sight loss in Ethiopia, as well as other charities to do with domestic violence.

“It’s all about creating opportunities and giving people the choice and the knowledge that they can do what they want with their life.

“It’s been ingrained in me from a young age that academics is the gateway to everything else and I bring that ethos into sport as well. So it’s just letting people know that their life is theirs and they can do what they like with it.”

After managing the stress of her juggling act on top of the ambassadorial duties, Poole will use her own free will to enjoy herself at the Paralympics.

“This season we’ve tried out lots of different approaches to races and I’ve figured out that when I put expectation on myself, I tend to fall at the start gate,” she said.

“Obviously I’m representing my country so I’d like to put down some decent runs but it’s a sport I enjoy and I do it because I love it so it’s about the experience.

“I get to miss an A-Level mock too, but I’m looking forward to getting some decent carbs and just soaking in the experience.”