Gold Coast 12-year-old, the youngest ever to trial for the Paralympics

A 12-year-old Gold Coaster is making her dreams of the Paralympics possible by swimming her way to the trials.

A 12-YEAR-OLD is making her dreams of the Paralympics possible by swimming her way to the trials.

St Hilda’s School student Holly Warn was born with cerebral palsy hemiplegia after having a stroke pre-birth.

At six months of age her left side of her body was showing signs of cerebral palsy and her family was told swimming would help build strength.

Holly’s father John Warn said she had kept her resilience from six months old.

“She could swim before she could walk,” Mr Warn said.

Holly trains five to six times a week.

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“I will wake up at 4:30 in the morning and she will be sitting there with her bag ready,” Mr Warn said.

Holly said her main goal was to compete at the Paris 2024 games when she is 15.

“I’m very excited and a little nervous,” she said.

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“My schoolteacher will be putting it on the big screen and my whole class is going to watch.”

Mr Warn and Holly will fly to Adelaide on Monday to trial for 100-metre freestyle and backstroke events at the Tokyo Paralympics. She is the youngest ever trialist.

“I like freestyle the most because I feel strong when I am doing it,” Holly said.

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Holly Warn will travel to Adelaide this week. Picture: Tertius Pickard