Athens - South Africa's Paralympic swimmers may have decided on uniformity in their dress code, but when it comes to individuals the team forms a colourful tapestry of personalities.
Seasoned swimmer Tadhg Slattery has already caught the eye among the Athens volunteers with his multi-coloured hair and bright red goatee.
Charl Bouwer, at 14 is the youngest in the team who brings quick laughter when he explains that he started swimming to escape "a klap" (smack) from his mother.
And Elizabeth von Wechmar touches deep. The Cape swimmer competes on Sept 24 and 26 - exactly the same dates that she underwent her amputations nine years ago.
She says she would love to be physically "whole again", but she would hate to be the same person she was before she lost her hands and lower legs.
Von Wechmar is 36 and competes as an amputee in the 400 freestyle and 100 breaststroke in her first Paralympics.
"This is my first time in international competition," said Von Wechmar who lives in the Paarl area in the Cape. "Maybe that's a good thing for me because it's an unknown factor. Anything can happen, I suppose. I've been training very hard."
Von Wechmar lost her limbs when she contracted meningitis in 1995. "Gangrene set in on the extremities of my limbs and the only way to stabilise it was to amputate.
"Now my life is divided into two parts. My old and my new life. I had 27 years as an able-bodied person and I'm grateful for that experience, but I never want to be the person I was before.
"My life was very shallow, I lived on the surface. Now I've become a deeper person. My blinkers are off and I have a totally new perspective on life. I miss my old body, but not my old self."
Von Wechmar began swimming at the motivation of her aunt who said she needed exercise because she walked with great difficulty.
"It made sense to me that if I strengthened my muscles, I'd walk better and suffer less pain. From the moment I took to the water, I was in another world. I feel a freedom in the water I don't feel on land."
Bouwer, who will swim 400 freestyle, 200 IM and 100 backstroke, is visually impaired and had no business playing near the dam on his parents' farm outside Jacobsdal in remote Free State.
"I was wading about in the shallows of the dam and I was not allowed to be there, when my mother caught me. She took her 'plakkie' (sandal) off and jumped into the water clothes and all shouting she was going to give me a klap," laughed Bouwer. "I tell you, I swam for my life, and I've been swimming ever since. My mom is my biggest fan now."
Bouwer said he was thrilled to be in the team and that he was hoping to make the final in the 400 freestyle and the 200 IM. "If I can just make my PB's here, I'll be happy," he said.
