Maltese Paralympic swimmer Matthew Sultana came last in his set of heats but reached his goal of improving his personal time in the 50m freestyle.

His coach Ebi Mohammadpour said Mr Sultana, 15, did very well.

“I’m very happy – he improved his personal best to 31.12 seconds and that is what he wanted to do,” he told The Times.

Mr Sultana is the only Maltese and the youngest athlete taking part in the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Today Mr Sultana will take part in the 100m butterfly race and in the 100m breast stroke on September 8 – under the watchful eyes of his proud parents who flew to London to support their son.

For the past two-and-a-half years Mr Sultana has been training with the NGO Inspire but last May he upped the momentum for the Paralympics, working out for one hour at 6.30 a.m. and another 90 minutes in the evening. Mr Mohammadpour said that Mr Sultana’s morale was “very good”. “He is very calm and very quiet – as always,” he said.

“We are looking to build him up for the next Paralympics in four years’ time – Matthew has good potential,” his coach said.

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