By George Patient
THURROCK born 18-year-old Sonny Ford is quickly becoming a swimming sensation in the golden state of California, USA after reaching the Las Vegas open meet final in the 200m butterfly, his strongest event.
Ford, the youngest competitor in his event recorded a personal best where it mattered most and shone amongst his rivals.
He was the only Englishman to reach that stage of the competition and remains the only English representative to be on the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds team.
Six months after being awarded a prestigious four year swimming scholarship at Fresno Pacific University, California Ford has become a vital part of the team, helping them to several victories over the past year while studying a degree in kinesiology.
The former William Edwards student said: “At first it was very different – it was daunting to think I would be on the other side of the world from where my life is.
“I’ve now settled in and fit this culture well and feel a part of the team.
“Living here has changed the way I am a lot – I’ve become more independent – swimming with men and women has also helped me mature.”
Ford has been winning honours and breaking records since he was nine, and has always known that to achieve the all important scholarship in the US, he had to become one of the best.
“I signed up with a sporting agency that marketed me across the US. I got a lot of offers from all over the country – over ten schools. In the end I chose this one as it offered the most amount of scholarship.”
He added, “There are so many more opportunities in the US than the UK.”
When asked by the US Fresno Pacific website why he chose them, he simply replied, “Great campus, great coach, great team, great atmosphere. Can’t wait to be a Sunbird.”
Ford can only see himself getting better with time and believes in his dream of one day competing in the Olympics.
“I’ve been improving at a fast rate and will continue to improve due to the excellent standard of coaching available here as well as them having all the latest technology.”
