Swimmer Theresa Goh has aspirations typical of many young Singaporeans.

The 21-year-old single dreams of owning her own car and home. She goes out for meals and movies with family and friends and spends too much time online.

What sets her apart are her disability and the fact that she is a Paralympics athlete who holds two world records for swimming - for 50m and 200m breaststroke.

She was born with spina bifida and an undeveloped left ear, rendering her partially deaf.

Spina bifida is a birth defect that involves the incomplete development of the spinal cord or its coverings and occurs at the end of the first month of pregnancy when the two sides of the embryo's spine fail to join together, leaving an open area.

She said brightly: 'I'm fine with it. I won't be swimming or where I am today if I weren't disabled.'

She is one of six Singaporean athletes hoping to strike gold at the Paralympics in Beijing in September. She was the Singapore Disability Sports Council's Sportswoman of the Year thrice, from 2004 to 2006.

She said: 'My dream now is to win a medal at the Paralympics.'

She has come a long way since her premature birth at seven months. Her mother, Mrs Rose Goh, 50, a housewife, said: 'My husband and I were worried that she might not survive at first.

'I was shocked when I found out about her disability and I cried. I had a scan done earlier on in my pregnancy but the doctor didn't see the defects and even said she was going to be a tall baby.'

Mrs Goh soon pulled herself together, displaying the steely strength one sees in her child. She researched her firstborn's condition by calling up doctors and poring over books on spina bifida.

Mr and Mrs Goh also moved to a bigger flat in Tampines with a lift landing on their floor to make it easier for Theresa to move around and be independent when she grew older.

At four months, Theresa had surgery done to push the nerves, which were protruding from her body at the bottom of her spine, back in.

Her mother said: 'I was scared because the doctor said if the operation was unsuccessful, she'd get swelling in her brain.'

Theresa pulled through, growing up into a bubbly, fun-loving child.

She recalled: 'When I was five or six, I was in and out of hospital. It was like my second home. I liked to monkey around and I was prone to breaking things.'

She added: 'I remember my mother sleeping next to me every time I was hospitalised.'

Mrs Goh said: 'She's made me stronger and I accept and appreciate things more now.'

Theresa has two able-bodied younger siblings - Marissa, 20, a graphic designer, and Nicholas, 17, a first-year junior college student.

She said: 'We are very close and I didn't feel any different from them growing up. I do think now they are lucky to be able to walk and run.'

She went into competitive swimming when she was 11 years old as her parents wanted her to lead a fulfilling, active life.

She said: 'They felt that as a disabled person, it was very easy for me to just sit in my wheelchair, not do anything and depend on others.'

She trains at the Farrer Park Swimming Complex 11 times a week, two hours each time, and works out in the gym thrice a week. Her father, the general manager of an engineering company, fetches her to and from her training sessions.

Asked if she faces more difficulty in sport as a disabled person, she said: 'I face the same difficulties as other competitive swimmers. For me, training is very tiring and time-consuming.

'When you train so often, sometimes you feel like spending time on other stuff. It's the discipline you have to get used to.'

She has no complaints about her gruelling training schedule though.

She said: 'I like the feeling of being in the water. It's where I feel the most free.'

Asked if she has had any nasty encounters with people prejudiced against the disabled, Miss Goh, who attended Tampines North Primary School and Dunman Secondary School, said: 'My teachers and friends were very nice to me and no one treated me differently in school.

'It's easier when you grow up with it. I've disabled friends who are quite negative and pity themselves. They haven't gotten used to the fact that people are going to stare. You just have to accept it.'

She added: 'I know I am disabled but that's just a word to describe me. I can still do a lot of stuff.'

For one, she can now hang out the laundry. During the interview at Farrer Park Swimming Complex last week, she gleefully revealed how she figured out a way to hang wet laundry at home after much struggling with falling clothes hangers.

She said with a grin: 'I never knew wet clothes were so heavy.'

She plans to learn to drive after her return from Beijing.

'I want to own a car and a place of my own. It's not that I'm not independent now but I want a place I can call my own.'

This article was first published in Mind Your Body, The Straits Times on July 23, 2008.