Bly Twomey’s journey from school holiday club to the Paralympics

Bly Twomey, a 14-year-old from Brighton & Hove, was one of the youngest members of ParalympicsGB representing the country at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris. 

She has now triumphantly returned home, having captured the nation’s hearts as Great Britain’s youngest Paralympic table tennis medallist, having won two bronze medals. 

The first was in the women’s doubles alongside Fliss Pickard (WD14 classification event), followed by another in the Women’s Class 7 Singles for which she ranks fourth in the world.

Bly attends Cardinal Newman Catholic School, which is very supportive of her table tennis career. 

She trains regularly with World champion Will Bayley, who is also based at Brighton Table Tennis Club. 

Will has reached the final of the previous four Games, with gold at Rio 2016 and now three silvers to his name in the Men’s Class 7 Singles.

Watch Bly’s story here.

Bly began playing table tennis in 2021 at a multi-sport session hosted by Brighton Table Tennis Club for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and those who receive free school meals. 

The session was organised as part of Brighton & Hove’s Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, with Bly accessing a discretionary place available at the time related to her disability.

The HAF programme is funded by the Department for Education to provide free holiday activity clubs for school-aged children and young people, from Reception to Year 11, who receive benefits-related free school meals. 

A key aim of HAF is to support some of the most vulnerable children and young people to maintain a healthy level of physical activity over the school holidays.

In 2023, Brighton & Hove’s HAF programme had 13,587 sessions attended by 1,765 unique participants.

Tim ­Holtam, Director of Brighton Table Tennis Club, was one of the 150 club members who travelled out to Paris to support Bly and Will. 

He had this to share about Bly’s journey from a HAF session to Paralympic medallist.

“She picked up a bat and it was perfect timing as Will was at the club full-time after Tokyo. He has guided her and showed her how to play,”

“She’s a category seven athlete and there has never been a player in class seven involved in able-bodied table tennis.

“She is in the top five under-15 in England, the youngest British para table tennis player medallist ever. We are so proud of her.”

For Bly, HAF created the opportunity that introduced her to para table tennis, but Twomey explained out in Paris how the sport and her club have changed her life.

“When I first started table tennis, I wasn’t confident at all,” she said.

“I couldn’t really go places or into big crowds because I was afraid people might get rid of me because of my disability. But now I’m here, everyone has a disability.”

She added: “Brighton Table Tennis Club have done a lot for me. They’ve been an amazing part of my experience and without them I couldn’t have achieved any of this.”

Her twin sister Ellis said: “I feel really proud of her, she’s come so far in the short time she’s been playing.”

“She’s become a lot more aware and happy of her disability. She used to be quite sad and think of herself as not as good as other people.”

This is only the start of Bly’s journey, which perfectly demonstrates how sport can impact personal development and inspire others. 

We all look forward to following her future successes as she sets her sights on gold at LA 2028.