Rotorua athlete Siobhan Terry is nervous and excited about sharing her story as part of a film series.
In support of #WeThe15, the global human rights movement launched to represent the world's 1.2 billion people with disabilities, Facebook has worked with the International Paralympic Committee to launch the series.
Thisfilm series explores how sport has created a positive change for four disabled communities around the world.
The four-part series features communities from New Zealand, the United Kingdom, America and Brazil.
It reflects how Facebook enables communities to grow and come together online - and consequently the real-world impact that community then has offline.
In New Zealand, the film series visits the Te Arawa Swimming Club - an inclusive, community-run club in Rotorua - which believes that swimming should be accessible to all.
Through the club, viewers meet Siobhan Terry, who was born with a clubfoot.
Through swimming and the opportunities the Te Arawa swimming club has offered her, she has gone on to coach other new para-swimming recruits and has become an ambassador for the wider sport and hopes to compete in the 2024 Paralympic Games.
Siobhan Terry told the Rotorua Daily Post that she was contacted about being in the film series after doing an interview at the Halberg Games.
Filming for the series was done in June.
She said they visited different locations which were important to her, such as the pool and the Blue Lake.
She was also filmed coaching and doing sit-down pieces where she talked about her journey and how the club had incorporated para-swimming into what it did.
Siobhan was excited and a little bit nervous about the video's release.
"I've never done anything like this before so it's amazing and mindblowing."
She said there was so much potential in sport for people with disabilities.
"It opens doors for people with disabilities. There's not always a lot out there for them, but in sport, there's always somewhere to belong - a place you can fit in and excel.
"I've been swimming all my life, but competitively since 2015/2016. There's so much to enjoy about it - the freedom of being able to jump in the water and get lost in my own thoughts, and I love the team culture of the club and going on trips."
She said she has goals to compete internationally, but ultimately she just wanted to push herself 100 per cent.
Siobhan's coach Henk Greupink said the film series was a great opportunity, not only for Siobhan, but for the club and the para-swimming community too.
"It's a really great story and Siobhan is the whole package which is really well shown in the documentary."
He has been her coach for about four-and-a-half years, and he said although she had obstacles, she had a can-do personality.
Greupink said he had a coach in the Netherlands who was a para-swimmer and also had a can-do attitude, so he had always had the mindset of, "Why can't we give people with disabilities the same opportunities as those with able bodies?"
"Then Siobhan came along, and the rest is history."
The other groups featured as part of the series include Associação Bola pra Frente Esportes Adaptados, a community-run football team in Sao Paulo for players with disabilities, with a focus on amputees.
There is the Derby Wheelblazers from the United Kingdom - an all ability competitive wheelchair basketball team with a big role in the local community, and the Surf for All community from New York - a non-profit to get people of all walks of life to experience the joy of surfing.
The video series is produced by Facebook, in collaboration with the IPC, and in support of the #WeThe15 campaign, which aspires to be the biggest human rights movement to end discrimination against persons with disabilities, who make up 15 per cent of the global population.
The IPC and International Disability Alliance are bringing together the largest coalition of international organisations from the world of sport, human rights, policy, business, culture and entertainment to initiate change.
The decade-long campaign will put disability at the heart of the inclusion agenda, alongside ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation.
Paralympics New Zealand chief executive Fiona Allan said, "Para sport has enormous value in transforming lives, and this video series showcases that beautifully.
"A truly inclusive New Zealand means all Kiwis have the chance to participate in sport and be recognised for their achievements.
"This video series helps to challenge the perception of disability and will encourage disabled Kiwis to get involved in Para sport."
Peter Hutton, director of sports partnerships at Facebook, said, "As a global society, we must come together to support marginalised communities, like the 15 per cent of people with a disability around the world."
