Paralympic athlete Jessica Lewis is vowing to get stronger and faster by the time the next Games roll around in four years’ time.The Bermudian wheelchair athlete will forever live with the memories of competing in her first Paralympic Games in London in front of more people than the population of her native Bermuda.Lewis is now back in Canada to resume her studies at Brock University in St. Catherine’s, Ontario, following a memorable Games in which she had three eighth-place finishes. In the coming months she will be competing again with long-time plans to participate in the next Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in 2016.“The atmosphere was incredible. I think the moment it sunk in was when I was on the start line of the 100 metres race which was my first event at the Games,” said Lewis.“ The other competitors were a lot older and a lot more experienced than I was. I have only truly been racing for two years and training hard for one year, whereas all the other girls have been training for 12 plus years.“This is only the beginning of my track career and the times I have achieved are faster than the other girls when they had only been racing for two years. That really motivates me. I am only going to get bigger, faster and stronger with more training and experience.”Lewis is studying Recreation and Leisure studies with a focus on Therapeutic Recreation at Brock University where her focus, for now, has switched to academics.“I will continue to train during the winter time and will start competing again in April, 2013 when racing season starts up again,” she said.Lewis competed in the 100, 200 and 400 metre wheelchair races, placing eighth in each as China dominated the events with three gold, two silver and two bronze medals. Angela Ballard of Australia was the only other athlete on the podium in the three events, winning a bronze and two silver.“It was an incredible experience to compete in the 100 metre, 200 metre and 400 metre races against the top women in the world and to do that in front of 80,000 spectators was just indescribable,” added Lewis, 19.She has been doing most of her training in Canada where her coach Ken Thom is based, but she was grateful for the support she received from her home country. She is hoping her achievement of qualifying for the London Games will encourage other athletes to follow in her footsteps. She was due to have a team-mate at the Games but equestrian Sandy Mitchell was a last-minute withdrawal for health reasons.Mitchell, the first Bermudian to compete at the Paralympics, is a veteran of three Games and was due to compete in the para dressage event in London.Lewis competed at the Para Pan American Games in Mexico last year and recorded personal best times in qualifying for London 2012 as the first Bermudian to compete at the Games in wheelchair athletics.“The support I have received from Bermuda has been absolutely incredible,” she stated. “I felt so honoured and proud to represent them at the Paralympic Games. I truly hope I have inspired others to follow in my footsteps.“I want to show them that even though you have a disability it doesn’t have to stop you. You can dream as big as you want and if you’re willing to put in the time, the dedication and the hard work you will achieve it.“One of the main sacrifices I had to make in order to achieve my dream of competing was being away from home, family and friends. Since my coach is in Canada I spent most of my time there training. It was definitely hard being away from home but I knew if I wanted to be at the Games and improve in this sport I needed to be here in Canada with my coach who has been amazing along with his family who have opened up their home to me and made me feel like part of the family, which made it a bit easier to be away.”Another highlight of the Games for the teenager was competing alongside her idol, Anjali Farber-Pratt, who was sixth, fifth and seventh in the three sprint races. Farber-Pratt, an American competitor, was diagnosed with transverse myelitis at four and a half months and despite her many challenges is a recent PhD graduate from the University of Illinois at the age of 28.“Rio 2016 is definitely in my plans,” said Lewis. “My coach and I have set out where I need to be by 2016 and the steps we will take to get me there.“One of my most memorable experiences with the other participants was that I got to race against my track mentor, my inspiration and my friend Anjali Forber Pratt at the Paralympic level. Before I started Brock University and training full-time under my Canadian coach Ken Thom, I trained in Bermuda at the National Stadium. Since Bermuda doesn’t have a wheelchair track coach Gerry Swan kindly stepped up and agreed to coach me alongside Ken while I was in Bermuda.“I would travel back and forth to Canada to work with Ken before starting University. Now that I’m in Canada I no longer train under Gerry and am full time under Ken. However, I am truly grateful to Gerry for stepping up.”