Four of the East Midland swimmers who are part if Britain's Paralympic swimming squad have now started the final build-up to the Paralympic Games at the ParalympicsGB holding camp in Macau.

At the 2004 Paralympic Games Britain finished just behind China in the swimming medal table and for the returning Paralympians they will be aiming to go one better this time around.

For 45% of the squad this will be their first Paralympic Games and they will be looking to step up and show what they can do on a world stage.

As the 35-strong squad put the final touches to their preparations they will also be acclimatising to the Asian environment and recovering from travelling across eight time zones.

The team arrived at their base on Saturday but many of the team had experiences of Macau and its venues after attending a pre-competition camp last year.

National Performance Director Tim Reddish believes that the strategy the National Governing Body has in place will help the athletes deal with transition well.

"The team has now arrived in Macau for the final preparation phase leading into the Beijing Paralympic Games," Reddish said. "The Hotel and sports facilities are World Class and provide the right environment for us to implement the acclimatisation strategy that we have in place.

"Most athletes and staff have attended this venue at least once before so everyone is relaxed and focused upon this final preparation phase.

"The team transfer to the Paralympic Village on 2nd September with the first day of competition on the 7th September."

East Midland swimmers competing at the Games include:

David Ellis (Derventio Excel)
Charlotte Henshaw (Nova Centurion/Mansfield) 
Sam Hynd (Nova Centurion/Mansfield)
Robert Welbourn (Lincoln Vulcans)

The 2008 Paralympic team consists of:

James Anderson
Gareth Duke
Graham Edmunds
David Ellis (Derventio Excel)
Jonathan Fox
Sean Fraser
Sam Hynd (Nova Centurion/Mansfield)
Sascha Kindred
Dervis Konuralp
Andrew Lindsay
Simon Miller
David Roberts
Anthony Stephens
Matthew Walker
Robert Welbourn (Lincoln Vulcans)
Matthew Whorwood

Claire Cashmore
Emma Cattle
Jenny Coughlin
Heather Frederiksen
Kate Grey
Rhiannon Henry
Charlotte Henshaw (Nova Centurion/Mansfield)
Elizabeth Johnson
Natalie Jones
Rachael Latham
Nyree Lewis
Mhairi Love
Stephanie Millward
Eleanor Simmonds
Elizabeth Simpkin
Lauren Steadman
Louise Watkin
Danielle Watts
Fran Williamson