by Matt D’Arcy

(Click on the photos, and they will present themselves in a larger form)

Prince Harry visited the municipality of Aljezur back in 2008 when he and Prince William surfed in Carrapateira during a stag weekend.

But now, eight years on, there is another local link with the soldier Prince, through his beloved Invictus Games, the “Help For Heroes” project he inspired as a multi-sport event open to all wounded, injured and sick serving personnel and veterans.

Vale da Telha residents Moira and Alan Nightingale—Alan is an Amovate committee member—are hugely proud of their daughter-in-law Catherine, a former Army Major, who won gold and bronze medals for swimming at last month’s Games in the United States.

Prince Harry is the creator, patron and president of the Games, which held its inaugural event in London in 2014. The second staging of the Games, named from ‘invictus’, the Latin word for ‘unconquered’ or ‘undefeated’, took place last month in Florida, attended not only by Prince Harry but also by the US First Lady, Michelle Obama and former President George W. Bush.

The man known as “Captain Wales” during his 10 years as a professional soldier said as he opened the Games which ran from May 8^th to May 12^th in the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando:

‘Over the next four days you will see things that in years past would not have been possible. You will be inspired, you will be moved and you will be entertained.’

The Prince also continued his campaign to raise awareness of ‘invisible injuries’ such as post-traumatic stress and depression, which are often suffered by soldiers after returning from war.

‘It is not just physical injuries that our Invictus competitors have overcome. Every single one of them has faced mental challenges,’ he said.

‘Let’s cheer for the woman who fought through post-traumatic stress and let’s celebrate the soldier who was brave enough to get help with his depression.”

That woman could easily have been Catherine Nightingale, who served as a doctor in the army (rank of Major) and now suffers from PTSD after serving in Afghanistan in 2010.

Catherine can be seen in the centre block of the photograph, right side end of the second row, next to the sponsor’s Land Rover

Catherine, who is married to Moira and Alan’s son James, also won four gold medals in those inaugural Games two years ago in London.

Moira and Alan, originally from Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, are in the process of moving to their new home in VDT sector M, after spending the last 11 years in Espartal, up the hill from Monte Clerigo.

Moira told us: “We are very proud of Catherine and we know our son James is immensely proud of her too. In fact, she has made us proud twice within this last year, firstly by giving us our seventh grandchild, Oliver, seven months ago, and secondly with her wonderful achievements once again in the Invictus Games.

End of the race, and Catherine looks up to discover she has struck gold

“Those achievements are even more outstanding so soon after Oliver’s birth which restricted her opportunities to train as much as she would have liked”.

Said Catherine, who won gold in the women’s 50m LC backstroke LSD and bronze in the LC 50m ISD freestyle (she also finished fourth in the 50m breaststroke):

“Invictus has given me something to focus on and push myself in sport which builds confidence. This is then transferable to other areas of my life, easing my transition into the civilian world and allowing me to get a job within the NHS where I am now training to be a GP.”

Catherine with 7 month-old son Oliver, and her medals

She added with a rueful smile: “Obviously, having Oliver made training become more of a challenge in the months leading up to Orlando, but it was another wonderful experience and I was pleased to be able to add to the team’s medal collection”.

In fact the 110-strong team UK ended the games on a high after taking 131 medals.

They pulled out all the stops on day three of the finals and semi-finals in Orlando, Florida with a stash of medals taken in the pool. A fantastic 46 medals went to the UK in less than five hours of swimming—19 gold medals, 17 silver, and 10 bronze.

All-in-all, more than 500 military athletes from 15 countries competed in ten events, including archery, indoor rowing, power lifting, road cycling, sitting volleyball, swimming, track and field, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis.

The rigorous selection process for the UK team was based on the benefit the Invictus Games will give an individual as part of their recovery, combined with performance and commitment to training.

The UK swimming team pictured with their medals at the close of the competition. Catherine is third from the right in the second row, wearing a baseball cap. Photograph copyright Roger Keller Help For Heroes

Although Catherine competed in London two years ago more than 70% of this year’s team were new to the Invictus Games and were spurred on to apply off the back of those inaugural games in 2014.

An Invictus spokesperson said: “Getting involved in sport helps the athletes with self-confidence and the feeling of being psychologically empowered. These significant mental health benefits can be translated outside of sport and into everyday life”.

**Next year’s Invictus Games take place between September 26-30 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and promises to be bigger again, with 600 competitors from 16 nations taking part in 12 events.