by Alex Hoad at the Olympic Park

Claire Harvey says she cannot wait to perform in front of the partisan crowds at the Paralympics after experiencing the buzz of the Olympic Games.

The 38-year-old mum of two, from Godington Park, Ashford, will skipper the GB sitting volleyball side which will compete at ExCel.

The Kent Wyverns Volleyball Club star took the opportunity to visit some of the Games venues during the Olympics and said the noisy crowds were exciting but also a little scary.

Harvey (pictured) said: “I got to go to the hockey twice, the stadium, the basketball, I was at the Velodrome to see Chris Hoy and Laura Trott win gold. It is exciting but also a little bit scary. The atmosphere was incredible. The Velodrome is a similar size to the ExCel where we’ll be and it was unbelievably loud.”

Harvey (pictured) grew up in Gillingham, where her parents still live, went to Hillyfields Primary School and Rainham Mark Grammar School.

She worked as a lifeguard at Medway Park Leisure Centre as a teenager and went on to play rugby for Medway RFC and later Saracens.

It was while on her way to a rugby game in February 2008 that Harvey’s bike was struck by a car and she was left with a spinal injury which left her paralysed in one leg and with additional nerve and vision damage.

“The last four years have probably been more traumatic for my family and friends than they have for me,” she said.

“This is a big chance for them to be part of something so positive.”

GB have been based at Loughborough since July and played their final pre-Games scrimmage against Brazil last Thursday. It will be their first Games, having only entered the international arena three years ago.

“We’re the underdogs,” said Harvey. “A lot of the countries are at their third or fourth Games and we’re there in our first as a host nation.

"We have everything to gain and nothing to lose. We’re not unrealistic, we know it’s going to be tough to make the final but we will give it everything we have got.”