NOT many people in Britain can claim to have taken to the water in front of 18,000 people but Kidderminster swimmer Chris Holmes is one of those.

Chris will long remember Sydney 2000 Paralympics, not for any personal success but purely for the grand scale of the occasion.

The 29-year-old returned with a silver medal in the 4x100m medley relay and a surprising lack of individual medals in his fourth Games. Yet there's no arguing with his overall record.

Chris, who is partially sighted, has won nine gold, five silver and one bronze medal from Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney.

But the prolific competitor will remember the five events he entered this year for the sheer atmosphere generated.

He said: "The Games were awesome. It's difficult to imagine what the Australians could have done to make it better. The people there loved it.

"The gallery was packed in the swimming pool. Even for the heats, there were around 18,000 people there. The biggest pool in Britain when full can hold 2,000. The difference is massive.

"Sydney was a really special occasion and everyone was moved by it. You felt a real sense of friendliness and inclusion in the whole thing.

"There were world records going like nobody's business and it was a great thing for the Games that there were so many countries competing and medals were going to all sorts of places.

"Countries that have developed an Olympic tradition are now coming out in the Paralympics, like the Kenyans and Moroccans in the long-distance running events."

Chris returned a fourth place in the 200m individual medley but fell short of that in the 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 50m freestyle, failing to qualify for the latter stages of the final two. However, he's anything but downbeat.

He explained: "I was really happy with the fourth place - I couldn't have done a better swim. I was disappointed with the two freestyle swims.

"It's difficult to say why it happened. It was just a bad day at the office. I've had a lot of good swims in my career so I cannot really complain about the bad ones. It's just a shame when it happens in the same week.

"I did think I could be in the frame and I was delighted to come back with a silver medal. But I would have loved to have got my tenth gold.

"However, it wasn't a sense of massive disappointment. It was more a sense of what an experience it was to be involved. Barcelona will always be the pinnacle of my career but Sydney was really close."

The Paralympics was also a good chance to meet up with some old friends as many of the swimmers from different countries socialise with each other.

Chris, who heads to the short-course winter nationals in Sheffield in early December, hopes to return to his home town before Christmas if possible.

He swims for Barnet Copthall in the London area but still has plenty of family and friends in and around Kidderminster.

Chris, whose 29th birthday was three days before Sydney, added: "I'm having a bit of time off at the moment and have decided to take my swimming career a year at a time and see how it goes."

But a fifth Paralympics is not out of the question and that tenth gold will always be there as a temptation.