Wellington Para swimmer Erin Knox celebrates Youth Week by interviewing fellow Wellington swimmer Lewis Clareburt.

Lewis was planning on being in Tokyo in July for the Summer Olympics. With Covid-19 causing the Games to be deferred until next year, Erin took the opportunity to find out more about Lewis and how he has been coping without a pool in lockdown.

Join Erin and Lewis chatting about swimming, lockdown, and study.

https://youtu.be/_ZRd_cqk2kA

2019 Annual Report

2019 saw the launch of our rebrand to dsport. This rebrand was timed to celebrate of our 50th anniversary. Over my years being involved in this organisation I have witnessed the incredible and powerful influence sport has on people’s lives. For me, the rebrand was more than just a name change. It represents an acknowledgement of what we do, who we are, and also signals where we want to be moving forward. Engaging members of our Youth Group in this rebrand was essential as they are in the future out our organisation. I am pleased to see the enthusiasm and commitment in our members who proudly wear their dsport kit. For me, this represents the success of our decision.

Leveraging the rebrand, our Manager Catriona McBean, continued to advocate for us with many key decision-makers including Grant Robertson, Minister of Sport; Carmel Sepuloni, Minister of Disability Issues; local Rongotai MP Paul Eagle; and representatives from Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, ACC and Wellington City Council.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the dsport Committee; our volunteers who assist our athletes; family and whanau who provide invaluable emotional and sometimes financial support; and our talented staff who keep our organisation delivering our wonderful programmes and activities.

I invite you to read this year’s report as we celebrate the successes of our teams, athletes and members, not only on the playing field, but in many other aspects of their lives.

Alan Signal

President

Blasting onto the world stage at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, Liam Malone took New Zealand sport by storm.  A relative unknown, he excelled at the highest level and became a household name. Sophie Pascoe, already a well-known disabled athlete within Paralympian swimming, is now recognised as one of New Zealand’s best known and successful athletes.

So what has set them apart?  The most obvious answer for many is that they are Paralympians, disabled, and therefore different.

However, it’s not that simple.

Read more https://balanceisbetter.org.nz/parenting-the-next-sophie-pascoe-or-liam-malone-disabled-athletes/

Congratulations to Erin Knox who was named Disabled Swimmer of the Year for Wellington Swimming at last week's awards ceremony.

Three-time Paralympian Kate Horan has today announced she will be retiring from the sport of Para cycling and to focus on her family and seek new challenges.

Horan made her Paralympic Games debut at the Athens 2004 Paralympics after only taking up sprinting one year prior to Athens 2004. She set a world record in the Women’s 400m T44 but she missed out on a medal due to the competition format at the time.

Four years later in front of 92,000 spectators at the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing 2008, Horan mounted the Paralympic podium taking silver in the Women’s 200m T44, an achievement she describes as “mind blowing”.

A combination of factors, including giving birth to her third child in late 2011 and a serious tendon tear in her hamstring, ruled her out of selection for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Not long after this Horan was struggling to cope with the demands of Para athletics training after years of wear and tear on her body and Paralympics New Zealand High Performance Team advised her to switch to the lower impact sport of Para cycling. Horan went on to win 4 World Championships medals in the velodrome and place 4^th, 6^th and 8^th at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Kate Horan said: “I always thought I would be dragged away kicking and screaming from Para sport as it means so much to me. However racing recently in Cambridge I realised as I came off the track that I was done. I always thought it would be my body that would stop me; but it is all about the mental edge and drive that is needed to compete at the highest level. I no longer have this so now is the time to retire.”

She continued: “Para sport has kept me on the straight and narrow and helped me get through so many challenges in life. I have invested 16 years of my life in Para sport but it has given me so much. When I first started I was very uncomfortable with being different as an amputee however Para sport and the amazing people I have meet, raced with and trained with have changed my view of myself in the most positive way. I am looking forward to starting a new journey and competing in the 2021 Coast to Coast. For now I just want to enjoy the festive season and school holidays with my wonderful family.”

Throughout Horan’s 16 year’s as a high performance Para athlete she has had many experiences however when asked what the highlight has been she said: “It was definitely being awarded the MNZM for services to Paralympic sport in 2017. A real honour and celebration of what Para sport means to me.”

Malcolm Humm (High Performance Director, Paralympics New Zealand) said: “Kate has been one of New Zealand Para sport’s stalwarts having competed internationally for close to two decades in two Para sports. Her achievements across 3 Paralympic Games and numerous World Championships have been outstanding. Added to this breaking the Women’s 200m Flying Sprint C4 world record in 2015 and 2016. Throughout this time Kate has been a role model for many young Para athletes as she has constantly delivered a non-compromised approach to training and competition while raising her family. We look forward to working with Kate to continue her involvement with the Paralympic family and wish her all the best for the future.”

Horan was a key member of the New Zealand Paralympic Team that produced performances in Rio making it the country’s most successful Paralympic Games ever. The New Zealand Paralympic Team secured a stunning 21 medals across 12 individual medallists – 9 gold, 5 silver and 7 bronze. Overall, the Team placed 13 out of 159 on the medal table, its highest placing ever, and defended its title of number 1 in the world for medals won per capita during London 2012.

Congratulations to dsport wheelchair rugby player and Wheelblack Gavin Rolton who won the 2019 Attitude Employee Award at the ceremony at SkyCity Convention Centre on Friday night.

Gavin works for Drake Medox who provide support services for people with disabilities.  As a tetraplegic himself, Gavin knows the need for professional support staff in helping him retain his independence.

Welcome to our dsport dispatch enewsletters.

Here we will celebrate our successes and profile our members.
 

Check out what our members have been up to over the last few months.

November

September

Last weekend the dsport team of 13 athletes took part in the 2019 Halberg Games.  

Over the 2 days of competition, our athletes competed in swimming, athletics and boccia tournaments as well as trying out powerchair football, golf, table tennis, netball, taekwondo and gymnastics.

Lincoln took out both the Moment of the Games and the Spirit of the Games awards.

Noah was named most valuable player in powerchair football, Deanna for netball, Erin for taekwondo and Joel for cricket.

On day 1 Erin stormed home in the 75m to win, followed by Deanna in end place.  Mitchell won in a number of the strongly competed races against the other Mitchell!

Day 2 saw Corran win the discus with a throw of 34.01m, closely followed by TP 32.28m.  Harry placed 2nd in his age group for discus with a very respectable 14.57m.  First timers Falcon won the 400m in his age group and Lucas 3rd in the 50m and 100m sprints.

Liam and Felix also competed in swimming and athletics.

This year also saw the largest contingent of whanau supporters join us from around the country.  Thanks to you all for making this year's games one of the best ever.

Saturday night saw the Youth Group parents meet up for a casual dinner at The Thistle Inn.

It was a great opportunity for parents to get to meet other parents without the children around!

Great laughs and conservations were had by all. 

dsport was announced the winner of the 2019 WCC Accessible Inititative Award at the recent 2019 Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards and Wellington Accessibility Awards at the Michael Fowler Centre.

This award celebrates an initiative that improves the accessibility of places, services or information in Wellington. 

We were also named a finalist in the Accessible Champion Award celebrating a local leader or champion who has made a significant contribution to improving accessibility in Wellington.

Every year, Wellington International Airport, Wellington Community Trust, and the five local councils come together to recognise the work carried out by community groups in the wider Wellington region. The focus of the Awards is to celebrate volunteers for their valuable contribution to society.

Finalists from each region to compete for the overall award in their category, and the opportunity to be named Supreme Winner. Members of the public are invited to nominate any not-for-profit group or organisation working in the interests of the community.

The award winners and runners up will be announced on at a function on Wednesday 31 July .