This month has been pretty busy for me with a mixture of events. I competed in the SDS National Performance swimming championships and also the Scottish National Open Championships. I performed several decent performances at both these meets which seen me getting season bests, personal bests and also a couple of medals along the way. It was great to see a huge number of English para swimmers coming up to Scotland to compete at Scottish Nationals, this made it a real world class event, which is always great to compete at. It was also fun to catch up with friends who I won’t now see until after the Rio Paralympics – but I will definitely be shouting them on through my TV!

June also seen me complete my HND (Higher National Diploma) in Health, Fitness and Exercise at Forth Valley College. The few months beforehand had been pretty stressful completing my Graded Unit and getting the remainder of course work handed in, whilst also training and racing, but I managed and I am leaving with an overall A. It will be strange to not return to Forth Valley College after summer, as I have now been a student there for 5 years completing various courses. I have accepted an offer to Edinburgh Napier University and will entering year 3 of a Sport and Exercise Science degree. While my time in Stirling is now coming to a close, I am looking forward to a new adventure training and studying in Edinburgh.

Another highlight for me during June was the wheelchair sports extravaganza day held at Stirling University, this was the first event of its kind and seamed to be a major success. I was lucky enough to be volunteering at the event as part of the young persons sports panel. It was great to see children, and individuals of all ages and abilities, given the opportunity to try out and participate in a range on sports – from athletics, to table tennis, archery to wheelchair rugby. I managed to try out a couple of new sports myself . . . although I think I should stick to swimming!

Hope Gordon

ParAthletics IPC Grand Prix – Switzerland Open Nationals 25th-30th May 2016

Can I just start off by saying I don’t like flights!! I think I’ve watched too many disaster movies! Apart from that my flight to Switzerland was exciting because at the other end is like this lifetime supply of amazing chocolate….Not going to lie I filled my bag, on the way there and back!

I didn’t get to see too much of Switzerland when Janice and I first arrived, as we got there in the early evening. When we got to the hotel room we unpacked Wilson (racer) and got down to the track as soon as possible to set my compensater for the following day’s competition. After a couple of laps around the track (amazing track) my compensater was set and I felt ready for the competition. Janice and I headed back to the hotel room for food and then we soon retired for the evening as I had an early start in the morning ready for the first day of the competition.

Day 1

I woke up at about half past seven. I was nervous but excited at the same time. I put on my Scotland strip and my lucky tartan socks before heading for an athlete’s breakfast (they didn’t do Coco Pops so I settled for fruit and fresh juice). The weather was lovely for the first day of the competition but, as a Scot, I wasn’t used to the heat. My first races were the 100m and 400m heats (hate the 400m). I came first in both races and then later discovered that I had broke world records in both distances and set a PB in the 100m. I was surprised and shocked at the news but it was too hot for me to jump about with excitement, so I settled for a free sausage from the food stand (couldn’t find the ketchup…gutted).

Day 2

The day started off much the same (still no Coco Pops so I had fruit again). Today was the 200m and 800m heats so I was excited to get onto the track and race. Again the weather was lovely but still too hot as I’m used racing in colder temperatures but I still raced well and came first in both races, setting PBs and breaking some more world records. Again I was excited and ecstatic but free sausages were no longer available at the food stands (once again left gutted) so I went inside for my lunch, which I’m not complaining about because I then met my hero Tatyana McFadden (world’s fastest T54 female wheelchair racer) – I even got a picture with her! I may have come across as a stalker as I got way too excited to meet her.

Competition Days 3 and 4

It chucked it down…I’ve never felt so at home. Downside being that I got no PBs in my finals but I got first finishes in all my events and I was happy with my performances.

I had an amazing time in Switzerland. I’ve never seen so many racers in one place! It’s been an amazing experience and I loved every second of it. Janice is an amazing travel companion and we have lots of funny stories to share (when we dropped the racer onto someone in the queue). I enjoyed catching up with some old friends and making some new ones. The Switzerland meet has allowed me to come home with four new world records, which now means I hold five official world records. I couldn’t be happier. Switzerland has also allowed me to come home with more experience and knowledge of my sport….and also a bag full of chocolate.

On the 5th and 6th of March 2016, British Wheelchair Basketball held the third annual University Championships. Sixteen teams from across the UK took part in what was a fierce but fun tournament which pitted novice players alongside experienced basketballers in this two day competition.

As Assistant Coach of the Scottish Universities Representative team, I knew that this was not going to be an easy tournament for the players, some of whom had never played wheelchair basketball before, as we would face the might of the University of Worcester teams featuring top GB players such as Jude Hamer and Leah Evans. The weekend started well with Scotland winning all their pool games. The slightly stunned team started day two with the hope of maybe progressing to a medal match but first faced tough opposition from the University of East Anglia. Managing to keep their cool, they won 31 v 16 and therefore progressed to the semi-final where they met the first of the Worcester squads.

This was one of the most tense matches I have ever helped coach as we were massive underdogs yet had gelled both on and off court and therefore were playing with passion and real determination which gave us a real chance against this experienced side. Throughout the match the team worked together to maximise chances and some incredible phenomenal performances helped secure Scotland an incredible win. We were ecstatic!

Getting to the final was a massive achievement for the team. They had played their hearts out in the semis and in some ways this took its toll as the final match saw  the experienced Worcester 1 pull ahead quickly creating fast breaks from the start. Despite this Scotland rallied and battled hard to keep the game relatively close, and the final score was 24 v 34 to the University of Worcester 1.

All in all it was an incredible weekend and I was so proud to be part of this team.

Photo: silver medallists!

Scottish Disability Sport launched its first ever Young Persons Sport Panel at the Branch Conference on Sunday 15 November 2015.

The panel will consist of 12 members from across Scotland who were nominated by SDS member branches. The aim of the panel is to give young people with disabilities a voice in sport, to develop as individuals and gain some experience across various areas in sport. The panel will meet again in February 2016 where they will complete a training needs analysis, be part of the SDS new strategic plan consultation and create subgroups of the main group.

Members of the Young Persons panel are: Alan Gray, Hope Gordon, Colette Martin, Lewis McConnell, Stefan Hoggan, Mitchell Graham, Caitlyn Ross, Callum Sloan, Gemma Lumsdaine, Shelby Watson, Ross Foley, Danielle Joyce