The British Paralympic Association (BPA) has announced five Scottish wheelchair curlers to represent ParalympicsGB at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. The Paralympic Winter Games take place from March 9-18.

Four of the team that claimed bronze at Sochi 2014 are returning to the Paralympic stage with skip Aileen Neilson contesting her third Games, Gregor Ewan and Robert McPherson making their second appearances, while Angie Malone MBE is set to take part in her fourth Games.

Malone has competed at every Games since the sport made its debut at Turin in 2006. She won silver on that occasion, as well as bronze in Sochi, making her GB’s most decorated Paralympic curler.

Hugh Nibloe is set to make his Games debut

The team will compete at the Gangeung Curling Centre in PyeongChang, the venue where the same group claimed a bronze medal for Scotland at the Wheelchair Curling World Championships in 2017.

Aileen Neilson said: “I’m delighted to be leading this team into the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. We have all worked so hard over this cycle and are ready to return to Paralympic competition to take on the best in the world.

“We know the venue well after the World Championships and I am confident that the experience and resilience in this team means that we can go and perform at a very high level.”

Hugh Nibloe said: “It’s incredibly exciting to be selected to represent ParalympicsGB at my first Paralympic Winter Games. We have a really positive team dynamic and have enjoyed a really encouraging start to the season, beating many of our strongest rivals.

“We’ve proven that we can compete at the highest level and we’re heading to Korea to show exactly what we can do.”

The news increases the Scottish representation at the Games to six, following the announcement of Glasgow’s Brett Wild, who will guide Millie Knight in Para-skiing.

Selected Wheelchair Curlers:

Gregor Ewan, 46, Elgin

Angie Malone MBE, 52, Glasgow

Robert McPherson, 49, Bellshill

Aileen Neilson MBE, 45, Strathaven

Hugh Nibloe, 35, Stranraer

 

SDS has now officially released the Selection Policies and Standards for the Scottish team to compete at the CPISRA World Games in Sant Cugat, Spain, from the 5^th-11^th August 2018. Individual policies for the sports of Para-Athletics & RaceRunning, Para-Swimming, Para-Table Tennis and Boccia are attached.

The selection panel will meet on Tuesday 1 February 2018 to select the athletes to represent Scotland in all four sport.       All selected athletes will receive written notification formally through the SDS office no later than Wednesday 14 February 2018.

Scottish teams have historically enjoyed considerable success at the CPISRA World Championships and although there is likely to be a small Scottish team in Sant Cugat, further medal hopes are high.

Para Athletics & RaceRunning

Boccia

Para Swimming

Para Table Tennis

With the inclusion of Para-Badminton in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics the whole world is upping their game to get those few coveted spots in 2.5 years’ time. This was evident in the most attended and most competitive Para-Badminton World Championships yet, with Asia taking 16 out of the 22 available gold medals and Europe taking 6.

Representing team Scotland were Colin Leslie and Alan Oliver in SL3 class, Mary Wilson in SL4 class, Deirdre Nagle in SS6 and Fiona Christie in WH2, with all 5 athletes playing all three events.

Colin Leslie finished the tournament the most decorated Scot with a last 16 place in all three events. In the SL3 singles event, Colin progressed as second in his group to reach the knock out stages, meeting eventual runner up Manoj Sarkar of India where Colin was defeated in 2 sets. Alan Oliver also representing in the SL3 singles was beaten in his pool by two strong Korean and Indian opponents.

In the men’s SL3-SL4 doubles both Colin and English partner Antony Forester and Alan with Finish partner Rickard Nilson progressed out of their pools in 2^nd position and lost out in the last 16.

SL3-SU5 mixed doubles saw three Scottish competitors, Alan with Dutch partner Megan Hollander, Colin with Danish partner Astrid Lihav Riss and Mary with Antony Forester. Colin and Astrid in a thrilling 3-way tie count back came out on top of their group after convincingly beating, Japanese and Thai opponents, loosing out only to fellow Europeans in a 22-20 third set thriller. Unfortunately, they were unable to continue the winning streak losing out to Corrie Robinson from New Zealand and Caitlin Dransfield of Australia in the last 16, who had earlier beaten Alan and Megan in three sets in their pool.

in the WH2 events Fiona having finished 2^nd in her pool progressed to the last 16 meeting recent BWF Female Para-Badminton player of the year winner Amnouy Wetwithan from Thailand, where she lost out in straight sets to a very experienced opponent. Playing with Laura-Lee Jenkins and David Follet in the women’s and mixed WH1-WH2, Fiona lost out in both pools and was unable to progress further.

In SL4 singles Mary lost out in the quarter finals to eventual finalist Leani Ratri Oktila of Indonesia in straight sets, and in the ladie’s doubles with Russian Partner Natalia Irmachuck, Mary was unable to progress out of the groups.

Lastly in SS6 Deirdre Nagle having won a game in both singles and mixed with Russian partner Alexander Mekhdiev, were unable to progress due to being in pools of 4. In the women’s doubles Dierdre and Polish Partner Weronika Krzeminska lost to World number 1’s and, in a close 2 sets, to young Polish to finish third in their group.

Coach Kaity Hall was with the team for the event and commented; ‘The level of Para-Badminton at this World Championships is unlike I have ever seen before and I can anticipate that our international events will be stronger within the next few years. The Scots need to keep working hard and look to these champs as motivation and inspiration to continue to try and better their game. Thanks to Badminton Scotland for their support in this event and with the squad sessions over the last year and thanks to Korean Badminton Association for Disabled for running an extremely successful World Championships.

Commonwealth Games Scotland have announced the 25 strong team that will represent Team Scotland at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

19 of the athletes selected were part of the team that competed at the home Games at Glasgow 2014 and, spurred on by a capacity crowd at Hampden, delivered Scotland’s best Commonwealth Games medal haul for 20 years.

Since that tally of one gold, two silver and one bronze, the sport of athletics has gone from strength to strength with a record 15 athletes selected for the Olympic Games and six for the Paralympic Games at Rio 2016.

The Gold Coast 2018 Para-Sport programme will surpass Glasgow 2014 to become the largest in Commonwealth Games history and Team Scotland will be represented on the track by three exceptional athletes.

Having broken her own World record to take gold over 200m at the World Para-Athletics Championships in London, going on to take a second gold in the 100m and bronze in the 400m, Sammi Kinghorn moves up in distance to tackle the 1500m and Marathon in Gold Coast.

At just 21 years old she is the senior member of a strong Scottish trio in the para-events, joined by 17-year-old Rio 2016 Paralympic silver and bronze medallist Maria Lyle and 18-year-old Amy Carr, who won two golds and a bronze at this summer’s IPC World Junior Championships in Switzerland.

Rodger Harkins, Performance Director at scottishathetics said: ‘I want to offer my congratulations to the athletes and coaches selected. They have really performed well in the past year and made a commitment to the Commonwealth Games and to a Gold Coast event being held in April.

‘I’m very pleased with the application and planning that’s already being shown and has been shown over the past few months.

‘When you take in the way Scottish athletes and coaches have stepped up over the past two years – and their involvement in the Olympics in Rio and then London 2017 – then we see the strength and the depth. Here we are seeing that reflected in a Team Scotland selection for athletics.’

Team Scotland Chef de Mission Jon Doig OBE said: ‘Congratulations to all selected today, as we welcome a great mix of experienced athletes and those who will be part of Team Scotland for the first time. We have a strong tradition of success, right from the first Games, in both Athletics and Boxing, with results continuing real upward momentum since 2014.’

SELECTED ATHLETES (25)

Name: Hometown/Lives
Chris Bennett: Glasgow/Glasgow
Andrew Butchart: Dunblane /Dunblane
Mark Dry: Burghead, Moray/Loughbourough
Callum Hawkins: Bridge of Weir/Elderslie
Guy Learmonth: Berwick/Berwick
Chris O’Hare: West Linton/Boston, USA
Robbie Simpson: Banchory/Banchory
Allan Smith:  Edinburgh/Edinburgh
David Smith: Barrhead/Birmingham
Jax Thoirs: Glasgow/Glasgow
Jake Wightman: Edinburgh/Hampton Wick, Surrey
Amy Carr: Stockton-on-Tees/Stockton-on-Tees
Zoey Clark: Aberdeen/Aberdeen
Eilidh Doyle: Kinross/Frome
Rachel Hunter: Ayr/Ayr
Sammi Kinghorn: Middlethird/Glasgow
Maria Lyle: Dunbar/Dunbar
Holly McArthur: Kilsyth/Glasgow
Kirsten McAslan: Edinburgh/Manchester
Eilish McColgan: Carnoustie/Manchester
Emma Nuttall: Edinburgh/Loughborough
Lynsey Sharp: Edinburgh/Loughborough
Kelsey Stewart: Stonehaven/Stonehaven
Stephanie Twell: Farnbourough/Aldershot
Lennie Waite: Paisley/Houston, Texas

Thirty eight Scottish swimmers from 24 clubs competed in the National Para Swimming Championships in Manchester last weekend. The Scottish Contingent made up 15% of the competitors at the annual event.

Rio Paralympians Scott Quin, Abby Kane, Stephen Clegg and Andrew Mullen were the role models for aspiring swimmers at Scottish and Club Level across the country.

Swimmers who competed were:

Stephen Clegg (University of Stirling)	Scott Quin (Warrender Baths)	Andrew Mullen (City of Glasgow)
Conner Morrison (University of Aberdeen)	Abby Kane (REN96)	Adam Donnachie (East Kilbride)
Amy MacFarlane (Motherwell & Wishaw)	Beth Johnston (BEST)	Cameron Hemphill (INCAS)
Cara Smyth (INCAS)	Cerys Venters-Scott (Carnegie)	Charlotte Barry (University Stirling)
Christian Buchanan (Musselburgh)	Dylan Bleakley (ELST)	Erin Swann (Bellshill)
Fraser Kane (REN96)	Gavin Roberts (City of Glasgow)	Hope Gordon (ELST)
Isaac Dunning (Inverclyde)	Jack Milne (Dundee City Aquatics)	Jason Cobb (Bucksburn)
Jon Law (University of Stirling)	Kai Goldie (Kirkintilloch & Kilsyth)	Kayleigh Haggo (South Ayrshire)
Kyle Cooper (University of Stirling)	Kyle Hughes (Motherwell & Wishaw)	Laura Pilkington (West Lothian)
Lewis Beagrie (Hamilton Baths)	Louis Lawlor (City of Glasgow)	Mairin Savage (Stirling Swim)
Matthew Scott (Bridge of Don)	Neil Ferguson (Musselburgh)	Oliver Carter (Carnegie)
Reagan Doig (Stirling Swim)	Rhys Gill (Ythan)	Rosie Sheridan (Stirling Swim)
Sam Downie (Musselburgh)	Steven McCormick (Fins)

Grampian swimmer Conner Morrison and West Swimmer Abby Kane who made her debut in Rio both showed excellent form by swimming superbly and breaking World Records in their events respectively:

World Records

Conner Morrison (University of Aberdeen) SB14 100m Breaststroke – 1:05.74

Abby Kane (REN96) S13 100m Backstroke – 1:09.59

European Records proved no challenge for City of Glasgow Swimmer Andrew Mullen who smashed his performances in the individual medley, butterfly and backstroke. Stephen Clegg was also out to make his mark with a hatrick of records, one European and two British Records:

European Records
Andrew Mullen (City of Glasgow) SM5 200m IM – 3:04.05
Andrew Mullen (City of Glasgow) S5 50m Backstroke – 35.87
Andrew Mullen (City of Glasgow) S5 50m Butterfly – 37.35
Stephen Clegg (University of Stirling) S12 100m Butterfly – 58.56

British Records
Stephen Clegg (University of Stirling) S12 100m Freestyle – 53.54
Stephen Clegg (University of Stirling) S12 50m Freestyle – 24.39

There weren’t many Scottish Records still standing after the event. As you can see below there were records broken across all strokes and distances by many swimmers:

Scottish Records
Ollie Carter (Carnegie) S10 100m Freestyle – 58.02
Louis Lawlor (City of Glasgow) S14 100m Freestyle – 56.36
Rosie Bancroft (City of Oxford) S10 100m Freestyle – 1:04.45
Jon Law (Helensburgh) SB13 100m Breaststroke) – 1:18.50
Beth Johnston (BEST) S10 50m Freestyle – 31.22
Beth Johnston (BEST) S10 100m Backstroke – 1:16.02
Abby Kane (REN96) S13 50m Freestyle – 30.56
Abby Kane (REN96) SM13 200m IM – 2:37.31
Conner Morrison (University of Aberdeen) SM14 200m IM – 2:18.74
Conner Morrison (University of Aberdeen) S14 200m Freestyle – 2:03.29
Reagan Doig (Stirling Swim) SB14 100m Breaststroke – 1:21.95
Hope Gordon (ELST) S9 400m Freestyle – 5:20.82

For a full list of results click here http://swimmingresults.org.uk/disability/results/2017/np17/index2.htm

Also over the weekend Toni Shaw (University of Aberdeen) was competing at the Scottish Short Course Champs in Edinburgh and broke Scottish Records in:
SM9 200m IM – 2:39.14
S9 100m Freestyle – 1:05.32
S9 100m Backstroke – 1:14.14

If you or any one you know living with a disability would like to get involved in swimming please telephone 0131 317 1130 or email admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com

After what has been an incredible year, winning double gold  in the 100m and 200m, and setting a new world record at the World Para Athletics Championships in London, Borders wheelchair racer Sammi Kinghorn has topped her year off with winning the prestigious Sunday Mail sportscotland Scottish Sports Personality of the Year 2017.

Sammi is the first para athlete to win the award and after her achievements this year, deservedly so.

On a sparkling evening celebrating Scottish Sport, Sammi firstly picked up the Disability Sport Award, within a strong category alongside fellow athletes Martin Perry (Table Tennis) and Danni Joyce (Swimming).

Sammi was then nominated in the Scottish Personality of the Year category sponsored by sportscotland.  Here, she was up against a host of other of other Scottish sports stars and as she made her way to collect her award was greeted with a standing ovation and rapturous applause.

After receiving the award, Sammi said: “I was so stunned when my name was called.  It means so much to be the first para athlete to win the award.  I believe so strongly in para athletes getting the recognition they deserve.

“I’m really proud to hopefully start a long line of disabled athletes winning the main award.”

Although the sprints are Sammi’s strongest events, she has turned her sights towards the Commonwealth Games, where she hopes to represent Scotland in the marathon.

She has already completed the Chicago marathon this year and although her training regime is totally different, she is determined to pull on the Scotland vest at the Gold Coast in 2018.

“My 100m and 200m events aren’t included in the Commonwealth Games, so I’ve decided to switch to the marathon.  I’m determined to do my country proud.”

The top award is an amazing achievement for such a deserving athlete.  Congratulations Sammi!

One of Scotland’s leading bowls coaches has had his contribution to sport recognised with the Lifetime Achievement in Coaching Award from sportscotland.

Bob Dick, 79, from Cupar in Fife, has been awarded the accolade for his lifetime commitment and passion for coaching.

Bob is an advanced coach with over 30 years’ experience and has represented the country as a player on 22 occasions.  He has coached and team managed both mainstream and para bowls over the course of his career and has attended three Commonwealth Games. He led the Scotland Men’s Para Triples Team to the gold medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, whilst his visually impaired B2/B3 Mixed Pair won silver at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Commenting on his success, Bob said: “It was very early in the coaching scene that I became involved. I think when you start coaching, it’s to give something back to the game that you love.

“I was asked to manage the para-bowlers at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, 2002 – they won a gold medal in the physically disabled triples and in the mainstream pairs. I think two gold medals out of four was a really good achievement if I’m honest!

“It’s absolutely wonderful when you’re in a Commonwealth Games or international bowls with the para players – especially when your country does very well.

“There are always disappointments when you’re a coach, but there are also so many amazing moments.”

Robert’s involvement with disability bowls has been hailed as giving the sport discipline, credibility and status. Upon returning from the IBD World Championships in Australia in 2007 as Head Coach for Disability Bowls, Robert vowed to improve the quality and quantity of coaches training and attending major championships with the national team. With more and better qualified coaches working with the team in the run up to the 2011 World Championships in South Africa, the Scotland team came second in the world.

He was also part of the team at the 2015 World Championships in New Zealand that saw Scotland come second in the medal table, winning six gold medals and four bronze.

Currently, Bob is working with the team leading up to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, where Scotland will be represented in the physically disabled Open Triple and the visually impaired Mixed pair.  A strong team of players has recently been selected and can look forward to the Games with optimism (https://scottishdisabilitysport.com/gold-coast-2018-para-bowls-squad-announced/)

Scottish Disability Sport Performance Manager Gary Fraser, said: “We nominated Robert for this award because of his dedication to the sport over a long period of time – we felt it was time for Robert to receive recognition for all his hard work.

“His longevity, attention to detail and commitment to the sport has earned him so much respect – especially his achievements both as a player and a coach.”

Stewart Harris, Chief Executive of sportscotland, said: “Every year across Scotland, thousands of dedicated sporting enthusiasts devote their time, knowledge and skills to help others achieve their sporting goals. Our Coaching, Officiating and Volunteering Awards provide us with a chance to celebrate the great sporting achievements that are taking place every day and congratulate individuals on their commitment to Scottish sport.

“As one of Scotland’s most experienced and respected coaches, Robert is admired for his skill and knowledge. Not only does he bring out the best in his players, but it’s evident that he truly cares and is passionate about helping his teams succeed.

“As a champion of inclusion, Robert’s accolades are a testament to all his hard work.

“At sportscotland we are implementing a world-class sporting system at every level in Scotland and we can only do so with the support of the many dedicated coaches, officials and volunteers.

“I hope that many more people are inspired by our winners and recognise the opportunities that exist to get involved in sport at every level from volunteering at your local club or school to coaching or officiating on the world stage.”