Gordon Reid completed a career Grand Slam of men’s doubles wheelchair tennis titles on Friday after partnering Joachim Gerard of Belgium to win the Australian Open crown 6-3, 3-6, (10-3) against Alfie Hewett and Argentina’s Gustavo Fernandez.

With two Australian Open titles secured so far for players on the Tennis Foundation’s Wheelchair Tennis World Class Programme, Andy Lapthorne will bid for another on Saturday. Lapthorne takes on Dylan Alcott of Australia in the quad singles final, when he will bid to add to the quad doubles title he won on Thursday. The match will take place on Rod Laver Arena.

With Brits on either side of the net in the men’s doubles final, second seeds Reid and Gerard made a confident start and took a 4-0 lead before Hewett and Fernandez managed to recover one of the breaks against them.

After beating Paralympic champions and top seeds Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer in their semi-final, Hewett and Fernandez made the early breakthrough in the second set, turning a 2-0 lead into a 5-2 advantage and forcing the match tie-break. However, Reid and Gerard went through the last seven points of the match tie-break without reply to win their first Grand Slam title together.

“I’m very happy to finish this Australian trip on a high after some disappointing results and performances at times. It was a last minute decision to play with Jo but one that has paid off,” said Reid after the fifth Grand Slam doubles title of his career. “I don’t think any one of us played our best tennis in the final today, but we upped our level when it mattered in the match tie-break. It’s also a great feeling to complete the career doubles Grand Slam.”

Reid had previously won the Roland Garros and US Open doubles titles in 2015 and added the Wimbledon doubles crown to a second title in Paris in 2016.

“It was a tough final. The momentum kept switching as the match went on,” said Hewett. “We started a bit slow again and they pressured us into making errors. But once again it was a real positive that we fought back. We just didn’t have the composure or consistency to keep it up in the match tie-break. It was a really great atmosphere to play in and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my first Australian Open experience. I’m looking forward to going back home and working on everything I have learnt this week.”

Lapthorne was awarded a walkover in his scheduled third and last quad singles round-robin match against Heath Davidson after the Australian withdrew due to injury.

World No.3 Lapthorne will now bid to go one better than in 2013 when he reached his first Australian Open quad singles final.

Photo courtesy of the Tennis Foundation

Sunday 22^nd January 2017

The Mercat Gait Centre in East Lothian played host to the Scottish Disability Sport / Scottish Swimming National Short Course Performance Swim Championships on Sunday 22^nd January 2017, attracting 42 swimmers with a physical, sensory or learning impairment from all regions of the country.

The Performance Championships are a strong partnership event between Scottish Disability Sport and Scottish Swimming and were introduced to support regional development and create an appropriate competition for regional and national squad swimmers, inviting individuals from the Highlands, Grampian, Central, Fife the West and East of Scotland.  The event implements the IPC Multi-Classification system and for a number of swimmers, this was the first time they had experienced the British Swimming Points Scoring System allowing them valuable an introduction to these conditions and therefore preparing them for future competitions.

Records Tumble

The calibre of swimmers was evident for all to see, highlighted by the attendance of three Paralympians – Scott Quin & Stephen Clegg (East of Scotland) and Abby Kane (West of Scotland).  Paralympic medallists Quin (25) and Kane (13) demonstrated the form that secured silver medals in the SB14 and S13 classifications respectively, with youngster Kane building on that success by breaking three Scottish Records in the 50m Free (30.50), 100m Fly (1:18.69) and 100m Breast (1:26.29).  On top of this, the REN 96 swimmer wowed the crowd with an astonishing performance, swimming inside the world record time for the S13 100m Back – completing the distance in 1:09.42.

There were also notable performances from Borders Elite Swim Team (BEST) swimmer Beth Johnston who lowered the Scottish record in the S10 100m Back (1:16.77), Kayleigh Haggo (West of Scotland) and Rosie Sheridan (Central) who also claimed new Scottish records.

In total there were 66% of swims where personal bests were achieved, highlighting the importance of this gala in terms of encouraging the development of swimmers.

Scottish Disability Sport would like to express thanks to all the dedicated volunteers from the SASA East District for their invaluable support on the day, as well as the expertise provided from multi Paralympic medallist Jim Anderson OBE who kindly handed all medals to the successful swimmers.  Paul Wilson, the Disability Performance Development Manager, was also present to ensure the smooth running of the event lending his experience to the points system for the event.

For further information on the event or swimming for people with disabilities in Scotland, contact Scottish Disability Sport on 0131 317 1130 or email admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com.

Britain’s Millie Knight won downhill gold on the opening day of the IPC World Para Alpine Skiing Championships in Italy and was led to victory by her Scottish guide Brett Wild.

The visually impaired 18-year-old, who was GB’s youngest athlete at the Sochi 2014 Paralympics, completed the course in one minute 13.42 seconds and was 1.2 seconds faster than Five-time Paralympic champion Henrieta Farkasova of Slovakia.

GB officials are claiming that Knights success is Britain’s first-ever World Para skiing title and are excited by the 18 year olds prospects at next year’s Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang.

Wild, from Bearsden in Glasgow, has been supporting Knight for the past year and following some early success, Parasnowsports GB requested he join them full time. A top skier himself, he raced for the Scottish junior development squad as well as for the royal Navy, where he is a Submariner.

Boor further honours in the Super G event on Thursday.

The pair also added a further two silver medals in the super combined and giant slalom to complete an excellent showing at the World Para Alpine Skiing Championships.

Salary: £24 – £28k

Tennis Scotland is seeking to recruit an enthusiastic and motivated Marketing and Communications Officer to lead on the marketing and communication needs of the organisation and achieve the mission and targets within the Tennis Scotland strategy.

View the detailed job description and person specification

The ideal candidate will demonstrate a track record of managing social media channels, website editing, ensuring consistent and high quality communication support for the office, tournaments and events promotion, supporting the organisation’s relationship with the press and delivering graphic design support to all staff as well as having a real passion for achieving the mission of ‘More People Playing Tennis More Often’.

For more information please see the Tennis Scotland website here.

 

World No.1 Gordon Reid begins his Australian Open men’s singles title defence against Joachim Gerard of Belgium in a rematch of last year’s final when the first wheelchair tennis Grand Slam of 2017 gets underway at Melbourne Park on Wednesday.

With four Brits on the Tennis Foundation’s Wheelchair Tennis World Class Programme lining up for the men’s, women’s and quad singles and doubles events this year in Melbourne, Alfie Hewett will make his Australian Open debut against world No.2 Stephane Houdet of France, while Lucy Shuker faces her doubles partner Marjolein Buis of the Netherlands.

The four-way quad singles round-robin begins with world No.3 Andy Lapthorne playing his doubles partner, the USA’s world No.2 David Wagner.

Reid has reached the semi-finals and final, respectively, in his first two men’s singles events of the year at the Sydney Open Super Series and the ITF 2 Melbourne Open. Most recently he finished runner-up to Gustavo Fernandez of Argentina on Saturday at the Melbourne Open. Reid bowed out against British No. 2 Hewett in the semi-finals in Sydney but then beat Hewett in the semi -finals last week.

“I had a disappointing start to this Australian trip, but managed to up my level in Melbourne in difficult conditions. So I arrive at Melbourne Park in a good place ready to defend my title ,” said Reid, who wo his first Grand Slam singles title in Melbourne 12 months ago before going on to win the inaugural men’s singles title at Wimbledon.

“It is obviously a different situation than I’ve ever been in before, coming to a Grand Slam as defending champion. But seeing the courts here brings back great memories and gets me excited to start competing here again.”

After reaching his first Super Series singles final in Sydney, having beaten Reid for the very first time, Hewett is relishing his debut at Melbourne Park against Houdet.

“It’s been a pretty positive start to 2017 for me after beating Gordon to reach my first Super Series final in Sydney and then going to three sets with him at the Melbourne Open. So after doing that against the world No.1 I’m really excited to be at the Australian Open for the first time and I’m looking for another big performance against the world No.2 on Wednesday,” said Hewett.

World No.8 Shuker is set to begin her eighth Australian Open against Buis after reaching successive women’s singles quarter-finals so far this year in which she has had close results against world No. 6 Diede de Groot and world No.2 Yui Kamiji.

“I feel like I’ve been playing some pretty good tennis out here in Australia in the first two tournaments of the year. I pushed Diede in Sydney, going to a final set tie-break, and had chances in the match against Yui in Melbourne, so I’m looking forward to my eighth Australian Open,” said Shuker.

“The last time I played here with Marjolein in doubles we made the final, so I’m looking forward to playing together again after facing each other on Wednesday.”

Lapthorne began 2017 by defeating Wagner in his very first match of the year in Sydney two weeks ago, before finishing runner-up in a four-way round robin featuring the same three players he will face this week. While Lapthorne will hope to repeat that result on Wednesday he then goes on to face Australians Dylan Alcott and Heath Davidson. The top two players at the end of the round-robin will meet again in the final.

Former US Open quad singles champion Lapthorne also pairs up with Wagner in a bid to win their third Australian Open quad singles title together.  He is also a former two-time quad doubles champion in Melbourne with fellow Brit Peter Norfolk.

“I’m excited to be going after title number five in doubles, which would be very special, and looking to try and go one better than my past attempts in singles here,” said Lapthorne.

There is the possibility of two Brits being in the men’s doubles final, with Reid and Gerard set to play the Australian-Dutch combination of Ben Weekes and Maikel Scheffers in their semi-final. Hewett and Fernandez will play French top seeds Houdet and Nicolas Peifer in the other semi-final.

Shuker and Buis will take on Dutch top seeds Jiske Griffioen and Aniek van Koot in their quest to reach a second Australian Open women’s doubles final after finishing runners-up to the same partnership in 2013.

Photo courtesy of the Tennis Foundation

Scottish Rowing is the Governing Body for rowing in Scotland.  It promotes participation in rowing by both men and women, at every age and level of ability from novice to elite.  Scottish Rowing is now seeking to appoint a Director with responsibility for Corporate Governance to join its voluntary Board of Directors.  This is an exciting opportunity for the right person to get involved in shaping the future of rowing in Scotland.

The Board meets up to eight times each year including the AGM and planning days.  The successful candidate should also expect to commit up to 2-3 hours per month for communication with the Chief Operating Officer and other staff as required.

The post is accountable to the membership of Scottish Rowing through the Board of Directors, with a direct report to the President of Scottish Rowing as required.

The term of office for this post is three years.

For more information please see the following attachments:

Director of Corporate Governance Job Description

Director Application Form

Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form

Double Paralympian and Commonwealth Games gold medallist John Robertson passed away in the Borders General Hospital on 21^st December, age 75. The crematorium was packed with representatives from the Lothian Fire Service where he worked for over 40 years. Members from Tweedbank Art Club, friends and fellow Paralympians also attended in significant numbers.

John was born in Tranent and had a cycling accident in 1959 when he was 16, which left him with a spinal paralysis.  While in Edenhall Hospital he tried all sports focussing on weightlifting, archery, fencing, table tennis and shooting but later on in his exceptional sporting career he turned his attention to bowls and curling. Not surprisingly, like so many Scottish wheelchair athletes of the time, John turned his hand to basketball when the occasion arose.

For many years this very talented sportsman was a regular in the Scottish team at the National Stoke Mandeville Games. Quality Team Scotland performances led to the call up for Team GB for the International Stoke Mandeville Games. John was a Team Scotland member at the Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Perth Australia in 1962, Kingston Jamaica in 1966, Edinburgh in 1970 and Dunedin New Zealand in 1974.

John met his wife Val at the Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Australia and they were both called up for Team GB for their first Paralympic Games in Tokyo in 1964. Val is a member of the Scottish Disability Sport Hall of Fame and as well as Tokyo, she excelled in Israel in 1968 and Toronto in 1976. John did not make the team for Canada but he travelled in support of his wife.

By this time John and Val were fully committed to bowls and developing a strong bowls community in and around Edinburgh. Innovative bowling ramps were developed at the Thistle Foundation offering green access to participant with severe mobility challenges. John’s skills as a bowler were improving by the day as he launched himself wholeheartedly into all disciplines of the sport. John became a member of East Lothian Indoor, Portobello Indoor and Jessfield Outdoor Bowling Club. John was made an honorary member of Jessfield BC in 1996.

Selection for Team GB for the Paralympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 inevitably followed and John finished a very creditable 5^th in singles. John was then selected for the IPC World Championships in 1998 where he secured 3^rd place in pairs and 5^th in singles. John’s finest hour was the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002 where he joined forces with Ivan Prior and David Heddle to win the first gold medal for Team Scotland in front of the First Minister and many other passionate Scots in torrential rain. A very special day for an amazing Scottish bowls triple.

In the history of the Scottish disability sports movement that performance by skip David Heddle from Fraserburgh, Ivan Prior from Glasgow and John Robertson was up there with the very best that our Paralympians over the years have had to offer. The hairs still rise on the back of my neck when I spot that iconic image of the three Manchester gold medallists that proudly hangs in Caledonia House. Bob Dick was the Team Scotland Bowls Manager at the time and he has many stories to tell about that gold medal match and the performances of John and the others .

Over 50 years ago a performance disability sports movement was established in Scotland that embraced a squad of exceptionally talented all round wheelchair sportsmen and women like John Robertson. Those men and women established our nation as an international force in performance disability sport and laid the foundations for the many pan disability Scottish performances that followed from 1984 onwards.

John was a powerful and eloquent man with a wonderful sense of humour.  He was also a talented musician and a leading light in a Folk Group formed by patients at Edenhall that entertained in pubs and clubs in the 60s and 70s. John and others like him fought the good fight during those early years on issues around equality and access to sporting provision.  John had a vision of inclusion in the 80s and 90s that was progressive, relevant and appropriate for our times.

John and Val settled in Melrose and continued to develop their sporting interests through wheelchair curling. John Robertson was a larger than life character who has left his mark in Scottish sport. He will be remembered as a fierce all round sportsman who took full advantage of his many talents across a wide range of activities.

SDS Vice President Jean Stone MBE attended John’s funeral along with another iconic all round Scottish sportsman of the time, John Clark. Jean was a key player in the development of the Scottish sports movement in the early years and remembers John with great fondness. “John enjoyed life to the full and always had a twinkle in his eye. In an unsettling kind of way however, you never knew what he was going to say or do next”.

I became involved with SSAD (now SDS) in 1975 and I was in awe of all those “big men” who reigned supreme in disability sport throughout the 60s and 70s. Even as they sat in their wheelchairs they appeared to tower over me. I had to win their respect and although there were only a few years between us I often had to answer to “son”. When I was first called by my first name I knew I had earned their respect. John and others taught me so much, particularly at Tulliallan training weekends. I shall always be grateful. John Robertson is a legend in Scottish sport. Athletes, coaches and volunteers who have followed on in the 70s, 80’s, 90s and beyond owe so much to John and his colleagues for laying the foundations for our great movement.

Richard Brickley MBE

Greig Taylor has been appointed as Head Coach of the Scotland Cerebral Palsy national team in advance of the IFCPF World Championships in Argentina this September. Greig has been involved with the squad for 10 years, working as assistant coach for the last five major competitions under Andy Smith who has moved on to coach England.

Having previously worked for Manchester City in China and with SDS and the Scottish FA as Assistant Disability Officer, Greig also acted as Head Coach to the Scottish Cerebral Palsy squad at the 2015 Under-19 World Championships in Nottingham when the Scots finished in fourth place.

Scotland are currently ranked ninth in the IFCPF world rankings and Greig will lead the Scottish team to the IFCPF CP Football World Championships, in the Province of San Luis, Argentina from the 4^th – 24^th September. Scotland have been to the World Championships on four occasions and three Scottish players competed for ParalympicsGB at the Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The Scottish team are currently looking to recruit new players ahead of the World Championships in Argentina. If you know players who have cerebral palsy, stroke, an acquired brain injury, hypertonica, ataxia, athetosis, diplegia or hemiplegia, please contact david.mcardle@scottishfa.co.uk for the chance to represent Scotland on the international stage.

Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) wishes to congratulate the Scottish Paralympic athletes and volunteers who have been named on the 2017 New Year’s Honours list.

There was recognition for Scotland’s gold medallist’s competing as part of ParalympicsGB at the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro with Jo Butterfield, Libby Clegg, Karen Darke and Gordon Reid all being awarded MBE’s (Members of the Order of the British Empire).

In January 2016 Gordon Reid won his first ever wheelchair tennis grand slam singles title at the Australian Open, followed closely with his second grand slam victory in the inaugural singles Championships at Wimbledon. At the 2016 Summer Paralympics, Gordon won the gold medal for the Men’s Wheelchair Singles, beating fellow Briton Alfie Hewitt in straight sets, 6-2 6-1. Gordon receives his MBE for services to Wheelchair Tennis.

Commonwealth Games champion, Libby Clegg,  was reclassified as a T11 athlete due to her deteriorating eye condition in 2016, requiring her to wear a blindfold whilst racing. Alongside guide Chris Clarke she won the T11 100m title and 200m title in Rio. Libby receives her MBE for services to athletics and charity.

Jo Butterfield travelled to Rio as the reigning World and European champion in the F51 Club Throw. At the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha she took the gold with a throw of 21.44 to set a championship record. In Rio, she set a new world record to win gold in the F51 Club Throw and was awarded her MBE for services to Field Athletics.

The fourth Scottish Paralympian to be recognised was hand cyclist, Karen Darke who won the gold medal in the Women’s H1-3 Time Trial at the Rio Games in a time of 33:44:93 Karen receives her MBE for services to Sport particularly Cycling and Triathlon.

Also recognised in the 2017 New Year’s Honours were Dr Margo Whiteford, Chair of Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland who was awarded a CBE (Commanders of the Order of the British Empire) for services to Healthcare and charity and Michael Cavanagh former Chair of Commonwealth Games Scotland for services to Sport and the Commonwealth Games Movement.

Congratulations once again from all at SDS on these well-deserved recognitions.

Scottish Disability Sport is saddened to hear of the passing of the Association’s first National Development Officer and Paralympic Wheelchair Racer, Karen Lewis Archer on Wednesday 14^th December aged 42. Karen was a pioneer and role model who pushed the boundaries and led the way for other disabled people to compete and work in sport.

Karen was born in Carluke in South Lanarkshire and was encouraged to be active from an early age. She attended Carluke High School and very quickly it was identified that she had an aptitude for sport.  Karen, whose mother was a swimming coach at Clyde Valley Beavers encourage her to join the club. As a junior swimmer, Karen excelled as a member of the Scottish junior swim team and quickly became an accomplished swimmer headed for a promising international career before fate intervened and instead pushed her towards the athletics track.

In 1989 she was selected to swim at the World Youth Games in Miami where she won a gold medal in the 50m breaststroke. While there, the track relay team was looking for someone to fill in and turned to Karen. Not only did Karen rise to the challenge but she won a second gold medal in the relay.

On her return to Scotland she promptly joined Red Star Athletic Club in Glasgow where she met her coach Ian Mirfin and in her words “it all spiralled from there.”

She was selected for the Great Britain team to compete at the World Championships in Birmingham in winning T52 gold in the 400m, silver in the 800m and bronze in the 1500m.

She was selected for both the Sydney and Athens Summer Paralympic Games but just prior to Sydney she developed serious arm and wrist problems. She was offered the option of an operation or racing with a strapped and painful wrist. Not wanting to miss out on the Paralympic dream, she chose the latter. Despite her injury she still managed fourth place finishes in both the 100m and 400m. In Athens she again missed out on the medals in the 200m and 400m.

In 2000, Karen graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Leisure Management and in 2007 gained a Master of Science in Sports Management from Northumbria University.

As Scottish Disability Sports National Development Officer, she was a well known and respected colleague with a passion for inclusion. She worked hard to support the flourishing Branch infrastructure across Scotland and the established national events programme. Karen was most recently employed as Sport Development Officer with North Tyneside Council, a post she had held since 2004.

In 2003 Karen married Wayne, who she met through mutual friends and in 2005 their son Dylan was born followed by a daughter, Felicity in 2014.

Karen was also an inspirational speaker and through her brain child programme, ‘Gold Rush’, a programme of inspirational workshops and seminars which she delivered to schools, community groups and businesses drawing on her experiences as a world-class athlete. Karen had also written her first book for children featuring a young and equally plucky disabled heroine called Kellie Khan-do.

As well as being arguably Scotland’s greatest ever female wheelchair track athlete, Karen was also a role model and champion for disabled people. She had a determination and spirit to achieve in everything that she did along with a wicked sense of humour that was infectious. She will be sadly missed.

 

Karen’s sporting achievements

1989 Joined Red Star Athletics Club.

1989 World Youth Games 50m gold Breaststroke.

1997 1st International GB selection, Irish National Championships.

1998 IPC World Championships T52 400m gold, 800m silver & 1500m bronze.

2000 Summer Paralympic Games 4th in the T52 100m & 400m.

2001 IPC European Championship T52100m gold, 200m gold & 400m silver.

2002 IPC World Championship T52 200m bronze.

2003 IPC European Championships T52 400m gold, 100m silver & 200m silver

2004 Summer Paralympic Games 7th and 9th in the T52 200m & 400m.