The 47th Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) Championships for swimmers with a physical or sensory disability were held at Grangemouth Sports Complex on Saturday 13th April.

For almost 50 years swimmers with a physical and sensory disability have competed with distinction and the beauty of this event means that Paralympians can swim alongside those at the beginning of their swimming journeys in what could be their first competition. This event has featured a phenomenal list of swimmers through the years and has been developed and enhanced chiefly by Richard Brickley MBE in a volunteer capacity and SDS thanks him for his considerable input to this event for so long. Richard and Norma in the SDS Fife office continue to contribute so much to the SDS Events Calendar and the other three national swimming championships.

As the competition calendar has grown for swimmers with a disability, particularly at a performance level, it becomes relevant to offer those swimmers training regularly in specific and inclusive clubs and sessions opportunities to access ratified times to be used for further competitions and the experience of swimming at events that use electronic timing. The time was right to make amendments to the criteria for this event and allow swimmers aged 10 and over access to this competition. It was heartening to see a very healthy entry of over 60 competitors. The event aligns more with the Scottish Swimming entry and technology they use at their meets and SDS really appreciated the input from the individuals from Scottish Swimming and Grangemouth Swimming Club who assisted on the day and provided the technology and expertise required. Further changes include the addition of 100m events in all strokes which again replicates events available to developing swimmers on the competition pathway.

Previously, junior swimmers competed as guests and were not eligible for medals or team points. This year, all swimmers were eligible for medals and claimed points which were allocated to their representative teams in the Team Trophy competition.

Thanks to the addition of new events and the extension of the age criteria then new championship records were inevitable. Leading the way was surely going to be Abby Kane, the Paralympic silver medallist at the Rio Games. And so it proved as the West of Scotland swimmer proceeded in establishing a number of new CRs across events including her contribution to a very fast West of Scotland 4 x 50m relay time. Other swimmers to claim records on the day were Kyle Hughes also from the West of Scotland and Kate Bolan and Aaron McDowell from Team Lothian.

There were teams from all the SDS regions and all regions won medals throughout. Natalia Chociaj from Grampian hd some outstanding swims and would have claimed more golds if it wasn’t for the spectacular Abby Kane. Highland’s Li Kennedy was a one-mad band for the region and claimed a number of golds in his class. The team event was ultimately won by the very strong West team, however, the east of the country completed the podium positions with Lothian and Borders -with impressive swims from an ever growing band of swimmers – in silver and bronze respectively.

It was great to see Craig Smith returning to action for Fife, SDS always love seeing swimmers returning to action after a break from the sport. Other swimmers would be made very welcome back at this event as we approach its 50th birthday in the next few years.

SDS is as always indebted to all Scottish Swimming officials plus the many volunteers who turn out year after year – including many family members of the competing swimmers – in support of the Scottish disability swimming programme. Thanks to Jean King for co-ordinating the officials.

Best of luck to any of the swimmers competing in the British Para-Swimming International in Glasgow at the end of April.

Full results will follow soon.

Photo: The successful West of Scotland team with the Team Trophy.

Reegan Stevenson has made significant progress in the sport of boccia and this was highlighted at the recent European Open in Croatia.

As a member of the Boccia UK transition programme he made his Great Britain debut in the BC1 individual and BC1/2 Team competitions. Individually Reegan was competitive in each match and although he lost all three group games each were by the tightest of margins. (Katinka Langauer (HUN) 3-2, Aurelie Aubert (FRA), 2-2, Serafin Rodriguez (ESP), 4-2)

However, Reegan made his mark as a member of the BC1/2 Team competition, alongside David Smith MBE and Claire Taggart. After a disappointing 5-4 defeat against Turkey they responded well against host nation Croatia with an 8-4 victory. Knowing that victory against Spain would see them into the semi-finals they bounced back magnificently after losing 4 in the first end to win 9-4. They took this energy and momentum into the semi-final against Ukraine, where a dominant display earned them a 10-3 victory and a place in the final against Slovakia. In a tight match, that came down to the wire, GB made it over the line with a 4-3 victory.  As a combination, all three players performed exceptionally, and it was great way to finish the first tournament of the year on a high for Great Britain.

Elsewhere, experienced campaigner, Scott McCowan, was a late addition to the individual competition and came in as the top seed. Winning his group games in comfortable fashion (10-0 v Elisabeth Wilhelmsen (NOR) and Viktoriia Shcherbyna (UKR). He then faced German, Petra Benharket in the quarter finals winning 5-1 to set up a semi-final against GB debutant Will Arnott. After losing 3 in the first end, Scott fought his way back into the game so that it was all square going into the final end. It came down to the last ball and after a tight measure Will won the game 4-3. Scott bounced back well to secure Bronze with a 4-1 victory over Christoffer Hagdahl of Sweden.

Other results involving Great Britain players:

BC2 Individual Silver: Claire Taggart
BC3 Individual Silver: Will Arnott

Photo courtesy of Claire Morrison

Saturday 3rd of March saw another milestone for women’s participation in wheelchair rugby, with a Women’s Exhibition match being featured at the prestigious Wheelchair Rugby Quad Nations held in Leicester.

The day started with a Women’s Development Session lead by experienced coach Luke White. At this session women from across the UK came together to learn more about the game and develop their fundamental skills. For me this session highlighted the potential of women in wheelchair rugby and enabled us to practice in a fun yet competitive environment.

In the evening I was privileged to be part of a women’s team that was showcasing the sport at the Quad Nations. This game was livestreamed on the BBC which allowed the match to gain a wider audience and encourage more women to get involved. The teams were made up of female players from all three divisions of the Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby  League. The squads, which were captained by myself and fellow GB Talent Squad player Faye West, included women with a range of experience from Paralympian Coral Batey to up and coming talent such as Tilly Robinson and Ella Beaumont.

On the night it was an incredibly close game with the Vixens narrowly defeating the Warriors. Personally, this was a great experience for me as I not only had the opportunity to take part in the Quad Nations but also had the chance to play alongside and against some of the awesome women in wheelchair rugby.  

Gemma Lumsdaine, Young Persons Sports Panel

“Great day, fantastic coaches and a much-needed opportunity” was the feedback from the National Visual Impairment Sports Day held at St Paul’s RC Academy in Dundee. Fourteen people travelled from the Ayrshires, Midlothian, Grampian and from across Tayside to try a variety of sports offered exclusively for people with visual impairments.

The day sponsored by Celtic FC Foundation was the fourth of its kind to take place across Scotland. It was designed to introduce people with visual impairments to physical activity and sport in a fun, safe environment and then be supported to transition in to a weekly opportunity, ideally within their own locality.

JudoScotland, Goalball UK, Celtic FC Foundation Coaches, Scottish Swimming, Dundee City Aquatics and volunteer coaches from Balgay, Fairfield and Carnoustie Bowling Clubs created fun opportunities for individual to experience their sports. Participants will then be contacted by SDS Regional Managers to identify which sports they would like to try again and facilitate further participation.

SDS works in partnership with Royal National Institute for the Blind, Guide Dogs UK, and NHS Visual Impairment Network for Children and Young People to share good practice and work together to introduce more people with sight loss accessing the health and social benefits of sport.

If you or any one you know has a visual impairment and would like to get involved in sport please contact SDS on 0131 317 1130 or alternatively email admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com.

The news that Michael Simpson from Auchtermuchty in Fife has decided to retire from para bowls to spend more time with his family is not surprising but of course disappointing. As well as being a successful high performance bowler, Michael is a leader and his influence will be missed greatly in the national squad. In the past decade he has risen from Fife champion to a silver medallist at the IBD world championships in New Zealand. Michael may be retiring but he will be remembered as one of Scotland’s leading para bowlers.

In 2005 Michael was runner up in the Strathmiglo Bowling Club singles championship and a member of the under 25 Fife County team.  Vascular illness resulted in a double below knee amputation and a radical rethink of his future as a performance bowler.  Following a year in hospital and with massive support from family and Strathmiglo Bowling Club friends and committee, Michael launched a career in Para bowls after leaving hospital in March 2008.  The occasion was the 2008 Disability Sport Fife Championships at the Beveridge Park in Kirkcaldy in June and he has never looked back since.

Michael’s progress as an international para bowler has been impressive.  The year following his first involvement in the DSF Championships, Michael returned to win the Fife title. In the same year he won his first SDS Scottish lawn bowls title at Westburn Park in Aberdeen.  Michael then played a significant role in the Scottish victory over England’s leading physically and visually impaired bowlers at the Beveridge Park in 2009. In 2010 he travelled with the same strong Scottish team to Nottingham for a rare indoor bowls victory over England.

It was a natural progression that Michael would be selected for Scotland’s team to travel to South Africa for the IBD World Championships in 2011 to try to better the third place team finish at the Championships in Australia in 2007.  After a comfortable start in singles, the heat and humidity of South Africa took its toll on Michael, but in true Simpson fashion he rallied for the pairs and won a bronze medal with Kevin Wallace in the toughest classification section of the tournament.

Michael then focussed on trying to gain selection for Team Scotland for the Para-Bowls triples at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.  In the summer of 2013 at Kelvingrove, Michael enhanced his chances of selection by being a member of the Scottish physically disabled triple that won gold at the 4 Nations and then repeated the performance a few months later at the 8 Nations.  That outstanding physically disabled triple included Kevin Wallace and Billy Allan.  They played 13 matches, won 10, drew 2 and lost only 1 in two major events against the world’s leading para bowls nations. It may be argued however that Michael’s finest international achievement was winning a silver medal in mixed pairs with Rosemary Lenton at the IBD World Championships in New Zealand in 2015.

Michael received support from the organisers of the Reelers Ball in North East Fife and also St Andrews Kilrymont Rotary at key stages in his international career. In addition he is appreciative of the role played by Disability Sport Fife, Scottish Disability Sport, Bowls Scotland and the Scottish Institute of Sport in his development as a para bowler. This is a young man who has always had ambitions of winning a Commonwealth Games medal and regularly challenging for a place in Team Scotland for the IBD World Championships.

As well as successes in para bowls, Michael is proud of the role he has played as a member of the Strathmiglo Bowling Club team that won the Fife Top 10 in 2010 and went on to finish runners up in the Scottish Top 10 in 2011.  In 2005 he was proud of his runners up spot in the club championships and a very important milestone in his career was repeating that performance in 2012, four years after losing his legs.  Michael went one stage further in 2014 when he won the club championships at his beloved Strathmiglo BC. The club recognised Michael with the highest honour available by awarding him life membership in 2018.

Michael Simpson is a double Commonwealth Games representative and an inspiration to mainstream and para bowlers throughout Scotland and beyond. Michael is  an exceptional role model to performance athletes across all sports. Michael will retain an active interest in SDS and DSF bowls progress and may even consider coaching. DSF has already offered to support his coaching journey. Michael has made the correct decision and we all wish the Simpson family well.

Richard Brickley, MBE – Chairman DSF (SCIO) Board of Charity Trustees