Well done to young Disability Sport Fife athlete Callum Sloan from Dunfermline who recorded a personal best performance in the Great Scottish Run 2.5km race in Glasgow at the weekend.
Both Callum and coach Pamela Robson were pleased with the push in very cold conditions. Callum’s training partner Susanne McGrath from Glenrothes was scheduled to compete on the Sunday of the event but had to withdraw through illness.
Richard Brickley MBE
President, Disability Sport Fife
Well done to Eleanor Clark from the Kirkcaldy Blind Bowlers and Fair Isle Bowling Club who has won a silver medal in the BI category at the British Championships for Visually Impaired Bowlers organised by the UK Visually Impaired Bowls Association.
The Championships were held in Leamington Spa and run over three days and Eleanor just lost out on the gold medal on a count back of shots. Caroline Tait from the Fair Isle Club also competed in the B4 class in her first British Championships.
Eleanor is one of the most experienced and respected Disability Sport Fife bowlers. Eleanor’s sight has been deteriorating each year and she now bowls in class B1 which is the section for totally blind bowlers. Previously she bowled as a partially sighted bowler in the B2 class. The deterioration in sight has resulted in her having to make major adjustments in technique and forced her to use occlusion glasses. All B1 sports men and women across all sports use blacked out glasses or goggles to ensure fairness across the class.
Earlier in the year Eleanor won the B1 singles title at the 2016 National Championships organised by the Scottish Association of Blind Bowlers (SABB) at Ardgowan in Greenock. Eleanor’s regular director on the green is now Doreen Strachan from West Lothian. Eleanor has been selected by SABB to compete at the 2017 World Championships in Cape Town and she is hopeful that Doreen will be by her side.
Richard Brickley MBE
President, Disability Sport Fife
Triathlon Scotland are again working in partnership with Scottish Disability Sport and South Lanarkshire Leisure & Culture to host a Disability Come and Triathlon at Blantyre Leisure Centre on Sunday 18th September 2016.
The event is a ‘come and try’ event designed for athletes with a disability to try the sport of triathlon in a fun, supported and relaxed environment. Â The course is all contained within the grounds of Blantyre Leisure Centre and the adjacent park, with athletes having a choice of three race distances.
For more information and to sign up for the event please visit:
12 months ago at the England Athletics Age Group and IPC Championships in Bedford, Sam Fernando from Gateside and Fife AC ran a time of 4:28.93 for 1500 metres. On Saturday 27th August 2016 Sam returned to Bedford for the same event and ran 4:19.88, an improvement of around 9 seconds.
Sam is coached by Ron Morrison and competes in the T20 class in disability athletics. Sam is the leading Under 20 athlete in the T20 class and was voted leading male athlete at the Disability Sport Fife Championships earlier in the year. Sam has top three UK rankings across a range of distance events.
1500 metres is the only distance event available to T20 athletes on the Paralympic programme and In Sam Fernado and Owen Miller from Dunfermline, Fife AC has two of the country’s leading T20 athletes. Sam has made significant progress since he joined coach Ron and Owen similarly has had a fine season to date under his new coach Steve Doig.
Richard Brickley MBE
President, Disability Sport Fife
Paralympian Derek Rae from Kirkcaldy and Fife AC will head out to Rio on 8th September to join his Great Britain team mates. Coach Ron Morrison has scheduled quality races and a very detailed training programme between now and departure date. The most recent competition involved a return to Dublin for the Frank Duffy 10.
For the first time in 2013 Scottish Athletics invited Derek to join the squad for the Frank Duffy 10 mile around the streets of Dublin. This was Derek’s first call up by his governing body and he justified his selection with a time of 56.54 and 41st place. One year later, he returned to Dublin and finished 26th in a time of 54.47. There were only 5 minutes between Derek and the leading athlete on the day.
Conditions this year were extremely challenging so the time became irrelevant for coach and athlete. A top finishing position was the target for the day and true to form Derek delivered. 8th place and only 2.30 behind the leader for a best performance by far in the Frank Duffy 10. Another very positive result for the man from Fife who will be Great Britain’s only ambulant marathon runner at the Paralympic Games in Rio in September.
Photo: Derek extreme right with his Scottish Athletics colleagues
Richard Brickley MBE
President, Disability Sport Fife
As well as celebrating the inclusion of three Fife athletes in the Great Britain team for Rio and taking a trip down memory lane to remember great Fife Paralympians of the past, Disability Sport Fife is keen to showcase the Fife athletes to watch for the future.
18 year old Sam Fernando from Gateside and Fife Athletic Club Club was classified T20 with support from Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) and Disability Sport Fife (DSF) shortly after his 16th birthday and still a pupil at Bell Baxter High School. As a Fife AC member, Sam initially came under the wing of Dave Francis but then progressed to Ron Morrison’s squad at St Andrews in 2015 and he has not looked back since.
Sam has the advantage and challenge of training along with a very successful performance squad that includes 2016 Great Britain Paralympian Derek Rae from Kirkcaldy. Derek not surprisingly is a huge influence on Sam, as is T20 international athlete Owen Miller from Dunfermline and Fife AC who is coached by Steve Doig. Sam was awarded the Gilbert Trophy at the 2015 DSF Track and Field Championships as the leading Fife junior and the Ben Mills Trophy at the 2016 DSF Track and Field Championships as the overall best performer.
1500 metres is the Paralympic distance available to T20 athletes and from 2013 to the present Sam lowered his personal best time from 5:21.70 to 4:24.51. In the UK rankings for T20 1500 metres, Sam is ranked 8 and he will return to Bedford in August to defend the T20 under 20 1500 metres title. Sam is currently ranked 1 under 20 for 3000 metres, ranked 2 for all T20 age groups over 5000 metres and ranked 4 for all age groups over 10,000 metres.
From the moment Bell Baxter HS staff member Fiona Stewart introduced Sam to the DSF and SDS cross country and track and field programme he has made exceptional progress. Over the past two years the Ron Morrison coaching influence has been considerable and there are many who believe this young Fife athlete has a very bright future. Not surprisingly Scottish Athletics staff support and expertise have been invaluable.
Behind every successful performance athlete there is a supportive family and Sam’s parents have provided all the necessary resources from day one. Sam’s father played a key role when he was selected for the Kingdom Athletics Team that finished third in the Premier Division Youth Development League. Sam recorded personal best times for 1500 metres, 3000 metres and 2000 metres steeplechase. A remarkable series of quality performances for the young Fife athlete.
Sam Fernando was born to run. As a first year Bell Baxter HS pupil his cross country times were impressive and his present UK rankings confirm this early promise. On a recent family holiday to Sri Lanka, Sam seized every opportunity to run in the tropical heat on local beaches, village roads, cricket grounds and even on Independence Square in the centre of Colombo. Sam impressed local observers as he has school staff, DSF and Fife AC personnel since day one. Sam Fernando is definitely one to watch and well done to the support team who have played such an important part in his development.
Richard Brickley MBE
President Disability Sport Fife