 Australian Paralympic team portrait 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | Australian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 15 June 1976 Manly, Queensland, Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Daniel Fitzgibbon, OAM (born 15 June 1976) is an Australian Paralympic sailor, who won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. He won gold medals at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Paralympics with partner Liesl Tesch in the two person SKUD 18. [1] [2]
Daniel Gerard Fitzgibbon was born in the Brisbane suburb of Manly on 15 June 1976. Having sailed since the age of five, he joined the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron in 1990. [3] [4] On 29 March 1997, an incident occurred at the Middle Harbour Yacht Club jetty in which he broke his neck, leaving him a quadraplegic. [5] He sued the Waterways Authority for negligence at the New South Wales Supreme Court. Fitzgibbon, who claimed that he was pushed into the water, stated that it was their failure to include a handrail in the design of the jetty that caused him to fall off. They stated that he dived in because he thought a friend was drowning, and thus was responsible for the accident. [6] His claim was unsuccessful.
In 2004 Fitzgibbon competed in the Disabled Sailing World Championship, which he won in his class, [5] and was jointly awarded the Disabled Sailor of the Year along with Andrew Hartley. [7]
In 2007, Fitzgibbon partnered with Rachael Cox in the SKUD International Championships, where they won a gold medal. [8] They later competed in the IFDS World Championships and placed fifth. [8] They were jointly named as Sailors of the Year with a Disability. [8] The two teamed up again in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics in the SKUD 18 class and won the silver medal. [9] The class, which premiered at the 2008 games, was created when Fitzgibbon convinced the International Foundation for Disabled Sailing to adapt the class to allow two sailors with disabilities to participate. [5] They were again jointly named the Sailors of the Year with a Disability. [8]
After seeing Liesl Tesch in an SBS documentary about the boat Sailors with Disabilities competing in the 2009 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, Fitzgibbon contacted her in late 2010 and they formed a sailing partnership. [10] He partnered with Tesch at the ISAF World Cup in January 2011 where they won gold, [11] and at the IFDS World Championships in July, where they won bronze. [12] The pair were jointly named as Sailors of the Year with a Disability, the fourth time Fitzgibbon won the award. [8]
At the 2012 London Paralympics, the pair won a gold medal in the Mixed Two Person SKUD18. [9] At the 2014 IFDS World Championships in Halifax, Canada, Fitzgibbon teamed with Tesch to win the two-person SKUD 18 class. [13]
Fitzgibbon and Tesch won the 2015 IFDS World Championships in Melbourne. [14] After winning the title Fitzgibbon said: "We're still learning every day. That's what sailing is. You never stop learning and enjoying the sport and we ended up winning a gold medal and since London we are undefeated, we won the world championships last time and we are trying to win this one and we've won every world cup event we've been in. The competition gets harder and harder, though that's the thing – we've just got to keep improving." [14]
Fitzgibbon and Tesch won the bronze medal in the SKUD 18 class at the 2016 World Championships held in Medemblik, Netherlands. [15]
Fitzgibbon and Tesch won back to back Paralympic gold medals by winning the SKUD18 at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. They won eight out of 11 races and came second in the other three. [2]
Fitzgibbon was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in the 2014 Australia Day Honours "for service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games." [3] In November 2014, Fitzgibbon shared the Yachting Australia Sailor of the Year with a Disability award with Liesl Tesch, Colin Harrison, Jonathan Harris, Russell Boaden and Matthew Bugg. The Australian team of six sailors beat Great Britain by one point at the IFDS World Championship. [16] Fitzgibbon and Tesch won the 2014 NSW Sports Award for Team of the Year with a Disability. [17] In November 2015, Fitzgibbon and Tesch were awarded Yachting Australia's 2015 Sailor of the Year with a Disability. [18] In November 2017, Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch were inaugural inductees to the Australian Sailing Hall of Fame. [19]
World Sailing (WS) is the international sports governing body for sailing; it is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
Eighty athletes representing 25 countries in three keelboat classes - the 2.4mR, the SKUD 18, and the Sonar, took part in sailing in the 2008 Summer Paralympics. Sailing was held in two designated areas on the Yellow Sea, Qingdao, Shandong province, from September 8 to September 13.
The SKUD 18 is a class of racing sailing boat. It is a lead-assisted skiff with a tube-launched asymmetrical and a modern high performance stayed rig. The boat was created for trials held by the International Association for Disabled Sailing who were looking for a new two person boat for an additional medal allocated to sailing for the 2008 Paralympics.
The International Association for Disabled Sailing (IFDS) was an affiliate member of the International Sailing Federation and was responsible for coordinating the paralympic sailing competition with the International Paralympic Committee. The organisation was initially called the International Foundation for Disabled Sailing up until around 2008 when it had to change its name due to tax law in the country it is registered in.
Australia competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Games in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012. The London Games were the biggest Games with 164 nations participating, 19 more than in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic. Australia has participated at every Summer Paralympic Games and hosted the 2000 Sydney Games. As such, the 2000 Sydney Games, regarded as one of the more successful Games, became a point-of-reference and an inspiration in the development of the 2012 London Games.
Liesl Dorothy Tesch AM is an Australian wheelchair basketball player, sailor, and politician. She is a Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing Gosford since the 2017 Gosford state by-election.
Colin Anthony Harrison is an Australian Paralympic sailor. He won the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, and the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in the Three Person Sonar.
Russell Boaden is a Paralympic sailor from Australia. He won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, and a won a gold medal in the Mixed Three Person Sonar the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Alexandra Rickham is a British Paralympic sailor.
Sailing at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London was held from August in Weymouth and Portland. XYZ competitors representing XYZ countries will compete in three keelboat classes - the 2.4mR, the SKUD 18, and the Sonar, took part in sailing in the 2008 Summer Paralympics.
Matthew Bugg is an Australian sailor. He represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the 2.4mR class sailing event. He won a bronze medal at the 2015 IFDS World Championships. He won a silver medal in the 2.4mR at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Jonathan Bruce Harris is an Australian blue-water sailor who began his sailing career when he was about ten. He won a gold medal in the Mixed Three Person Sonar the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Sailing was added to the Summer Paralympic Games competition schedule at the 2000 Sydney Games. Australia has been represented since 2000 Games. In 2015, the International Paralympic Committee announced that sailing would be one of two sports dropped from the summer Paralympic Games program at the 2020 Tokyo Games. The parent body for sailing internationally, World Sailing, has stated its intention to seek re-inclusion on the summer Paralympic program at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
Niki James Birrell is a British Paralympic sailor. Alongside Alexandra Rickham, he has won four IFDS World Championship titles and in the 2012 Summer Paralympics the pair took the bronze medal in the SKUD 18 two person keelboat class.
Australia competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. Australia repeated its 2012 Summer Paralympics achievement in finishing fifth of the medal tally.
Hannah Stodel is a British Paralympic sailor. Stodel has represented Great Britain at three Summer Paralympics and with her colleagues John Robertson and Stephen Thomas has won multiple medals in the Mixed Sonar class at the Disabled Sailing World Championships, including gold in 2005 and 2006.
Singapore competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016.
John Twomey is an Irish Paralympic athlete and sailor. He has represented Ireland at 11 consecutive Paralympic games winning medals at three of them.
Vincent Marc Thierry Lauwers is an Australian round-the-world yachtsman. In 2000 he became the first paraplegic sailor to sail solo, non-stop around the world. In 2001, he won the Laureus Award for "Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability".
Cherrie "Cherry" Samonte Pinpin, is a Filipina Paralympic sailor who crewed in the SKUD 18 Two-Person Keelboat class, Sailing at the 2008 Summer Paralympics, Beijing.
