A Paralympian for all seasons

As the sun beams down on the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games sailing venue, reflecting off the waters of Guanabara Bay with Sugarloaf Mountain standing prominently and Christ the Redeemer watching over the Rio beaches, it’s hard to imagine snow and ice.

But when you’re Great Britain’s dual Summer and Winter Paralympian, Steve Thomas, that’s exactly what you have to do when quizzed by the media.
 
Growing up in his home country of Wales, it’s not unusual to begin by saying that Thomas was a promising rugby union player and represented the junior teams of his home land. It meant Thomas had a base in competitive sport from a young age, but it was chance encounters that brought him in to Paralympic sports.
 
After contracting meningococcal septicaemia, Thomas’ legs were amputated below the knee at the age of 18, and wearing a certain item of clothing opened him up to the world of disability sports, “I was walking around the Welsh festival, the Eisteddfod, and one of the guys who played ice sledge hockey saw me walking around in a pair of shorts,” he recalled. “He asked me if I had heard of it and I said no. I used to play contact sports and wanted to get back in to it but didn’t know how. He told me to come down, try it out and I enjoyed it and I took it from there.”
 
Thomas joined the British squad who were aiming for qualification to the 2002 Winter Paralympics in Utah, USA. Unfortunately, the team missed out, but Thomas fulfilled his ambition of attending a Games at the next edition, Turin 2006 in Italy.
 
It was his time in the US though that actually started Thomas on the road to the summer editions as chance once again reared its head. “I was training for the Winter Paralympics in Utah and I was coming out of the gym and saw this guy hanging out of his car, his wheelchair had rolled away. He kind of said ‘oi mate, can you help me back in my chair?’ I got him back in his chair and a few months later I saw him at the Welsh Institute of Sport in Cardiff.
 
“In those interim months Hannah’s [Stodel] mum was calling around all the disability sport organisations trying to find a third member for the Sonar team.
 
“Just by chance the guy was Anthony Hughes who the Performance Director of Disability Sport Wales and he told me to give it a try and see what I think. And that was that.”
 
Sailing the Sonar with Stodel and John Robertson, the team qualified their nation for the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, which meant Thomas was switching between Winter and Summer representation for three back to back editions.
 
Now at their fourth Games as a team, the Sonar sailors are yet to medal, but with multiple World Championship titles under their belts, including one as recently as 2015, they are hoping that this year is their year.
 
Representing his country in different sports leaves a lot of options open to Thomas, but it seems sailing has the lead over ice sledge hockey at the moment, “I may go back to hockey on a recreational level but not a performance level.”
 
Even if Thomas doesn’t return to any sport on a performance level, he will still continue sailing thanks to its diversity and appeal to all ages, “Sailing is from like from age one to 80-years-old. We have some fantastic programs, especially in the UK, and there is a wide range of disabilities competing on a regular basis week in week out. There are many clubs built around recreational sailing.
 
“There is still a massive amount of enjoyment sailing on lakes and oceans outside of competition so it covers a lot of bases.”
 
Thomas, Stodel and Robertson continue their hunt for a first Paralympic medal in the Sonar on the waters of Guanabara Bay.

By Richard Aspland – World Sailing
 
Throughout the day World Sailing will be updating you via our Live Blog, through the 2D and 3D tracking as well as via our social media channels. Find out how to follow below.

RIO 2016 PARALYMPIC SAILING COMPETITION

The Rio 2016 Paralympic Sailing Competition will take place at the Marina da Glória, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and will feature 80 athletes from 23 nations competing across three events. Racing is scheduled to take place from 12-17 September 2016 and the competition format for all events is fleet racing.

RESULTS / ENTRIES
A full list of sailors racing at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games is available to view here – http://www.sailing.org/paralympics/rio2016/qualification/sailors.php.
Results will be available on World Sailing’s Paralympic Website when racing starts on Monday 12 September – http://www.sailing.org/paralympics/rio2016/results/index.php

LIVE TRACKING
The racing will be available to watch in 2D and 3D via the live tracking. Live tracking will be available when racing commences via – http://www.sailing.org/paralympics/rio2016/multimedia/live-tracking.php#.V9G2ulfwykg

COMPETITION STATUS
The Competition Status Screen feeds in straight from the Race Committee boats with the teams inputting data such as race times, course type, the status of each race and the plan moving forward. The competition status screen will be available when racing commences via – http://www.sailing.org/paralympics/rio2016/multimedia/live-tracking.php#.V9G2ulfwykg

LIVE BLOGGING
The World Sailing media team will be following the racing LIVE on World Sailing’s Paralympic Blog throughout Rio 2016. Follow LIVE here – http://www.sailing.org/paralympics/rio2016/multimedia/live-blog.php#.V9G2j1fwykg

PRESS RELEASES
World Sailing will be releasing international press releases after racing throughout the duration of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. All the latest news and reports will be available to read here – http://www.sailing.org/paralympics/rio2016/news/index.php

TELEVISION
To find out who your Paralympic broadcaster is, click here – https://www.paralympic.org/watch-rio-2016
 
For a simple guide to sailing the IPC have released a short ‘A to Z’ video which you can find here – https://www.facebook.com/paralympics/videos/10154068921356281/

SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow the event on World Sailing’s social networks:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/ISAFWorldSailing
Instagram – https://instagram.com/isafworldsailing/
Twitter – @worldsailing
Snapchat – Follow our Story on Snapchat, search for worldsailing

USEFUL LINKS
World Sailing Paralympic Website – http://www.sailing.org/paralympics/rio2016/home.php
Competition Schedule – http://www.sailing.org/paralympics/rio2016/about/schedule.php
Latest Paralympic Sailing news – http://www.sailing.org/paralympics/rio2016/news/index.php
Online Notice Board – http://www.sailing.org/paralympics/rio2016/onb.php