Alastair Smales

Alastair Smales (born May 8, 1962), has represented Australia in three consecutive Paralympics in swimming, was a world record holder and ranked 1 in his classification.[1]

Alastair Smales
Personal information
Born (1962-05-08) 8 May 1962
Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia
Sport
Country Australia
SportParalympic swimming
Disability classS6
Medal record
Paralympic swimming
Representing  Australia
World Championships
2002 Mar del Plata50m butterfly S6

He lost the use of his legs in 1992 when a four-wheel drive he was fixing slipped off a jack and fell on him[2] and is now classified as having an S6 (wheelchair) grade in competition.[3]

He has been a member of the Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association and has trained at the Redcliffe Leagues Lawnton Club.

Personal

Alastair Smales was born in Australia on the 8th of May 1962. He currently lives in Redcliffe, Queensland with his wife Wanda, and works as an air traffic controller. They have two children.[4]

Smales started his swimming career when he was at the age of 42, which is more than twice the average age of the rest of the Australian swimming team. Since competing at the Atlanta and Sydney Paralympics he has ranked number one in the world and has also held a 50m butterfly world record. Despite Smales’ age he was able to make an impact on Paralympic swimming and hopefully influencing other aspiring athletes.

Smales ended up retiring from swimming after eight years due to his inability to handle travelling overseas. He would spend months in hospital after travelling overseas and decided for his health it would be best to retire. Also, due to his age he wouldn’t have been able to keep up for much longer compared to the younger athletes he was competing with, "It gets harder and harder as you get older,".

Smales was a role model to the rest of the swimming team and helped the younger swimmers deal with the excitement and stress of their first games. They would all continue and have longer careers than him due to their age and extra stamina due to it. Smales achieved so much in his short career and even with his age was able to rank so high in the world.

After Alastair Smales’ retired from swimming he went and pursued a career in air traffic control.

Disability

Alastair Smales’ injury resulted in him being paraplegic which is when either both legs or hips and organs are paralysed. It is the “impairment or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the thoracic lumbar or sacral segments of the spinal cord, secondary to damage of neural elements within the spinal canal”. This is a possible result of damage to the spinal cord when the four-wheel drive fell onto Smales’. Spinal cord damage is the most common cause of paraplegia and has no cure, but the individual may recover partial muscle control.

Even with this disability Smales decided to pursue a career in swimming. Smales swims in the s6 (wheelchair) grade in competition. This grade includes “swimmers with short stature or amputation of both arms, or moderate co-ordination problems on one side of their body” (Explanatory Guide to Paralympic Classification Paralympic Summer Sports, 2015).

Swimming

Smales’ started his swimming career in 1996 and ended it in 2004. During these years he competed disability swimming became more mainstream which resulted in more opportunities for disabled people to participate in competitive swimming in Australia. This is because over time society developed a policy to change the Australian society to be more accepting and inclusive.

Training

Smales’ has no training program listed anywhere, but each training program must take into account each swimmers different health conditions. Each swimmer’s training load is there to ensure athletes develop short- and long-term adaptive responses which lead to performance improvement.

Races

According to the International Paralympic Committee these are the games/championships that Alastair Smales swam during his Paralympic swimming career.

Smales’ first games was the Atlanta 1996 Paralympic games.

  1. He only swam in the Men’s 50m Butterfly S6 and placed 12th in the first heat with a time of 0:45:74. That year Duane Kale from New Zealand placed first with a time of 0:34:37.

His second games was the Sydney 2000 Paralympic games in Australia. This year Smales’ swam in three different races.

  1. In the Men’s 50m Butterfly S6 he placed 2nd in his heat with a time of 0:35:14. Then, 5th in the final round with a time of 0:35:03. That year Daniel Vidal from Spain won gold with a time of 0:34:01.
  2. In the Men’s 100m Freestyle S6 he placed 7th in his heat with a time of 1:27:85. Jianhua Yin from China won gold with a time of 1:08:10.
  3. In the Men’s 50m Freestyle S6 he placed 6th in his heat with a time of 0:41:75. Jianhua Yin from China won gold with a time of 0:31:31.

His first championships was the IPC Swimming World Championships Mar de Plata 2002 in Argentina. He swam in a total of three races.

  1. In the Men’s 200m Individual Medley SM6 he placed 10th in his heat.
  2. In the Men’s 50m Butterfly S6 he placed 2nd in his heat and 2nd in the final round. Winning his only medal in his career, a silver.
  3. In the Men’s 100m Freestyle S6 he placed 9th in his heat.

Smales’ third and final games were the Athens 2004 Paralympic games in Greece. He swam in a total of three races throughout the games.

  1. In the Men’s 50m Butterfly S6 he placed 1st in his heat with a time of 0:34:49 and 5th in the final round with a time of 0:34:34. Peng Li from China won gold with a time of 0:32:82.
  2. In the Men’s 100m Freestyle S6 he placed 7th in his heat with a time of 1:24:23. Jianhua Yin from China won gold with a time of 1:07:60.
  3. In the Men’s 50m Freestyle S6 he placed 8th in his heat with a time of 0:35:11. Jianhua Yin won gold with a time of 0:30:80.

References
  1. Jordan Baker (19 September 2004). "Age no barrier in pool quest". The Sun-Herald.
  2. Baker, Jordan (19 September 2004). "Age no barrier in pool quest". Sydney Morning Herald.
  3. Australian Institute of Sport. "Paralympic Games". Australian Sports Commission. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  4. "Smales is all smiles". Redcliffe Bayside Herald. 20 October 2004.
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