Paralympic glory dream crushed for Thurso athlete

THE Paralympic dream of a young Thurso man has been crushed after his spinal condition was deemed not significant enough for him to be classed as a disabled swimmer.

Jason Ridgley learned the bad news after making the marathon 12-hour rail trip to Sheffield for the British Disability Swimming Championships at the weekend.

After the pre-competition ruling, he and his father, Anthony, caught the next train home.

The 18-year-old had been primed to have a crack at meeting the demanding qualification times for this summer’s Paralympics in London. But the ruling leaves him unable to take part in any disability competition.

While "gutted" at the outcome, he intends to carry on with the sport.

Jason and his parents – Anthony (49) and Jacqueline (47) – feared he could be left with serious mobility problems after he developed the chronic spinal condition, Scheuermann’s disease.

He underwent a major operation in September 2009 during which his back was broken in eight places and his vertebrae were fused while two support rods were fixed to his spine. After a rapid rehabilitation, which astonished medics, he returned to the pool in the summer of 2010 and started competing again at the start of last year.

He received his disability classification from British Swimming last August.

After resuming his former tough training regime, he went on to represent Scotland and break a clutch of Scottish and UK records.

While securing a place in the London Paralympics would have been tough, he was going to give it his best shot at the weekend’s competition, which was the final trial.

Jason was also eyeing the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 and other big international meets. He and his father were due to meet Thurso Amateur Swimming Club head coach Andy Foster in Sheffield on Thursday evening.

But by then, Jason had undergone his three-hour check by a clinician and a technical assessor from the International Paralympic Committee.

The outcome came as a hammer blow to the North Highland College engineering systems student. He was one of a surprisingly large number of international swimmers whose impairments were found not to meet the IPC’s criteria for a classification.

Jason was particularly disappointed as the assessment seemed to be exactly the same as that carried out by British Swimming.

He added there has not been any improvement in his condition since August.

Jason, of Rockwell Crescent, said: "I am absolutely gutted. It has, however, been an amazing eight months and I have met some wonderful people and incredible athletes, some of whom will remain lifelong friends.

"I’d like to thank everyone, including my coaches and my sponsors, who have supported me. I am going to continue to train and compete as an able-bodied swimmer for now while I consider my future in the sport."

When Mr Foster arrived, Jason and his father were packing to catch the early morning train north.

Speaking on his way back from Sheffield, Mr Foster said: "It’s obviously really disappointing for Jason. It was a tricky one for the assessors as his restriction in the movement of his spine put him at the bottom of the scale when the first assessment was done. They did say this would be re-assessed."

Mr Foster added: "I have told him not to look at this in terms of the end of his career. He’s a good swimmer and it’s something he enjoys so hopefully he’ll continue to compete and challenge himself."