Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch Named NSW Sports Team with
a Disability
Paralympic and World Champions Daniel
Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch were crowned
the NSW Sports Team of the Year with
Disability Award at the NSW Sports
Awards. Fitzgibbon and Tesch took home
the Award amongst a variety of categories honoured at the NSW Sports Awards
dinner at Curzon Hall, Marsfield. Nacra
17 crew of Lisa Darmanin and Jas Waterhouse were finalists for the Team of
the Year Award, which went to the NSW
Rugby 7s Team.
The NSW Sports Awards is an all-embracing event that acknowledges the
variety of sporting activity and achievement across the state every year. A total
of 15 awards were presented recognising
coaches, administrators, volunteers, masters and young athletes, and athletes and
teams with a disability.
Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch were
recognised for their unbeaten run since
the 2012 London Paralympic Games,
which continued over 2015. Since win-
ning Gold at the London 2012 Paralympic games the pair has been on top of
the podium at every regatta they have
competed at. They produced a dominating performance at the end of 2014 to
win the Sailing World Cup in Melbourne,
followed by another win at the World
Cup in Miami in 2015. Daniel and Liesl
won Gold at the Delta Lloyd regatta
held in the Netherlands and they both
received Sailor of the Year with a Disability at the Yachting Australia Awards in
November 2015.
Most recently the pair defended their
World Champion title at the 2015 Para
World Sailing Championships and
wrapped up the year with Sailing World
Cup Gold in Melbourne in December.
“The great thing about sport is the way
people with disabilities can get involved,
in sport and in life. The Minister was earlier speaking about integration and sport
can provide that. We’re out having a go,
on the water we’re just sailors, that’s why
sport is great”, Daniel Fitzgibbon said on
receiving the award.
Australia already qualified all three
Paralympic boat classes at last year’s
Para World Sailing World Championships with the sailors yet to be selected.
Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch have
their eyes firmly set on defending their
2012 Paralympic Gold medal at the 2016
Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
After winning the World Championships
as well as the World Cup in December
the pair successfully finished another
training camp in Rio on the Paralympic
waters of Guanabara Bay in January.
They will compete next at the EUROSAF
regatta in Garda, Italy followed by the
2016 Para World Sailing Championships
in Medemblik, The Netherlands in May.
Credit: Australian Sailing
Image: Dan and Liesl Tesch credit:
Marina Hobbs Photography/Sailing
Australia.