A Silver in the Mix of a Fine Career
By Dheepthi Namasivayam
Paralympian John Maclean has snagged yet another medal to add to his already impressive collection – a Silver in the inaugural rowing event at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.
But the 42-year-old wheelchair-bound athlete, who returned to Australia last week after his successful Games campaign, said this was his last triumph.
He and partner in rowing Kathryn Ross nabbed a spot on the Beijing podium in their double skull rowing final. The duo came just one second behind the Chinese gold medallists, in a time of 4:21:58.
‘The focus for us was to just concentrate on our own race, look straight ahead and not look around us,’ said Maclean, who added that a vocal Australian crowd had certainly spurred the pair on.
‘We had about 60 people supporting Kathryn and myself,’ said Maclean. ‘It was nice to know they came to watch us race. We tried to use their energy to draw us to the last finish line.’
‘It was a pretty good result to come this far in the sport.’
Maclean and Ross began training for the Paralympics just lasy year. And after a host of successes, including a Silver medal at the World Rowing Championships in Munich in September 2007, they secured a spot in the rowing event at Beijing.
Earlier in the year, Mr Maclean, an Order of Australia medallist, told The City News that Beijing would be his last race.
And despite his recent successes, he says there is no temptation to try his luck at the London Games in 2012.
‘No, not at this stage,’ Maclean said. ‘I’ve been working towards letting sport go and that was my last big hurrah ‘ that was the icing on the cake.’
Maclean will be fulfilling his corporate speaking engagements, which include mentoring talks that draw from his own experiences.
He said he will also focus on ‘generating more income for the kids’ at the John Maclean Foundation, which enables physically challenged children to pursue their dreams by granting them access to necessary resources.
And with a wedding next year and plans to start a family, Maclean concedes that ‘Life is going to be pretty full’.
