Australia names Para-triathlon squad for Rio

FIVE world championships isn’t enough for Bill Chaffey - not when Paralympic gold is up for grabs for the first time.

Australian Para-triathlete Bill Chaffey.

FIVE world championships isn’t enough for Bill Chaffey — not when Paralympic gold is up for grabs for the first time.

“My goal for Rio is to win and do everything I can to get to the top of the podium,” Chaffey says.

“I’m focusing 100 per cent on giving my best to get the top result.

“I have had a lot of success in world championships, but to chase victory at the Paralympic Games is the most exciting thing.”

Chaffey was named on Wednesday as the most experienced member of Australia’s seven-person Para-triathlon team that will compete for the sport’s first Paralympics medals in Rio next month.

The 40-year-old was joined by world championship medallists Katie Kelly (ACT), Kate Doughty (ACT), Claire McLean (WA), Queenslander Nic Beveridge and WA’s Brant Garvey.

Australian Para-triathlete Bill Chaffey.

Kelly, who will compete with vision impairment, has the benefit of Sydney 2000 triathlon silver medallist Michellie Jones working as her sighted guide.

The seven athletes were part of the final team announcement for next month’s Paralympics, completing Australia’s 169-person squad in 15 sports bound for Rio.

For Chaffey, his selection is the culmination of more than a decade-long journey that began as an able-bodied triathlete.

The NSW policeman had qualified for an ironman in 2005 but just five days before the scheduled race he was hit from behind by a truck during a training ride.

The accident left Chaffey paralysed from the hip down, having suffered four fractured vertebrae, both elbows and significant damage to his hip.

Within three years as a wheelchair athlete he had won the 2008 Gold Coast half-marathon, and the following year won gold at his first world championship.

In all, Chaffey has delivered five golds in the six world titles he has contested.

But he said Paralympic competition, in the sport’s debut on the stage, would be a different assignment.

“It’s still surreal to be representing Australia at this level,” Chaffey said.

“I never set out to be known, I set out to compete for me and to never stop improving.

“But to know the country is watching, I hope I can make them as proud of my performance as I will be.”

Kelly, 41, also enters Rio with a target after winning world championship gold at her maiden attempt paired with Jones last year.

The duo must swim and run tethered by a rope around their waists and ride a tandem bike, to accommodate the degenerative tunnel vision from Usher Syndrome that Kelly suffers.

“From that first moment Michellie and I met, we bonded really well,” Kelly said.

“She is passionate about triathlon and about giving back to the sport that has given her so much, we are great friends and she is a great guide and mentor to me on so many levels.

“Being selected to represent Australia at the Paralympic Games is an experience I never imagined might happen to me. It is an incredible honour.”

The Paralympic Games runs from September 7 to 18. The Para-triathlon is scheduled for September 10 and 11 at Copacabana.

2016 Australian Paralympic triathlon team

Nic Beveridge (Queensland)

Bill Chaffey (NSW)

Kate Doughty (ACT)

Brant Garvey (WA)

Katie Kelly (ACT)

Claire McLean (WA)

Michellie Jones (guide for Katie Kelly)

Originally published as Australia names Para-triathlon squad for Rio