How Townsville veteran Torben Louwen-Skovdam went from never playing to captaining Australia in six months
Six months ago, Townsville veteran Torben Louwen-Skovdam had never sat in a wheelchair. Now he’s preparing to captain Australia in wheelchair basketball at the Invictus Games. Read about his mercurial rise in the sport.
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Townsville veteran Torben Louwen-Skovdam will captain Australia in wheelchair basketball next week when he joins the Australian team for his first Invictus Games in Canada.
Just six months ago he had never even sat in a wheelchair.
To say his rise in the sport has been mercurial is an understatement.
In 2022 the Australian Regular Army logistician had a mental breakdown triggered by undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to one of his deployments to South Sudan in 2016.
The 39-year-old’s mental health issues persisted, leading to an official diagnosis and ultimately a medical discharge in July 2024.
For someone who had spent almost their entire adult life in the military, the sudden change came as a shock.
“Army has been a huge part of my life, a huge part of our journey as a family,” Louwen-Skovdam said.
“Unfortunately for me, that came to an end after quite a substantial period of time off work, working through mental health issues from my service.
“Last year, unfortunately, my career did have to end, but Invictus has been great for me, because it was right around that time of me discharging, that EOI came out.”
Louwen-Skovdam was encouraged to apply for the Invictus Games by a mate who happened to be a former coach of Team Australia’s athletics team.
“I’d obviously been aware of the Invictus Games, but never really considered that it would be something suitable for me. It hadn’t even crossed my mind,” Louwen-Skovdam said.
“From there, it just sort of grew. I checked out the expression of interest, put in the response to that, and six months later here we are, ready to go.”
Louwen-Skovdam will also compete in indoor rowing, swimming and Nordic biathlon – a combination of cross country skiing and shooting.
The veteran has been training locally with SunCity Wheelers in Townsville in preparation for the Games.
“I’d never come across wheelchair basketball before the selection camp. Never sat in a wheelchair and just had a ball playing that at the first selection camp,” Louwen-Skovdam said.
“So the last five months, every Tuesday, I’ve been down here with the guys shooting hoops.”
SunCity Wheelers founder Byron Holman said Louwen-Skovdam had been a welcome addition to the team.
“It’s been amazing, he’s such an energetic fella that has come along out of the middle of nowhere,” Holman said.
“He has such a positive outlook on stuff, obviously he’s gone through things that we have no idea about, but he’s come down and shown all of the values that we want all our players to have.
“He makes us extremely proud, not just about what he’s doing for the sport, but also mental health awareness.”
The Invictus Games begin on Saturday, February 8, and run for a week. Up to 550 competitors from 25 nations are set to compete at this year’s edition in a range of individual and team sports.
SunCity Wheelers are preparing to host Hoops in the Tropics in Townsville on June 28-29.
Originally published as How Townsville veteran Torben Louwen-Skovdam went from never playing to captaining Australia in six months
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