Disabled Wintersport Australia (DWA) was established in 1978 as the Australian Disabled Skiers Federation. Its current mission is "to promote and foster the advancement of participation by people with a disability in wintersport both in Australia and overseas". DWA is a member of the

Australian Paralympic Committee Paralympics Australia (PA) previously called the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) (1998–2019) is the National Paralympic Committee in Australia for the Paralympic Games movement. It oversees the preparation and management of Australian tea ...

. DWA plays a major role in the development of Australian athletes that compete at the

Winter Paralympics The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. Th ...

Administration

. Presidents: *

Ron Finneran Ronald James Finneran Order of Australia, OAM (born 1944) is an Australian Paralympic athlete and sports administrator, from Merimbula, New South Wales. Skiing career Finneran was born in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Marou ...

1978–1984 * Bruce Abel 1985 * Nick Dean 1986–2001 *

Adrienne Smith Adrienne Mary Elise Smith Order of Australia, OAM (19 January 1934 – 20 February 2012) was a leading Australian sport administrator. She played a significant role in the establishment of the Australian Paralympic Committee, Australian Paralym ...

2002–2009 * Ashley Blondel 2009– chief executive officers: * Ron Finneran 1986–2010 *

Eric Bickerton Eric Bickerton (born 24 April 1962) is a former member of the Royal Australian Navy who took up skiing in 1990, and has represented the Australian military internationally. In 2008, he became Jessica Gallagher's guide skier for para-alpine skii ...

2012–2015 * Dr Neil Fisher 2016 – 2017 * Richard Coate 2017–2021 * Jenni Cole 2021- Patron: * Captain Richard de Crespigny 2013–?http://www.disabledwintersport.com.au/article/114/THE_GOVERNOR-GENERAL_of_Australia_announces_first_PATRON Ambassadors * Joany Badenhorst 2017– * Mitchell Gourley 2017–

Milestones

*1976 – 1st Winter Paralympic Games held in Sweden. Australia was unofficially represented at these Games by Ron Finneran, who competed but was not officially recognised as he did not fall into the amputee or visual impairment categories. *1978 – Australian Disabled Skiers Federation (ADSA) was established in 1978 by

and Canadian ski instructor Bruce Abel. Ron Finneran was the first President, a position he held until 1984. Other people at the inaugural meeting were Nick Dean, Rod Dunning, Arnold Conrad and Maurice Flutey. It was established primarily to provide facilities for people with a disability to learn to ski. *1979 – ASDA became affiliated to the Australian Ski Federation due to the support of

, its National Executive Director. *1982 – ADSA became a member of the Australian Sports Council for the Disabled which meant that it was able to apply for government funding. *1990–1991 – ADSA received its first funding grant from the

Australian Sports Commission The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government commission responsible for supporting and investing in sport in Australia. The Commission incorporates the Australian Institute of Sport. From 2018 to 2022, it was known as S ...

. The grant was $46,500. *1992 – Australian Disabled Skiers Federation opened its own ski lodge called Finsko's Lodge at the Jindabyne Winter Sports Academy. The name of the lodge recognised

’s considerable work to its development. *1993 – Michael Milton became the first winter Paralympian to receive an Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) scholarship. *1996 – Australian Disabled Skiers Federation changed its name to Disabled Wintersport Australia. *1999 – Redevelopment of Finsko's Lodge. * 2001 – AIS and

established an AIS/APC Alpine Ski Program. It was the first single sport AIS program for athletes with a disability. *2002 – Australia's best performance at Winter Paralympics winning six gold and one bronze medal at the Australia at the 2002 Winter Paralympics. *2009 – DWA adopts a new constitution and moves to a unitary model that appoints board directors with specific skills. *2009 –

retired as President of DWA. *2010 –

retired as chief executive officer. *2010 –

Jessica Gallagher Jessica Gallagher (born 14 March 1986) is an Australian Paralympic alpine skier, track and field athlete, tandem cyclist and rower. She was Australia's second female Winter Paralympian, and the first Australian woman to win a medal at the W ...

became the first female to win a medal for Australia at the

. *2013 – Her Excellency the Governor-General of Australia

Quentin Bryce Dame Quentin Alice Louise Bryce, (née Strachan; born 23 December 1942) is an Australian academic who served as the 25th governor-general of Australia from 2008 to 2014. She is the first woman to have held the position, and was previously the ...

announced Captain Richard de Crespigny as the first Patron. *2014 – Australia wins 2 silver medals at the

. *2018 – DWA celebrates 40-year anniversary

Activities

DWA provide the following services to its members: * training programs at ski resorts in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

* access to specific disability equipment – outriggers, 4-track, 3-track and sit skiers * in conjunction with the APC and Special Olympics Australia a pathway from grassroots to elite international competition

Winter Paralympics

Australia has been represented at every Winter Paralympics. Its first official team was in 1980 with two athletes. Australian athletes that have won gold medals – Michael Milton,

Bart Bunting Bartholomew Bunting (born 19 July 1976) is an Australian blind Paralympic alpine skier. He started skiing in 1998 with his guide Nathan Chivers. He won two gold medals and a silver medal with Chivers at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Paralympi ...

and his guide Nathan Chivers, Michael Norton and

James Patterson James Brendan Patterson (born March 22, 1947) is an American author. Among his works are the '' Alex Cross'', '' Michael Bennett'', '' Women's Murder Club'', '' Maximum Ride'', '' Daniel X'', '' NYPD Red'', '' Witch & Wizard'', and ''Private'' ...

Simon Patmore Simon Patmore, (born 29 August 1987) is an Australian Para-athletics and Para-snowboard competitor. He won a gold medal in the Men's 100m T46 at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games, and bronze in the Men's 200m T46 at the London 2012 Paralympi ...

won Gold for snowboard-cross at PyeongChang Paralympic Winter Games 2018, breaking a 16-year drought for Australia.

References

External links