So far more than 10 individuals with links to Dorset have been named in their respective Team GB/ Paralympics GB squads. We introduce you to some of the athletes proudly flying the flag for Dorset in Paris this summer
‘When there’s light winds and you're foiling along in a five-knot wind, going at 25 knots, it feels magical… it shouldn’t be real, but it is!’ declares Poole-born Ellie Aldridge. She’s describing ‘Formula Kite’ one of two new sailing disciplines that have been added to the sailing programme for this year’s Olympic Games where Aldridge is one of two Dorset sailors competing in this new discipline.
‘Formula Kite is like the kite surfing you see happening on the water at Sandbanks or Portland Harbour,’ adds Weymouth’s Connor Bainbridge, who is Team GB’s other representative in this high-adrenaline water sport. ‘The difference for us, is that we are floating above the water on hydrofoils - which are effectively sharp, carbon fibre blades. We race around a circuit, much like sailors do, with huge kites above our heads. But ours are much bigger than what you'd usually use recreationally. As a result, you can reach phenomenal speeds of up to 50 miles an hour.’
As Aldridge and Bainbridge pioneer a new Olympic discipline in France this summer, British windsurfer Emma Wilson says she has experienced the feeling of ‘starting from scratch’, despite competing for her country at the delayed Tokyo Games three years ago. After winning a bronze medal in Japan, Wilson had to make a mandatory equipment switch when the RS:X class was replaced by iQFOIL - a faster board that appears to fly above the water rather than glide on it.
‘It has been a bit of a challenge learning the iQFOIL. I had to change my whole-body shape,’ comments the Christchurch sailor. But being a trailblazer runs in the family. Wilson’s mother Penny Way represented Great Britain in the 1992 Olympics in Athens, the first time that women's windsurfing had been an event at the Games. She also competed in 1996 Games in Atlanta. ‘I’m enjoying the change though,’ adds Wilson. ‘I really want to embrace the experience. The Olympics is such a special occasion.’
Sailing events at Paris 2024 will take place in Marseille Marina between July 28 and August 8. Aldridge, Bainbridge and Wilson agree that the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, which hosted the sailing events during the 2012 Olympics, has provided them with the ideal preparation base ahead of this year’s Games.
‘The conditions here are amazing,’ enthuses Bainbridge, who is originally from West Yorkshire but has been living in Weymouth and training at the Academy for the last 12 years. ‘We've got perfectly flat water in the harbour. Then if you just pop out of the shelter of the harbour wall, you're into the beautiful rolling swell of the bay. Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy is an amazing training venue because of this massive variation. So, whatever event you're training for, you're getting similar conditions to that right here in Dorset.’
As well as providing the ideal setting for most of their training, Dorset was where Aldridge and Wilson first fell in love with sailing. ‘I grew up in Poole, which is renowned for its water sports,’ says Aldridge, who was victorious at the Formula Kite European Championships in Portsmouth last September. ‘It was a great place to learn to sail. My family have always sailed and windsurfed. When I was about five, we got a little boat called an AB - a little wooden two-sailed boat for kids to learn to sail. I shared the boat with my siblings, so we took it in turns to race it at Parkstone Yacht Club every weekend. Every third Sunday was my turn!’
Wilson, who was born in Nottingham, moved to Christchurch as an eight-year-old. ‘I spent most of my childhood messing about on the water in Christchurch Harbour. My mum (former Olympic windsurfer Penny Way) taught my brother Dan to windsurf.’ He is a past winner of the RYA Youth National Championship and EUROSAF Champions Cup. ‘So, I decided I might as well give it a go! My favourite position was to sit on the front of my mum’s board whilst she windsurfed. Christchurch Harbour was such a great place for us to mess around… it’s so safe and ideal for learning.’
While Bainbridge describes the Olympics as ‘the pinnacle of our sport’ and the chance to compete at the Games is ‘a dream come true’ for Wilson. For Aldridge, Paris 2024 provides her with the opportunity ‘to do something I used to think wouldn’t be possible.’ So, what about those all-important medals?
‘Give me the right week and the right conditions and I can get a gold medal,’ smiles Aldridge. ‘But I know that in some conditions, it's not going to be easy. I want to race as well as I can and be proud of my performance.’
‘Obviously, everyone wants to win a medal,’ Wilson smiles. ‘And I’ll be doing my absolute best to win one for sure.’
‘It's definitely gold I'm aiming for,’ adds Bainbridge.
With just a month to go until the start of the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, all three Dorset sailors are in the final phase of training. ‘We’re flying out to France before the Games for a training camp; then I’ll stay out there until my event starts,’ says Wilson. ‘We’re flying down to Marseille a week before the Olympics, then we’ll split our time between Marseille and Hyères.’
‘We’ll be making sure we're as fit and ready as possible going into day one,’ adds Connor.
Let the Games commence!
Follow on Instagram @ellieealdridge/ @ connor_bainbridge / @emmawilson_gbr7
Rower: Matt Aldridge
Son of Steve, a long-time coach at Christchurch Rowing Club, rowing was most definitely in the blood for Matt Aldridge. The 28-year-old makes his Olympic debut this summer in the Coxless Four alongside Oli Wilkes, David Ambler and Freddie Davidson at the National Olympic Nautical Stadium of Île-de-France, Vaires-sur-Marne. A gold medallist at three European Championships in 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively, Aldridge was also part of the crew that won the 2023 World Championships in Belgrade. He is engaged to Sophia Heath, who he met when they were both part of the GB Under-23 Rowing Team.
Follow on Instagram @maldridge96
Paralympian Swimmer: Alice Tai MBE
Poole-born swimmer Alice Tai MBE is looking forward to competing in the Paralympics (August 28 – September 8). Tai missed the delayed 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, held in August 2021, due to an elbow injury. Prior to that Tai won gold at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio as part of the 4 x100m medley team, as well as a bronze in the 100m backstroke S10. The eight-time world champion has been in impressive form in recent years. The former Bournemouth Collegiate School student claimed gold in the S8 100m backstroke at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in July 2022, just months after having her right leg amputated below the knee. Appointed an MBE in 2017, Tai was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Bournemouth University in November 2022.
Follow on Instagram @alice_tai
Paralympian Swimmer: Harry Stewart
Joining Tai on the Aquatics GB’s squad for the Paralympics is Bridport’s Harry Stewart. Swimming competitively since the age of nine, with the Bridport Barracudas, Stewart then followed his coach Chris Beal to South Dorset Tornadoes in Portland. When Beal retired, Stewart moved to West Dorset Swimming Club under the guidance of coach Colin Cracknell. The 20-year-old is now affiliated with Plymouth Leander Swimming Club due to the lack of access to a 50-metre training pool in Dorset.
Speaking shortly before his selection for the Paralympics, Stewart – who has Asperger’s syndrome – commented: ‘The Paralympics is probably the biggest thing you can get to swim in... Only 24 people get picked, ten boys and 14 girls. So, to get into the squad would be amazing.’
A 100m breaststroke and butterfly swimmer, Stewart marked his debut in the British team earlier this year by taking gold in the Men’s SB14 100m Breaststroke at the European Championships in Maderia.
Stewart’s efforts in reaching Paris 2024 have been supported by a £1,000 grant from the Dorset Community Foundation’s Lord Lieutenant’s Fund for Young and Talented, which is also supported by Wimborne engineering company Superior Seals. The fund awards grants of up to £1,000 towards costs that might prevent youngsters from making the most of their natural ability – such as buying kit and clothing or helping to cover the cost of competition entry fees, coaching, travel and accommodation. This year the fund has awarded a total of more than £11,000 to 15 young sports people (dorsetcommunityfoundation.org).
Follow on Instagram @harrystewartt
Paralympian Table Tennis: Will Bayley MBE
Poole-born Will Bayley MBE will take part in his fifth Paralympic Games this summer. The 36-year-old, who partnered professional dancer Janette Manrara in the BBC television show Strictly in 2019, currently lives in Peacehaven, near Brighton in East Sussex. The para-table tennis star has four Paralympic medals to his name, having won gold in Rio in 2016 and taken silvers in London and Tokyo (two silvers) respectively.
Follow on Instagram @willbayleytt
Who else is flying the flag for Dorset?
As of July 1, more than 10 individuals with significant links to Dorset had been named in their respective Team GB/Paralympics GB squads for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with other squads still to be announced.
Poole-based gymnasts Bryony Page and Izzy Songhurst will represent Team GB in the trampoline event. For 33-year-old Page, Paris will mark her third Olympic appearance, having taken individual silver on her Games debut in Rio in 2016, and bronze at the delayed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. For 25-year-old Songhurst, who has European and World Championship golds in mixed team and synchro events, this will the first Olympic appearance for the Poole-born athlete. Both Page and Songhurst train at Poole Gymnastics and Trampolining Club at Rossmore Leisure Centre, where they are coached by Brian Camp.
Follow on Instagram @ bryony_page and @izzy.songhurst
Poole-born Amy Wilson-Hardy has made Team GB’s rugby sevens squad. The centre/wing has plenty of big tournament experience, having previously featured at the Olympics in 2016, while she won bronze in the women’s tournament at the Commonwealth Games two years later. More recently, Wilson-Hardy was part of the triumphant Great Britain squad at the 2023 European Games.
Follow on Instagram @amywilsonhardy
Bournemouth University graduate and powerlifter Liam McGarry will compete in the +107kg category at this summer’s Paralympics. McGarry’s journey into para powerlifting started in 2017 when, while studying Sports Psychology & Coaching Sciences in Bournemouth, he was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis – inflammation of the spinal cord. Soon after his diagnosis, McGarry discovered para powerlifting through the Spinal Games. A few years later, he won both the British and English Para Powerlifting Championships and took silver at the 2021 Para Powerlifting World Cup. He achieved lifts of 231kg and 232kg at the World Championships in Georgia in 2022, where he finished fifth and regained a top eight ranking, to put him on track for Paralympic qualification.
Follow on Instagram @_liam8
Two-time world champion para-triathlete Hannah Moore will compete in her first Paralympics in Paris. The 27-year-old from Stalbridge started competing in the sport back in 2017. Five years earlier, Hannah underwent a routine procedure for an ingrowing toenail that triggered a rare condition called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) that eventually led to her right leg being amputated. She is in great form going into the Games having won the recent PTS4 race at the 2024 World Triathlon Para Series in Swansea.
Follow on Instagram @hannah_mooretri
Meanwhile, fellow para-triathlete Michael Taylor, who was born in Devon and currently lives in Bristol, has praised a Ringwood-based company Dorset Orthopaedic for providing the specialist prosthetic that he will use at Paris 2024. ‘They've been so good to me,’ says Taylor. ‘Fortunately, the prosthetist I work with lives in Bristol, so I can see him locally for a fitting. In the past, I've had quite a few issues with my prosthetic, so just being able to see him in an evening has been a game changer for me. It allows me to train consistently and, if there’s an issue, I can sort it quickly. To have a reliable, functional prosthetic is massive for me.’
Follow Michael on Instagram @michaeltaylor08_
