The penultimate day of Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023 will see Australia’s 10-strong cycling crew contest both the time trial and criterium events at the Merkur Spiel-Arena.
Racing gets under way with the time trial event, which will see competitors racing against the clock over a distance of about two kilometres.
Later in the day, the criterium event will see competitors racing for 30 minutes.
For second-Games veteran and cyclist, Colleen Swifte, taking to the track in Europe is an adventure worthy of the bucket list.
“Getting to cycle in Europe is like the peak of cycling; it’s so exciting,” Colleen said.
“When we were on the bikes in training, the French team had just arrived at the stadium and they just started cheering for us.
“So that’s like the pinnacle, to be on a bicycle, in Europe, being cheered by the French. It was fabulous.”
Criterium races last 30 minutes. During the race, the finish time of the competitor in the leading position is projected and, in this way, the maximum number of laps is determined for the field of participants. The cyclist who has completed the highest number of laps is declared the winner.
Thanks to different types of bicycles, adaptive cycling opens up the possibility for people with almost every level of ability to participate in the competition. Competitors participate in the road cycling events using bicycles, tricycles, tandems or hand-operated bicycles, called hand bikes.
For Colleen, who has knee issues, cycling has proven to be one of her life’s great loves.
“Cycling is a sport that allows me that cardio fitness,” she said.
“I got into it through Mates4Mates, another veterans organisation and developed my passion from there.”
Aussie cyclists in action are James Barker, Able Seaman Taryn Dickens, Justin Donnelly, Shaun Hillman, Daniel King, Brad Mazzaferri, Able Seaman Jamie McGlinchey, Lenny Redrose, Colleen Swifte and Andrew Tebbit.
All 10 Team Australia cyclists will take on the time trial event, while all except for Team Australia co-captain Able Seaman Dickens will compete in the criterium.
On the archery shooting range, a seven-strong Australian team will be on target to compete against teams from around the world across three different categories: Novice Recurve, Open Recurve and Open Compound in individual and team events.
Archery enhances the ability to concentrate, improves the sitting balance in the wheelchair, and strengthens the dorsal, pectoral and shoulder muscles. Therefore, archery is ideally suited for rehabilitation purposes.
Archers aim their arrows at the assigned targets. The closer to the centre of the target the arrow hits, the higher the score. The competitors with the highest scores win.
Team Australia archery captain, Ryan Kelly, joins Craig Ball, Mark Armstrong and Laura Reynell competing in the novice recurve category. Karney Armstrong will compete in Open Female Recurve while Stephen Lockwood takes on Open Male Recurve, Steven Richards lines up for Open Male Compound and Kelly, Armstrong and Ball make up the Novice team.
On centre court, field 1, the sitting volleyball competition heats up for the second day as the finals are played, closing out with the gold medal match from about 8.30pm and medal ceremony following the close of play.
Sitting volleyball is one of the most successful and popular competitive and recreational sports of the Invictus Games.
The Australian team is Mark Armstrong, Craig Ball, Francine Dudfield, Xavier Green, Alex Jay, Ryan Kelly, Flight Sergeant Nathan King, Kurt Ludke, Bradley Mazzaferri, Adam Slot and Colleen Swifte.
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