Colin Sieders (born 19 January 1982) is an Australian paracanoeist and former racing driver. He competed for Australia at the

2016 Rio Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 Septe ...

Personal

Sieders was born in

Blacktown, New South Wales Blacktown is a suburb in the City of Blacktown, in Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Blacktown is located west of the Sydney central business district. It is one of the most multicultural places within G ...

on 19 January 1982. In 1997, he was involved in a car accident on his way to soccer when the car he was travelling lost control on black ice and crashed into a pole. The driver of the car was killed. CareFlight responded to the accident and Sieders believes that they saved his life. He spent 88 days in intensive care, underwent 30 operations over 51 weeks in hospital. He was initially told he would never walk again. A second car accident in December 2011 resulted in him being back in a wheelchair and limited walking through the use of crutches . He took up paracanoe after the accident to improve his fitness and reduce weight gain. He said "It was developing into a serious problem so I looked around for something to do. It had to be a low-impact sport because of my injured hip. I'm a water-lover, so kayaking was the way to go". Sieders helps run Sieders V8 RacingTeam with his brothers and helps promote CareFlight, who helped save his life. He lives in Yarramundi, New South Wales with his wife Erin and daughter Rosie and twins Violet and Phoenix. He works for his family business All-Trans Trucks.

Sporting career

Motor racing

Sieders comes from a motor racing family. His father Bill, older brother Luke and younger brother David are racing drivers. Sieders has only 30 percent use of his left leg and requires a unique 'hand-clutch' in his Ford Falcon V8 Supercar. Sieders was the first permanently disabled driver to race in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Development Series. In 2004, he took Pole Position at Sandown, and set a race lap record on the streets of Adelaide. He ceased racing after a car accident in 2011.

Paracanoe

He is classified as a KL1 paracanoeist. He took up canoeing after he was no longer able to race

V8 Supercars The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

. His personal trainer Sam Norton, a former kayaker introduced him top Andrea King who was the Australian paracanoe coach. He took up paracanoeing in 2012.

International results

* 2013 – 7th K1 200 Final –

2013 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The 2013 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships was held 29 August–1 September 2013 in Duisburg, Germany. The championships were awarded originally to Szeged, Hungary, but Szeged was moved to 2011 in the wake of Vichy, France's withdrawal in 2010 ...

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...

* 2014 – 6th K1 200 Final –

2014 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The 2014 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships was held from 6–10 August 2014 in Moscow, Russia. They were chosen at an ICF board of directors meeting in Budapest on 10 April 2010. Explanation of events Canoe sprint competitions are broken up i ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

* 2015 – 9th KL1 200 Final –

2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships The 2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, the 41st edition of the World Championships, were held from 19–23 August 2015 in Milan, Italy. Explanation of events Canoe sprint competitions are broken up into Canadian canoe (C), an open canoe wi ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

* 2016 – 1st KL1 200 – Oceania Championships,

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

* 2016 – 4th KL1 200 B Final – 2016 Paracanoe World Championships,

* 2016 – 8th KL1 200 Final –

National results

*2014 – 1st K1 200, K1 500m, K1 1000 – National Championship,

*2015 – 1st K1 200, K1 500m K1 1000 – National Championships, Sydney *2016 – 1st KL1 200 – National Championships,

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

References

External links

*
Australian Canoeing ProfileColin Sieders Motor Racing ResultsCareFlight Rescue – Colin Sieders YouTube
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sieders, Colin 1982 births Living people Paracanoeists of Australia Paracanoeists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Australian racing drivers Supercars Championship drivers