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Daniel Fitzgibbon, (born 15 June 1976) is an Australian Paralympic sailor, who won a silver medal at the
2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China, from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...
in Beijing. He won gold medals at the
2012 London The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
and
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 Sept ...
with partner
Liesl Tesch Liesl Dorothy Tesch Order of Australia, AM (born 17 May 1969) is an Australian wheelchair basketball player, sailor, and politician. She is a New South Wales Labor Party, Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, represent ...
in the two person
SKUD 18 The SKUD 18 is a class of racing sailing boat. It is a lead-assisted skiff with a tube-launched asymmetrical and a modern high performance stayed rig. The boat was created for trials held by the International Association for Disabled Sailing w ...
.


Biography

Daniel Gerard Fitzgibbon was born in the
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
suburb of Manly on 15 June 1976. Having sailed since the age of five, he joined the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron in 1990. On 29 March 1997, an incident occurred at the Middle Harbour Yacht Club jetty in which he broke his neck, leaving him a quadraplegic. He sued the Waterways Authority for negligence at the
New South Wales Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court ...
. Fitzgibbon, who claimed that he was pushed into the water, stated that it was their failure to include a handrail in the design of the jetty that caused him to fall off. They stated that he dived in because he thought a friend was drowning, and thus was responsible for the accident. His claim was unsuccessful. In 2004 Fitzgibbon competed in the Disabled Sailing World Championship, which he won in his class, and was jointly awarded the Disabled Sailor of the Year along with Andrew Hartley. In 2007, Fitzgibbon partnered with Rachael Cox in the SKUD International Championships, where they won a gold medal. They later competed in the IFDS World Championships and placed fifth. They were jointly named as Sailors of the Year with a Disability. The two teamed up again in the
2008 Beijing Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China, from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...
in the SKUD 18 class and won the silver medal.. Retrieved 20 October 2012. The class, which premiered at the 2008 games, was created when Fitzgibbon convinced the International Foundation for Disabled Sailing to adapt the class to allow two sailors with disabilities to participate. They were again jointly named the Sailors of the Year with a Disability. After seeing
Liesl Tesch Liesl Dorothy Tesch Order of Australia, AM (born 17 May 1969) is an Australian wheelchair basketball player, sailor, and politician. She is a New South Wales Labor Party, Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, represent ...
in an SBS documentary about the boat ''Sailors with Disabilities'' competing in the 2009 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, Fitzgibbon contacted her in late 2010 and they formed a sailing partnership. He partnered with Tesch at the
ISAF The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 according to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined t ...
World Cup in January 2011 where they won gold, and at the IFDS World Championships in July, where they won bronze. The pair were jointly named as Sailors of the Year with a Disability, the fourth time Fitzgibbon won the award. At the
2012 London Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...
, the pair won a gold medal in the Mixed Two Person SKUD18. At the 2014 IFDS World Championships in Halifax, Canada, Fitzgibbon teamed with Tesch to win the two-person SKUD 18 class. Fitzgibbon and Tesch won the 2015 IFDS World Championships in Melbourne. After winning the title Fitzgibbon said: "We're still learning every day. That's what sailing is. You never stop learning and enjoying the sport and we ended up winning a gold medal and since London we are undefeated, we won the world championships last time and we are trying to win this one and we've won every world cup event we've been in. The competition gets harder and harder, though that's the thing – we've just got to keep improving." Fitzgibbon and Tesch won the bronze medal in the SKUD 18 class at the 2016 World Championships held in
Medemblik Medemblik () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West Friesland (region), West-Frisia. It lies immediately south of the polder and former municipality of Wieringermeer. History Med ...
,
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. Fitzgibbon and Tesch won back to back Paralympic gold medals by winning the SKUD18 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 Sept ...
. They won eight out of 11 races and came second in the other three.


Recognition

Fitzgibbon was awarded an
Order of Australia Medal The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...
in the 2014
Australia Day Honours The Australian honours and awards system refers to all orders, decorations, and medals, as instituted by letters patent from the Monarch of Australia and countersigned by the Australian prime minister at the time, that have been progressively ...
"for service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games." In November 2014, Fitzgibbon shared the
Yachting Australia Australian Sailing is recognised by World Sailing as the governing body for the sport of sailing in Australia. It formed in 1950 as the Australian Yachting Federation at a meeting at the Royal St. Kilda Yacht Club. It is responsible for the ad ...
Sailor of the Year with a Disability award with
Liesl Tesch Liesl Dorothy Tesch Order of Australia, AM (born 17 May 1969) is an Australian wheelchair basketball player, sailor, and politician. She is a New South Wales Labor Party, Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, represent ...
, Colin Harrison,
Jonathan Harris Jonathan Daniel Harris ( Charasuchin; November 6, 1914 – November 3, 2002) was an American character actor whose career included more than 500 television and film appearances, as well as Voice-over, voiceovers. Two of his best-known roles we ...
,
Russell Boaden Russell Boaden (born 15 December 1969) is a Paralympic sailor from Australia. He won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, and a won a gold medal in the Mixed Three Person Sonar the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Personal Boaden was born ...
and
Matthew Bugg Matthew Bugg (born 25 February 1981) is an Australian sailor. He represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the 2.4mR class sailing event. He won a bronze medal at the 2015 IFDS World Cha ...
. The Australian team of six sailors beat Great Britain by one point at the IFDS World Championship. Fitzgibbon and Tesch won the 2014 NSW Sports Award for Team of the Year with a Disability. In November 2015, Fitzgibbon and Tesch were awarded
Yachting Australia Australian Sailing is recognised by World Sailing as the governing body for the sport of sailing in Australia. It formed in 1950 as the Australian Yachting Federation at a meeting at the Royal St. Kilda Yacht Club. It is responsible for the ad ...
's 2015 Sailor of the Year with a Disability. In November 2017, Fitzgibbon and
Liesl Tesch Liesl Dorothy Tesch Order of Australia, AM (born 17 May 1969) is an Australian wheelchair basketball player, sailor, and politician. She is a New South Wales Labor Party, Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, represent ...
were inaugural inductees to the
Australian Sailing Hall of Fame Australian Sailing Hall of Fame was established in 2017 by Australian Sailing in collaboration with the Australian National Maritime Museum. There are two nomination categories: the sailor or athlete category; and the general category which recogni ...
.


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgibbon, Daniel 1976 births Living people Australian male sailors (sport) Paralympic sailors for Australia Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Paralympic medalists in sailing Wheelchair-category Paralympic competitors Sailors at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Sailors at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Sailors at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople with tetraplegia Sportspeople from Brisbane Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia 21st-century Australian sportsmen Sportsmen from Queensland Australian wheelchair users