Rio is a dream come true – para-canoeist

“If you had told me two years ago that I would represent my country in Rio, I would have laughed,” smiled Graham Paull (29), who will do just that. Paull will be the first person from Africa to compete in para-canoeing at the Paralympics.

“It has always been my dream to represent my country on a stage like this and this is the greatest achievement I will ever make,” he said.

Paull told his incredible story at Roodeplaat Dam, near the end of a training camp with the Academy for Canoe Development.

The former North Riding resident had been a formidable rugby player, and was about to play in the Vodacom Rugby Cup 2013 as hooker for the Limpopo Blue Bulls, but a spinal infection called transverse myelitis caused his paralysis from the waist down and he was confined to a wheelchair at the age of 26.

He woke up one morning with immense pain in his legs. An MRI scan showed a spot on his spine, and a specialist later diagnosed the illness. Paull’s condition deteriorated rapidly, yet he did not lose hope.

Although he would never walk again, a physiotherapist helped him with rehabilitation, which was supposed to take six weeks, but Paull, being an optimist and fast learner, was able to use a wheelchair, dress and function by himself in society within four.

“I came back into the big bad world and looked for a sport I could do.” Paull happened to meet James Godden, head of Para-Canoe South Africa at the time. “He organised a boat for me to paddle around Emmarentia Dam and I grew to love the sport. I am an avid fisher, so I love the water. I also like to get out of the chair and enjoy the outdoors.”

Paull became a member of the Dabulamanzi Canoe Club at Emmarentia Dam.

He got so good and fast at it that friends suggested he prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. “Last year, only a month before the Gauteng Canoe Union Sprint Championships, Godden suggested I enter. I did and I won.” Paull then entered the 2015 South Africa Sprint Championships and won that too.

That August he went to Italy for the Canoe Sprint World Championships  and came fifth, earning qualification to the Rio 2016 Paralympics. Paull came home and this year, won the Gauteng and South African championships again, and came seventh at the ICF Para-Canoeing World Championships  in Germany, effectively qualifying for Rio again.

Paull had done all this on his own, but now sought help from coach Fouché van Tonder ahead of Rio. “Graham did so well without coaching or technique, so now his chances are good at Rio,” Van Tonder said.

Paull will compete in the KL1 200m para-canoe event, with the heats and semi-final on 14 September and the final the day after. Furthermore, if he could go back and choose between rugby and canoeing, he would pick canoeing.

Related articles:

Rugby player turned canoeist wins gold 

SA’s Graham Paull qualifies for the Rio Paralympics