A household name among The Sables bowls community, Tracy Smith continued her dominance of the blind lawn bowls arena with more international accolades.
Assisted by her husband Tommy, the couple returned from Australia’s Gold Coast with a gold medal in the singles and a silver medal in the mixed doubles competitions at the recent International Blind Bowls Association (IBBA) World Championships.
Competing for the fourth occasion at the IBBA showpiece, Tracy triumphed for the third time, the only blemish being a silver medal in the 2015 event. Tracy’s third gold medal was earned in a double round-robin format, finishing tied at top of the standings but winning on shot aggregation.
By her side through sickness and in health, the Smiths and their success is inseparable. Tommy guides Tracy on her approach giving her audio cues for where to aim.
“He will explain the shot and whether I need to use a backhand or forehand grip. I always need to hear his voice,” said Tracy.
“I make sure she is perfectly lined up, putting everything into finding the right line,” said Tommy, who also analyses opponents and tracks stats throughout the competitions.
This third IBBA title goes together with her numerous International Bowls for the Disabled (IBD) titles, of which she is the reigning B1 classification title holder. IBD is a bowls federation for all varieties of disabled people whereas IBBA is exclusively for the blind. Always the player to beat, Tracy will be defending her national title in Pretoria this May while the IBD World Championship will be held in Johannesburg in 2024.
Having dominated her sport since the late 90s, Tracy is not considering hanging up her woods just yet.
“I’m still young so feel like I can keep being chosen to play for my country,” said the 54-year-old who has won the South African championships almost 20 times. Acknowledging those who propelled them to the top, she added, “Thank you to our club who have always given us so much support, and thank you to everyone who helped us get to Australia to continue our journey.”
