David Wetherill

Last month, the British Paralympic Association (BPA) announced that LCP Consulting sponsored Paralympian, David Wetherill will represent ParalympicsGB at the Rio 2016 Games. The 26-year-old became famous at London’s Paralympics for the table tennis 'shot of the tournament'– a feat that attracted over six million views on YouTube. Here, David (in his own words) provides the latest account of his preparation for Rio.

My final two tournaments between now and September are fast approaching and my main aim is to try and improve my seeding position a little bit before the big one in September. We go out to Lasko on 29^th April for the Slovenian Open and then on to Bratislava for the Slovakian Open starting 10^th May.

I know Rio is still a few months away but it’s a crucial time in the run up to the Games and may have a direct impact on how things go. I haven’t been feeling that great recently but I don’t want to be playing my best just yet…it’s all about peaking for Rio! But let’s not get ahead of ourselves…

As you all know, I have been knuckling down after being officially selected to the team for Rio last month by the British Paralympic Association. This will be my third Paralympic Games and qualification for each one has been getting gradually tougher and tougher as the standard of Paralympic sport continues to reach such a phenomenal level (especially in table tennis). Special congratulations to Melissa Tapper who has just become the second table tennis player to qualify for both the Paralympics and the Olympics!

Personally, the last four years have been an absolute rollercoaster and I am so relieved to have finally ticked the box. I have suffered many ups and downs with injuries, amongst other setbacks, and the training has noticeably taken its toll on my joints but it really makes me appreciate my place on the team that much more, especially when I compare how much harder it has been to qualify this time around. It simply wouldn’t have been possible without the support of many. Another huge thank-you to my wonderful sponsors in the supply chain industry, LCP Consulting (and subsequently Uniserve), who have been synonymous with my journey along the road to Rio.

This Paralympic Games will be a different beast to the ones I’ve experienced before. My 18-year-old self was a match point away from a place in the semis in Beijing and my 22-year-old self broke his arm in the run up to London so I maybe haven’t had the rub of the green in the past. However, I have massively changed my style of game since then and am so much more polished than the player I was four years ago. I’ve played minimal tournaments in this transitional period so I won’t go into too much technical detail but let’s just say I am very excited with the prospect of repaying everyone’s faith in me by trying to win my first Paralympic medal. I am now better prepared than ever before and, as good an experience as it was, I am looking forward to playing without the pressures of a home crowd.

Last year was certainly my best season yet. Domestically, I had a good campaign with my British League team and, although it’s not something I’m really concentrating on at the moment, I was proud to get into the top 150 able-bodied players in the country. Internationally, I poked out from behind the closed doors mid-season and won my comeback tournament at the Romanian Open in June before reaching back-to-back semi-finals at strong Asian tournaments out in Thailand and Korea. All the while I’d been struggling with injury but managed to win my first major medal at the European Championships in October. It wasn’t an easy ride as I’d left it late for Rio qualification but thankfully these strong performances managed to pull me through and hopefully I can build on from that.

More to come next month.

David recently won 14 out of his 15 matches at a tournament in Slovenia, with the only loss being against the Euro & World Champion.

David also competed in the team event, which included a win over a French opponent who managed to defeat him a few months before.

Next stop, Slovakia!

After years of hard work and complete dedication the moment has arrived – we were delighted to hear that David has now officially qualified for Rio 2016 and we look forward to continuing to support him in the run up to the games.

Read more about David's selection on our blog.

The Italian Open saw David reach the final, with a fantastic performance through the opening rounds, dropping his first point in the final. Unfortunately David couldn’t quite seize victory, but went on to further develop his serve and prepare for the next event.

David fought strongly in the Lignano Master Open men’s singles in Italy and secured a bronze medal, while also winning silver in the men’s team event. David’s ambition has him pushing for a top 4 spot globally but unfortunately it wasn’t to happen in Italy. It did however mark a fantastic milestone; David has achieved a semi-final or higher finish in each of his last 10 international tournaments, an amazing achievement as he continues to build momentum heading as Rio 2016 gets ever closer.