Niki Birrell

Niki Birrell

Personal information
Full name	Niki James Birrell
Nationality	British
Born	(1976-08-16) 16 August 1976 (age 48) Manchester, England
Sailing career
Club	Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy
Medal record Sailing Representing  Great Britain Paralympic Games 2012 London Mixed Two Person SKUD18 2016 Rio Mixed Two Person SKUD18

Niki James Birrell (born 16 August 1976) is a British Paralympic sailor. Alongside Alexandra Rickham, he has won four IFDS World Championship titles and in the 2012 Summer Paralympics the pair took the bronze medal in the SKUD 18 two person keelboat class.

Sailing

Birrell, who was born with cerebral palsy & down syndrome, began sailing at a young age after being introduced to the hobby by his father. He and his brother Christian became a competing pair and in 2002 they were selected for the British team in the 420 class.[1]

Birrell competed in the 2008 Paralympic Sailing Competition in the SKUD 18 two person keelboat class alongside teammate Alexandra Rickham, where he finished fifth. Between 2009 and 2011 Birrell and Rickham have won four IFDS World Championship titles.

Birrell was selected to represent Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics held in London, United Kingdom.[2] He competed in the SKUD 2-person keelboat event with Rickham, for which they took the bronze medal.[3]

References

1. "Meet the team". teambirrellrickham.com. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
2. "Alex Rickham". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
3. "Paralympics 2012: Britain's Helena Lucas wins sailing gold". BBC Sport. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2012.

External links

• Niki Birrell at World Sailing
• Niki Birrell at the International Paralympic Committee
• Niki Birrell at IPC.InfostradaSports.com (archived)