Stephen Churm

Stephen Churm
2012 Australian Paralympic team portrait of Churm
Personal information
Full nameStephen Andrew Churm
NationalityAustralian
Born (1954-07-16) 16 July 1954 (age 70)
Sport
CountryAustralia
SportSailing
ClubSailability Rushcutters Bay Yacht Club

Stephen Andrew Churm[1] (born 16 July 1954) is an Australian sailor. He was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in sailing. He did not medal at the 2012 Games.

Personal

Churm was born on 16 July 1954,[2] and is from the Sydney area[3] in New South Wales.[4] He has left-sided Klumpke palsy as a result of a torn brachial plexus during birth.[2][5]

Churm is married[6] and has three children.[4] As of 2012, he lives in Como West, New South Wales[2] and is retired.[6]

Sailing

Churm is a sailor,[2] and is a member of the Rushcutters Bay based Sailability Rushcutters Bay Yacht Club.[6] As of 2012, he had a sailing scholarship with the New South Wales Institute of Sport.[7]

Jonathan Harris, Stephen Churm & Colin Harrison sailing at the 2012 London Paralympics

Churm started sailing in 1962[2] as a seven-year-old at the Connells Point Sailing Club in the MK1 class,[1] racing for the first time at a club event in 1963.[6] He won his first race in 1966 in the Conells Point SC competition when he was in the Heron ‘Mischief’. In the Heron class at the Mrs R Woods Forward hands trophy later that year, he came in first.[1][6] He tried to qualify for the 2000 Summer Paralympics but just missed out on selection.[5] He first represented Australia in 2002 at the World Championships, where he finished seventh alongside Jonathan Harris and Zoltan Pegan in Medemblink.[1][2] At the 2003 Ransa Twilights, competing in the Sonar, he finished third in the second position. The following year, he finished twelfth in the third position.[1]

Churm competed in the 2012 IFDS World Championships in the sonar event in a boat that included Colin Harrison and Jonathan Harris.[8] It was the first time the trio had sailed together.[5] At the 2012 Dutch-hosted World Cup, he and his teammates finished third in the Sonar Paralympic class.[9] He competed in the Macquarie 2012 Access World Championships.[3][4] He was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in sailing.[2] He did not medal at the 2012 Games.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Stephen Churm". Australian Sailing. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Stephen Churm". Australia: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2012. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Winners announced in single-person classes at Macquarie Access Worlds — Australian Sailing News". YACHTe.com.au. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  4. ^ a b c "BYM Sailing & Sports News". Bymnews.com. 3 April 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  5. ^ a b c "Duo in Paralympic team — Local News — Sport — Olympics". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. 21 April 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Sailor Biography". ISAF. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  7. ^ "Stephen Churm". NSWIS. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  8. ^ "Australians move up at IFDS World Championships — Australian Sailing News". YACHTe.com.au. Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  9. ^ "Aussie sailors win three World Cup medals". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 27 May 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.