WHEELCHAIR racer Luke Bailey from Wingham is preparing for a torrid schedule of events in Australia and overseas in the next few months that he hopes will culminate in selection in the Australian team for the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
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Luke turns 18 this month. However, he'll have precious little time to celebrate the milestone.
His program will start with the State school titles in Sydney this weekend before he heads to the Run Newcastle on September 13, where he'll be defending his crown. Then there's the 9km race in Sydney on September 20.
Luke's then off to Japan in November for the Otti Wheelchair International race, where he'll contest the 21km half marathon.
He'll be seeking his third consecutive win in Newcastle, where for the past two years he's beaten his idol and occasional training partner, Kurt Fernley, Australia's greatest male wheelchair racer.
"No-one's ever won it three years-in-a-row,'' Luke said.
He made his debut in the Japanese race last year, finishing a credible eighth out of 109 starters. Luke's sure he can improve on this in November.
"I'll be starting at the front of the pack,'' he explained.
"Last year I was at the back and I got held up by the slow guys.''
He thinks he'll finished a couple of minutes adrift of the winners. "I'm hoping it will be different this year,'' he said.
Luke was born with spina bifida and has been in a wheelchair all his life. He was introduced to wheelchair sport through Terry Mason at Saxby's Stadium and started wheelchair racing about four years ago.
He'd met Fernley while undergoing treatment at John Hunter Hospital as a young boy and he was at the first training camp Luke attended when he became interested in wheelchair racing.
"I'm going to Newcastle to do some training with Kurt soon,'' Luke explained.
Luke is aiming to get a start in the 100m at Rio next year. He'll attend trials in Sydney next January.
"My time for the 100m is 15 seconds,'' he said.
"The qualifying time is 14, so I'm nearly there.''
Luke trains when time allows at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. However, the majority of his preparation is done in and around Wingham.
"I train on the bigger hills,'' he said.
However, he's a versatile athlete, contesting the longer road races as well as the 1500m and 100m on the track.
"I don't have a track to train on here, so that's a bit of a problem,'' he said.
"I went down to the criterium track at Taree last week and trained there before I went to the stadium to referee wheelchair basketball and that was pretty good.''
Road racing can be a torrid and spectacular affair and Luke said keeping out of the crashes is paramount.
So far he's been reasonably fortunate in this regard, with only one major injury.
"I broke my wrist in the 10km race on Australia Day in Sydney this year,'' he said.
Fifty metres from home Luke and a good mate were duelling for first place and collided, with Luke smashing into the security fence. However, he recovered sufficiently to take line honours.
Luke mixes training and competition with TAFE where he's studying small motor mechanics. Finances are always tight for a sport that can be expensive a racing chair alone costs in the vicinity of $5000.
"Any sponsorship would be greatly appreciated,'' Luke said.