News from the world of education - August 20, 2021

News from the world of education - August 20, 2021

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Information on admissions, courses, partnerships and more

Admissions open at SIPM

Suguna Institute of Poultry Management has opened admissions for B. Sc. Poultry Science, Diploma in Commercial Broiler and Production Management or Diploma in Broiler Breeder Management; Diploma in Poultry Health. Opportunities include a job in the field of Poultry Housing, Poultry Nutrition and Feed Milling Technology Breeder Management, Poultry Health and Diagnostic Labs, Broiler Management, Meat Processing, Poultry marketing, Hatchery management and Entrepreneurship. For details, email admissions@sugunainstitute.com or info@sugunainstitute.com

All-India Mock NEET

Aakash Educational Services Limited (AESL), along with BYJU’S, has announced an All-India NEET Mock Test 2021 to be conducted online on August 22, August 29 and September 5. Registrations are open and free of cost. Participating students will get an All-India Rank to benchmark their performances against aspirants across the country. After the results are announced, an advanced analytical report will be provided to help aspirants identify their weak areas. Students will also get access to an in-depth video solution of the test papers to help them understand the concepts and theories. Register at https://aakashdigital.com/mock/neet-test

Programme on Essay Writing and Interviews

Xtraview will host its flagship programme on Essay Writing and Interviews for high school students on August 28 and 29 and September 4 and 5, in collaboration with The Big Red group. The four-day intensive workshop will offer insights into crucial aspects of college applications, including the essay, resume and interview. With an amalgamation of lectures, interactive sessions and activities, students will learn concise writing, communication and expression. Visit https://xtraview.in/

RVU’s School of Liberal Arts and Sciences hosts Teen Indie Film Awards

The School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, RV University Bengaluru, has announced the Teen Indie Film Awards (TIFA). The competition is open for entries and participation from high school students from classes IX to XII (age group 14 to 18 years). Interested participants may submit short films (3-7 minutes) in five thematic categories: Nature and Environment, Local History and Legends, My Hero (from family, teachers, or community), Being a Teen or Abstract Art. The short films need not be story driven only, as the competition is looking for entries both in fiction and emerging genres of non-fiction like interview-driven narratives, a visual collage, experimental shorts, and documentary formats. Participants can work in a team or individually. The last date for submission is September 30. The longlist will be announced on October 15 and nominations on 1st November 1. The award ceremony and screening of the films will be held on November 14. For details,visit rvu.edu.in

NCPEDP-Mphasis Universal Design Awards

Since 2010, the NCPEDP-Mphasis Universal Design Awards have been awarding individuals and corporations who are enabling persons with disabilities to live more independently. Applications are invited across subjects like accessibility in Built Environment, Transport, ICT, Aids and Appliances, Advocacy, and Public Policy and Services across four categories Person with Disabilities; Working professionals; Organisations/Companies; and NCPEDP-Mphasis Javed Abidi Public Policy Award. Last date is August 21. For details visit https://bit.ly/3m8w1HX

Stella Maris College celebrates Independence Day and 75th birthday

Along with celebrating India’s independence Stella Maris College, Chennai, also celebrated its 75th birthday. As a part of the jubilee festivities, August 15 also marked the beginning of year-long events and activities. Brig. (Dr.) G. Himashree, Brigadier Medical,Head Quarter Dakshin Bharat Area hoisted the national flag and spoke about the importance of commitment towards national integration and community development. She also highlighted the need for becoming proficiently competent, working hard in academics and becoming responsible citizens who touch more lives. Dr. Sr. Rosy Joseph fmm, Principal, Stella Maris College, also spoke on the occasion.

Neev Academy launches teacher training institute

Neev Academy announced the launch of The Neev Teacher Training Institute (NTTI) in Bengaluru. NTTI intends to meet the needs of teachers across the socio-economic strata from rural learning centres and government schools to elite urban schools. The programmes will be launched in a phased manner, with short-term,skill-focused and intense longer courses. NTTI is open to both aspiring and experienced teachers. The programmes will begin from January 2022 and be conducted both on campus and virtually. For more details, visit https://bit.ly/2W292np

ABEA opens admission for teacher training course

Aditya Birla Education Academy has opened admissions for its new batch of ‘Advanced Certificate Course in Developing Teaching Competencies’ (ACCDTC). This virtual certificate course aims to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world classroom applications. The four-month course will begin on August 21. The course has been specially designed to help students in their final year of B.Ed./M.Ed./D.Ed./ECCEd be skilled and confident educators and for in-service teachers to gain critical self-reflection tools. Visit https://bit.ly/3ghvcc5

Whiz League raises $300K seed fund

Ed-Tech start-up Whiz League, led by Natasha Jain and Sonia Agarwal Bajaj in partnership with Guru Randhawa has raised a $300K (₹2.2 crores) seed fund. Whiz League offers celebrity driven, pre-recorded certificate courses and skill development courses for adults and children and allows learners to potentially collaborate with these celebrities and experts in the form of 1-1 mentorship, internships, fast-tracked auditions, access to funding etc. via their Whiz Launchpad. Whiz League also offers celebrity junior modules for the 6-17 age group so that they can get early exposure to introductory industry specific skill sets.

Research for air sanitisation

Magneto CleanTech has joined a group of top educational institutions as the sole industry partner for an upcoming research project on developing a revolutionary air sanitisation system aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus and TB bacterium. The collaboration includes IIT-Madras, Vellore Institute of Technology, and Queen Mary University of London. The Royal Academy Engineering (RAENG), the U.K., will be the chief sponsor/fund provider for this project. It is expected that this project, when successfully implemented, will benefit nearly 10 crore people in the Indian subcontinent.

Sunstone Eduversity concludes Edufest 2021

Sunstone Eduversity successfully concluded Edufest 2021, its virtual career counselling event for MBA/PGDM, BBA and MCA aspirants. The tw-day event had over 15,000 registrations from students across the country. With over 100 career counsellors, 25 influencers and motivational speakers, and three corporate leaders, Sunstone Eduversity witnessed 325 enrollments across its MBA/PGDM and BBA programs. The B-school also distributed the scholarships worth over ₹65 lakhs during the two days.

Prodigy Finance collaborates with 12 American universities

Prodigy Finance has entered into a collaboration with 12 universities in the U.S. — Bentley University, Hult International Business School, University of North Dakota, University of Southern Mississippi, Mayo Graduate School, Miami Herbert Business School, North Carolina State University, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Jackson State University, Morgan State University, South Dakota State University, University of Memphis, University of Tennessee Health Science Center-Memphis, and Oregon Health and Science University. This will allow students to choose from a much wider list of Business, Science, and Engineering colleges and acquire the necessary skills to scale their future towards the path of success. With this, Prodigy Finance now works with over 800 colleges providing 1000 postgraduate programmes to its students.

Eupheus Learning to partner with Global Education Solutions

Eupheus Learning is partnering with Global Education Solutions (GES) for its proprietary platform, MyKensho, which provides life skills and career development tools for the overall development of students, aligned with the NEP 2020’s vision. MyKensho is a discovery platform which enables students to become more self-aware and make informed decisions on study and career choices with instructor-led intervention. The mentors will be certified by GES. This partnership will strengthen the Eupheus offering within schools and bridge the gap between in-classroom and at-home learning solutions. Since the schools will have to draw out content, capability, tools, and resources to offer an overall development of students, Eupheus Learning will enable this through MyKensho and the deep expertise of the GES team.

JKBS holds orientation for its PGDM batch

JK Business School (JKBS) recently conducted Adhwan, an orientation programme for its latest batch of PGDM students. This annual event takes place after a 100-day on-boarding programme ‘Buniyaad’, to strengthen the basics of management and bridge gaps by bringing together students from diverse backgrounds together. The chief guest for Adhwan was Vishal Sehgal, MD, Nischay EduCorp . The PGDM Batch of 2021-23 has a mix of graduates from various streams like engineering, commerce, humanities, science, and management.

Eruditus gets $650 million funding

Eruditus announced a $650 million funding round through a mix of primary and secondary funding, which values the company at $3.2 billion. Accel and SoftBank Vision Fund 2 join Emeritus’ returning investors, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Leeds Illuminate and Prosus, and existing investors, Sequoia Capital India and Bertelsmann. Proceeds from the round will be used to develop new courses in conjunction with university partners, create new products and industry verticals, expand the company’s business serving governments and enterprises, double-down on new geographical markets, and fund acquisitions.

#YoungWarriorNXT programme launched

On International Youth Day 2021, the Ministry of Youth Affairs (MoYAS), UN offices (UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, UNV, UN Women, UN AIDS, UNHCR, WHO, and ILO) and YuWaah (Generation Unlimited in India) introduced the second phase of the #YoungWarrior movement called #YoungWarriorNXT. The theme is “Celebrating Youth Innovation and Resilience”. #YoungWarriorNXT has been envisioned to serve as an emergency response to the learning and skilling crisis compounded by COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns and aims to equip the young people of India between the ages of 14 and 24 with key life and employability skills to enable them to pursue successful lives and careers. The programme will also include initiatives that address mental health and emotional wellbeing. To be a part of #YoungWarriorNXT, participants can register by sending YWNXT to +919650414141 on WhatsApp or sending YWNXT on the U-Report India Facebook Page. For more details: www.yuwaah.org/youngwarrior

Support for Bal Gurukul from Blackstone

Shruti Agrawal and Sambhav Jain, 25-year-old associates in Blackstone’s Private Equity team in India, have won $100,000 for the Indian Development Foundation (IDF) in the Blackstone Gives Back Challenge, a firmwide charity competition. The $100,000 won by the India team’s two junior employees will support Bal Gurukul, IDF’s flagship project that provides supplementary after school education programs to children most in need. Launched in 2005, Bal Gurukuls have supported millions of children access quality education and 247 are currently in operation nationwide. The $100,000 (₹75 lakh) grant will help expand Bal Gurukuls in the states of Orissa, Bihar, Gujarat and in North East India and support the education of more than 10,000 underprivileged children.

Podar International School expands

Podar International School has opened six news schools across Maharashtra, Goa, Bihar, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh in 2021-22. Inspite of the COVID-19 pandemic and physical schools having moved to online platforms, Podar International School has not only increased itsgeographical footprint but has also shown exceptional results in the recently concluded Class X CBSE and ICSE board exams of 2021. For the academic year 2021-22, Podar Education Network has set up Podar International School in Sangamner and Ballarpur in Maharashtra, Panelim in Goa, Muzaffarpur in Bihar, Jalandhar in Punjab and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, which will offer CBSE curriculum from Nursery to Class 5.

XLRI celebrates National Librarians Day

XLRI-Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur, recently celebrated the ‘National Librarians’ Day’ at the Sir Jehangir Ghandy Library in remembrance of the 129th birth anniversary of Dr. S.R. Ranganathan, the father of Indian Library Science. At a formal function Prof. A.K Pani, Dean-Academics; Fr. Paul Fernandes SJ, Director; Prof. M. Srimannarayana, Associate Dean, Corporate Programme and VIL; Prof. J; Ajith Kumar, Associate Dean-FPM and Research; Prof. Santanu Gupta, the faculty and staff members of XLRI and the library staff members were present.

GLIM Chennai collaborates with University of Chicago

Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai, announced a partnership with The University of Chicago Booth School of Business to provide custom executive education programmes that offer leadership, strategy, management, and finance frameworks to take participants and their organisations to the next level. The partnership will design and deliver “Project Ascent,” a high-impact next-generation custom-blended leadership programme for senior leaders of L&T and is scheduled to commence in October 2021. The programme serves to support the initiatives in developing a ‘future ready’ pipeline of senior leaders who will play an important role in the organization’s future growth.

IMS Noida holds virtual art competition

The Fine Arts Hussain Club, IMS Noida, organized a virtual art competition named “Kala Kaushal” on the theme of Independence Day. The chief guest was Priyanka Das, who holds a Master’s degree in Madhubani painting. Dr. Kulneet Suri, Senior Director IMS Noid, and club head Shikha Srivastava were also present. Students showcased their ideas of patriotism, culture, the freedom struggle, India’s geographical beauty, monuments, festivals through their artwork. A slogan writing competition was also conducted.

SRM-AP celebrates Independence Day

SRM University-AP organised a ‘Fit India Freedom Run’ on August 13, 2021, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Indian independence. Vice-Chancellor Professor V.S. Rao inaugurated the ceremony. A large number of students, professors and employees participated. Dr Vinayak Kalluri, Registrar-in-charge; Sivakumar Raghavan, Director-Human Resources; Revathi Balakrishnan, Assistant Director-Student Affairs, Wg. Commander Venkatachalam, Director-Campus Life Maintenance, Suma N., Chief Finance and Accounts Officer and others were present. The university also celebrated Independence Day on August 15 with a flag hoisting and a message from the Vice Chancellor. There were cultural performances by the students and the national anthem was sung.

Bloggers Alliance launches Student Wing

On its second anniversary, Bloggers Alliance launched a “Student Wing” to help youngsters learn and nurture skills. The wing will engage with the student community across management and mass communication institutes across India and carry out following activities: Live projects on digital and social media, digital branding, influencer marketing and allied areas; Paid Internships in business storytelling, digital storytelling, social media marketing and allied areas; Campus ambassador programme; and Engage with student influencers. Bloggers Alliance has launched online certificate courses in blogging and storytelling. The Story Talks video series on business storytelling is aimed at teaching storytelling skills to every blogger and influencer. For details, visit bloggersalliance.org or contact +91-9810337995 (via WhatsApp).

Chitkara University collaborates with University of Windsor, Canada

Chitkara University announced a new international collaboration with University of Windsor to support transnational education and student mobility. The agreement was signed by Dr. Robert Gordon, President and Vice-Chancellor University of Windsor, and Dr. Madhu Chitkara Pro Chancellor of Chitkara University at a virtual event. The event was attended by senior leadership of both universities, including representation from the Canadian Consulate. Under the new academic mentorship agreement, Chitkara faculty teaching in the programme will be mentored by Odette faculty, providing feedback, support, sharing their knowledge, skills, and experience while fostering a connection to students in India who will transition to UWindsor after completing the first two years at Chitkara. This programme allows students to specialise in areas of high market demand, including in Accounting, Human Resources, Finance, Supply Chain and Business Analytics, Marketing, and Strategy and Entrepreneurship, while saving international tuition fees for students studying in India. Students will earn a UWindsor Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) at the end of their studies in Canada and are eligible to apply for three-year post-study work permits. For more information, please visit: www.chitkara.edu.in/global

Digitising education

The AISECT Group of Universities has taken a big step in digitising education through the Learning Management System that facilitates education digitally and the faculty-student relationship. The Learning Management System of the AISECT Group of Universities has registered 11,000 students with more than 500 faculty members and more than 6500 classes conducted till May. Universities have facilitated the availability of educational content 24x7 for the students and at their convenience. It provides the students with live sessions, which are recorded for later use. Each student has profile to avail numerous facilities like pre-recorded lectures, direct interaction with the faculty and other digitised projects. Additionally, students can also track their progress by themselves on their profiles.

Leap to expand team

Overseas ed-tech platform Leap is planning to add 500 employees by the end of 2021, as it embarks on the next phase of growth. The company intends to expand its team in multiple domains including community development, study abroad counselling, product, sales, engineering, business development, and will open employment avenues for both freshers as well as experienced professionals. A key hiring focus is the expansion of Leap’s engineering and product teams as the company scales its digital-first and data-led study abroad solution. Additionally, Leap will also look to onboard study abroad experts onto its platform to give international aspirants personalized guidance.

Think Change Forum releases recommendations

Independent think tank Think Change Forum released a set of recommendations on “How to Make the Indian Education System Future Proof”. To supplement its research and analysis, it hosted a panel discussion on the topic brought together experts such as Gowri Ishwaran, Padma Shri awardee and Founder Principal, Sanskriti School; Maj. Harsh Kumar, Secretary, NCERT; Col. Gopal Karunakaran, CEO Shiv Nadar School; Prof. Ajay Rana, Dean, Director and Professor, Amity University; Prof. Rajib Dasgupta, Professor and Chairperson, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, JNU; and Prof Binod Khadria, Chair Professor of Contemporary Indian Studies at School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers, New Jersey, the U.S. The panellists were unanimous in their view that the pandemic has shaken up the system and that, while it has thrown up new challenges, it has also presented an unprecedented opportunity for educators and policy makers to take a quantum leap in making Indian education system progressive and future proof at a mass scale. A recorded version of the panel discussion can be accessed at the Forum’s YouTube channel.

Marwadi University inaugurates moot court hall

The Faculty of Law of the Rajkot-based Marwadi University (MU) inaugurated a newly-constructed state-of-the-art moot court hall in its premises recently. The moot court hall includes HD teleconferencing facilities and interiors that match the best of Indian courtrooms, to help students gain edge in the legal ecosystem. The Faculty of Law, MU, currently offers B.Com. LL.B (Hons), B.A. LL.B.(Hons), LLM and PhD courses and specialisation in criminal, commercial, constitutional and IP laws; electives in emerging areas in law like food, entertainment, air and space, energy; and eight compulsory internships from the first year itself. MU also recently held its first pan-India virtual moot court competition featuring 42 teams.

BIHER signs agreement with BWH

Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research (BIHER) has successfully signed a “Mutual Understanding and Confidential Disclosure Agreement” (CCDA) with The Brigham and Women’s Hospital, (BWH), an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, to set up a world-class cutting edge diagnostic research centre. This paves the way for a formal engagement towards the joint development of a state-of-art research facility in medical, point of care, mobile-based diagnostics.

IIT-Delhi launches UJF lab

IIT-Delhi recently launched the Universal Justice Foundation (UJF) lab facility on Artificial Intelligence for the judiciary. This was inaugurated by Justice S. Ravindra Bhat. This is the second time that the institute has undertaken an initiative for the legal domain with the first being the establishment of a Centre of Excellence for Law and Technology. Technology has already made its way into the courts and significantly improved data management and replaced the otherwise time-consuming paper process.

BSACIST inaugurates Dassault Systemes Centre of Excellence

The Dassault Systemes Centre of Excellence (COE) has been inaugurated at the at the School of Mechanical Sciences in the BS Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science and Technology (BSACIST) campus. This COE is established based on the Dassault Systèmes Academy Member Programme initiative and BSACIST will be the Academic Certification Centre of DASSAULT SYSTEMES. The programme will offer job-oriented skill-based value-added programmes for the undergraduate and postgraduate students of Mechanical, Automobile, Aerospace and Polymer Engineering streams. BSACIST has also signed an MoU with EDS Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore to train the trainees.

India Skills Competition

The India Skills Competition will be conducted in Delhi this year with participants from over 20 states. Tentatively scheduled to be held in October, the victorious team will represent India in Shanghai in the Olympics of Skills in 2022, according to the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi. The team will be trained by Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University (DSEU). The competition has so far received more than 5000 registrations and selection will be based on a two-tier process.

ANA Members Recognized for Accomplishments During World’s Fair of Money

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ANA Members Recognized for Accomplishments During World’s Fair of Money

by American Numismatic Association (ANA)

Several individuals were recognized for their service and commitment to numismatics during the ANA’s 130th Annual Awards Banquet and Member & Awards Celebration.

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Numismatics is the study and collection of coins, paper money, tokens and medals, but at the American Numismatic Association (ANA) it is the people who truly define the hobby. Several individuals were recognized for their service and commitment to numismatics during the ANA’s 130th Annual Awards Banquet and Member & Awards Celebration during the World’s Fair of Money®.

The Elvira Clain-Stefanelli Memorial Award for Achievement in Numismatics honors women who have made significant contributions in the field. This year’s recipient is Ellen Feingold, the curator of the National Numismatic Collection (NNC) at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History.

Feingold was first introduced to the history of money as a graduate student in economic and social history at the University of Oxford. A few months after she completed her doctorate in history, she says she was fortunate to be hired as a project curator in the British Museum’s Coins and Medals Department, a position that greatly influenced her career path. “On my first day of work there, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in the field. I’m very grateful to the British Museum for giving me that rare early career training and exposure to such an amazing collection.”

After moving with her husband to Washington, D.C., in 2013, she volunteered with the NNC and was hired as its curator six months later. In her current role, Feingold oversees a global collection of approximately 1.6 million objects that span more than 5,000 years.

As a historian interested in global history, Feingold loves that numismatics allows her to make connections between a wide range of places and periods. “As I open cabinets in the vault of the National Numismatic Collection, I often feel that I am traveling the world, and the objects always inspire new research questions and pathways I had not previously imagined pursuing.” She has written two books, Colonial Justice and Decolonization in the High Court of Tanzania, 1920-1971 (2018) and The Value of Money (2015). Her articles on numismatics and history have been published in multiple journals, including Politico Magazine, Perspectives on History and Financial History.

Through her leadership, Feingold is able to contribute to numismatics and share the hobby with the millions of people who visit the museum. She has served as project director and curator or co-curator of several exhibitions. She is currently completing a long-term project to create a new gallery about money for children called “Really BIG Money.” It will feature some of the largest monetary objects in the NNC and is designed to help elementary school students learn about money and economics. She says she “can’t wait to open this new exhibition in 2022!”

Feingold adds that she is honored to receive this award. As a curatorial successor of Elvira Clain-Stefanelli, Feingold has a deep interest in Clain-Stefanelli’s career at the Smithsonian and her contributions to numismatics. “I am very grateful to the ANA for recognizing my work with this award and for the ongoing support of the numismatics community since I became curator in 2014. I have learned a great deal from many of the ANA’s members and look forward to continuing to learn from them and work together to raise awareness of our field.”

Each year, the Association honors an Outstanding District Representative who sets the standard for promoting the hobby and ANA-member clubs throughout the country. This year's recipient, Robert Mellor, has also been recognized with the 2021 Lawrence J. Gentile Sr. Memorial Award for Outstanding Adult Advisor.

Mellor has made countless contributions to the ANA and the hobby. He is passionate about sharing his experience and depth of knowledge with others and gives many presentations each year to both numismatic and non-numismatic organizations. A regular volunteer instructor on the topic of numismatics for an adult continuing education outreach program, he also conducts a monthly CoinTalk event at his local library and teaches a grading course for the ANA's Florence Schook School of Numismatics.

An advanced hobbyist, Mellor focuses on grading, attributions, errors and numismatic items associated with early American history. He says, "If it was struck with a screw press, it interests me!"

Mellor's uncle, Charles V. Housman, was an avid coin collector who introduced him to the hobby when he was 8. Once bitten by the collecting bug, Mellor anxiously searched through the money he earned from his paper route for coins to fill his early blue Whitman folder albums.

After earning a bachelor's degree from the Florida Institute of Technology, he embarked on a career in the aerospace industry that has spanned over 35 years. He retired from Lockheed Martin in 2001 as a program launch director and currently supports launch operations for advanced programs within the Department of Defense.

Mellor is a life member of the ANA, an ANA district representative for Florida, an ANA certified exhibit judge and a member of the ANA Outreach Committee. In 2017 he was recognized with the ANA's Outstanding District Representative of the Year, an accolade the deserving hobbyist has earned once again. He holds memberships in multiple national and local clubs, including the South Brevard Coin Club, where he chairs its education committee. Mellor also volunteers his time with the Combined Organization of Numismatic Error Collectors of America (CONECA).

In an effort to recognize the most important collectors, scholars and hobby professionals of all time, the American Numismatic Association maintains the Numismatic Hall of Fame (HOF) at its Colorado Springs headquarters. ANA historian Jack W. Ogilvie proposed the Hall of Fame in the mid-1960s. By 1969 bylaws were drafted, and the HOF inducted its first honorees that same year. The next group was enshrined in 1970. with subsequent honorees inducted every two years. Today, individuals are recognized annually, with “modern” numismatists inducted in odd years, and “historic” personages in even years. This year, the HOF welcomes two familiar hobby luminaries – Barbara J. Gregory and the late D. Wayne (“Dick”) Johnson.

Born in 1954 in Upstate New York, Barbara Gregory received a bachelor’s degree in English from Alfred University in 1976, and later was employed as a typesetter and editor. Seeking new challenges, she set off for Colorado Springs, where she accepted a part-time editorial assistant position with The Numismatist in 1981. Seven years later, she became the first female editor-in-chief in the Association’s history.

The Numismatist thrived under Gregory’s leadership, transforming from a black-and-white digest to a full-color, award-winning magazine. In 2015 she surpassed Frank Duffield, who led the publication from 1915 to 1942, as the longest-serving ANA editor. Aside from educating and entertaining hobbyists, she felt her most important responsibility was supporting the membership. She gladly accepted articles from new writers and helped them look their best. With the change to the magazine’s large format in 2003, she made the publication more personal by validating readers’ interests and encouraging them to expand their hobby horizons.

A fan of classic cinema, Gregory has assembled one of the largest and most complete collections of movie tokens. She has received the ANA’s

Edward C. Rochette Staff Service Award (2007); two Presidential Awards (1995, 2019); and two Heath Literary Awards (1992, 1996). Numismatic News named her a Numismatic Ambassador (2004); the Numismatic Literary Guild presented her its highest honor, the Clemy Award (2006); and the Central States Numismatic Society bestowed upon her its Sower Award (2020). A proud member of the Rittenhouse Society, Gregory remains active in numismatic publishing.

A respected and enthusiastic author and cataloger, Dick Johnson devoted his energy to the study of 20th-century American medallic art and technology. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2930, he graduated from Rosedale High School and briefly attended Baker University in Baldwin before joining the U.S. Air Force in 1950. During the Korean War, he was assigned to the National Security Agency.

Johnson developed an interest in numismatics and in 1951 attended his first national coin convention, held in New York City. There, he and several other young collectors formed the Rittenhouse Society. He went on to co-found the Middle Atlantic Numismatic Association, and, along with numismatist Walter Breen, edited its publication. In 1954 he enrolled at Washington University in St. Louis, where he pursued a degree in business administration. While in school, Johnson was president of the St. Louis Numismatic Society and was appointed to the Central States Numismatic Society’s board of directors. (In 1962 the latter awarded him its Medal of Merit.)

In 1960 Amos Press asked Johnson to help the Ohio publishing company start a weekly hobby newspaper, Coin World. He remained on staff for 18 months, not long after which he was hired as director of research for Medallic Art Company (MACO) in New York City. He cataloged its products, issued press releases, and edited the firm’s newsletter, The Art Medallist.

Johnson was heavily involved in MACO’s work for the 1976 American Bicentennial. The firm struck its first medal for the milestone celebration in 1972 and moved to a new facility in Danbury, Connecticut, in June of that year. After the event, MACO’s sales dropped, production lagged and staff was cut, leading Johnson to purchase 64,000 medals from the company’s stock.

That inventory was just what he needed to launch a medallic art dealership with fellow enthusiast Chris Jensen. The pair, doing business as Johnson & Jensen, conducted 27 successful auctions from 1978 to 1985, offering 27,000 lots of American art medals and related items to an eager collector base.

In 1987 Johnson became executive director of Collectors Auctions, Ltd., a position he held until 1990, when he retired from sales to write about the medallic art field. In 2012 he received the Carl Carlson Award for Cataloging from the Medal Collectors of America.

The American Numismatic Association is a congressionally chartered, nonprofit educational organization dedicated to encouraging the study and collection of coins and related items. The ANA helps its nearly 28,000 members and the public discover and explore the world of money through its vast array of educational and outreach programs as well as its museum, library, publications, and conventions. For more information, call 719-632-2646 or visit money.org.

Meet Team Ireland: The athletes going for Paralympic gold in Tokyo

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With the 2020 Paralympic Games due to start on Wednesday, here’s all you need to know about the athletes who will be flying the Irish flag with pride in Tokyo.

ARCHERY

KERRIE LEONARD

Age: 30. Hometown: Culmullen, Co Meath

Coach: Jim Conroy

Classification: W2 Event: Compound Women Open

Schedule: Ranking Round 27/08

Kerrie took up archery seriously after meeting her coach, two-time Olympic archer Jim Conroy who is also from

Meath. She first competed for Ireland in 2012, took a break and returned to the sport in 2014 when her performance at the European Championships was so poor that she determined not to let it define her. A year later she was ninth in the World Championships and she won silver in the 2016 European Championships when she came very close to qualifying for the Rio Paralympics. With no European Championships possible this year it was amalgamated into the final Paralympic Qualifier in July where she finished fifth in the World Qualifier and sixth in the European qualifier, earning her a bipartite slot for Tokyo.

Kerrie has a degree in Equine Business from NUI Maynooth.

In 2020 she took leave from her job with Facebook to train fulltime but the year delay meant she returned and combined fulltime work (online) with training this year.

Kerrie is a wheelchair user since being paralysed from the waist down after a fall from a tractor on the family farm in May 1997 when she was six. From March to October she trains outdoors at home on a tarmac driveway but she also has a simulator that she can use to train indoors.

ATHLETICS

ORLA COMERFORD

Age: 23

Hometown: Howth, Co Dublin

Coach: Brian Corcoran & Mick Hynes

Club: Raheny Shamrock AC

Classification: T13

Disability Group: Vision impaired

Event: T13 100m

PB: 12:55 (2016). SB: 12.65

Schedule: T13 100m Final 31.08 Orla started running with her club Raheny Shamrock when she was just six. She was just 18 when she made her Paralympics debut in Rio where she ran 12.81 seconds in her heat to qualify for the T13 100m final where she finished eighth.

In 2017 she was sixth in the final of the World Championships in London and, a year later won two bronze medals (100/200m) at the European Champions but her progress since has been seriously hampered by injury.

Ankle (left) surgery in 2019 and related biomechanical problems meant she’s had to totally overhaul her technique and had a lengthy rehab. She was resigned to targeting Paris in 2024 as her next major but qualified for Rio by running 12.65 seconds at the City of Lisburn meet in May, her first race in three years. Orla has Stargardt’s disease, a degenerative condition that affects her central vision. She is a student of fine art and media at the National College of Art & Design (NCAD) but, after surgery in 2019, deferred her final semester until after her second Paralympics.

MARY FITZGERALD

Age: 22 (11/08/1999)

Hometown: Callan, Co Kilkenny

Coach: John McCarthy

Club: Gowran AC

Classification: F40

Disability Group: Les Autres

Event: F40 shot put

PB: 8:12m

Schedule: F40 Shot Put Final 04.09

Mary first encountered throwing through an induction day with the Irish Wheelchair Association when she was 11 and immediately fell in love with it. She is a person of small stature and competed in the World Dwarf Games in Michigan in 2013. She was selected to join Paralympic Ireland’s High Performance squad in 2019 and first represented them at a grand prix in Grossetto before competing in the 2019 World Championships in Dubai and since then has added on two metres to her personal best.

She comes into Tokyo in the best form of her life. She won bronze at the European Championships in Bydgoszcz (Poland) in June with a throw of 7.35. She went on to record throws of 7.44m and 7.85m this summer and, on August 8, at the Munster IWA Championships in Templemore (Co Tipperary) finally broke the world-class 8-metre barometer in her event. Her new PB of 8:12m puts her fourth in the world rankings.

Cork-based John McCarthy, who has also coached Niamh McCarthy, is her coach. After making her Paralympics debut Mary will start the final year of her Occupational Therapy studies in University College Cork where she receives a Quercus Scholarship for her academic/sport achievements.

Twitter: _MaryFitzG

Instagram: maryfitzgerald

JORDAN LEE

Age: 21 (DOB 01/07/2000)

Hometown: Killarney, Co Kerry

Coach: Tomas Griffin

Club: Killarney Valley AC

Classification: T47

Disability Group: Les Autres

Event: T47 High Jump

PB: 1:95m. SB: 1:87m

Schedule: T47 High Jump Final 29.08

Jordan, who was born with a foreshortened left arm, was a sporting ground-breaker even before he turned to Para athletics because, in his teens, he was the first one-handed player to play basketball for Ireland.

A chance meeting with Jason Smyth at a disability conference persuaded him to try other sports at a Paralympic Ireland Expo. He started practising high jump at his local track where his coach Tomas Griffin, a former sprinter and long jumper, spotted him and offered to coach him. Jordan first competed in an Irish athletics’ vest in 2017 after just four months of training for high jump and, within a year, he had won a bronze medal at the 2018 European Championships. He finished sixth at the 2019 Worlds Championship and fourth at this year’s European Championships in Poland in June.

His personal best of 1:95m dates from the Irish National Championships (able-bodied) in 2019 and the European record in his event is 1:97m so he is not far off it.

He jumped his season best of 1:87m in the European final and that ranks him 11th in the world this year in his event. He is studying Health and Leisure in Adapted Physical Activity on a part-time basis at the Institute of Technology, Tralee to allow him concentrate on training and this is his first Paralympics.

Twitter: JordanpLee23

Instagram: Jordanplee23

NIAMH McCARTHY

Age: 27 (DOB 04/01/1994)

Hometown: Carrigaline, Co Cork

Coach: Alison O’Riordan

Club: Leevale AC

Classification: F40

Disability Group: Les Autres

Event: F40 Discus

PB: 32.67m. SB: 31.18m

Schedule: F41 Discus Final 01.09

Niamh was one of Ireland’s sensational ‘Rebel Treble’ of medal-winning discus throwers from Cork in Rio 2016, winning F41 discus silver on her Paralympic debut with her penultimate throw of 26.67m.

That came less than three years after she was first identified through a Paralympics Ireland talent ID day but she had already demonstrated her talent by winning bronze at the 2015 World Championships.

She has since won four more major medals, including silver at the 2017 World Championships, gold at the 2018 European Championships (with a new European record of 31.76m) and bronze at the 2019 World Championships.

This year she retained her European title in Poland in June with a throw of 30.03m and her throw of 31.18m in Dublin in June puts her third in the world rankings. Alison O’Riordan, who is Paralympic Ireland’s throws coach since late 2019, is now her technical coach and, as well as training at Leevale AC Niamh now has a throws circle in her local GAA club for training.

To facilitate her training Niamh works part-time for Dell in Cork. She is also an avid sky-diver.

Twitter: niamhmacdiscus

Instagram: niamhmacdiscus

MICHAEL McKILLOP

Age: 31 (DOB 27/01/1990)

Hometown: Cushendall, Co Antrim

Coach: Paddy McKillop

Club: LSt Malachy’s AC

Classification: T37

Disability Group: Cerebral Palsy

Event: T37 1500m

PB: 3:51.74 (2013). SB: 4:06.33

Schedule: T37/38 1500m Heat 03.09,

T37/38 1500m Final 04.09

This is Michael’s 16th season in the Irish vest and he has already won 12 medals at major championships. They include four Paralympic golds in his three Games to date; 800m in 2008, a 800m/1500m double in 2012 and 1500m gold in 2016 (in 4:12.11) when the 800m was removed from the programme.

The first medal of Michael’s glittering career was 800m gold at the 2006 World Championships. He has since added five more world titles, including double golds in 2015 and 2017 and was a double European champion in 2014. But a groin injury that needed surgery in 2018 side-lined him for a full year.

He returned in time for the 2019 World Championships where he where he narrowly missed out on the podium This year he has shown a return to top form, winning silver in the T38 1500m final at the European Championships where his time of 4:09.85 was also a T37 championship record. His season best time of

4:06.33, run in Belfast in May, has him ranked second in the world ahead of his fourth Paralympic Games.

Michael, who is coached by his school teacher dad Paddy, has also represented Ireland in the European Cross-Country Championships. He is an outspoken advocate for mental health issues after suffering from depression himself and seeking help before the Rio Paralympics. Michael and Kenya’s Mary Nakhumicha Zakayo received the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award – for best exemplifying the best spirit of

the Games - at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Paralympics. He married Nicole Martin in November 2018.

Twitter: @TeamMcKillop

Instagram: teammckillop

PATRICK MONAHAN

Age: 35 (DOB 14/01/1986)

Hometown: Caragh, Co Kildare

Coach: Mark Rohan

Club: Le Cheile AC

Classification: T54

Disability Group: Spinal cord injury

Event: T54 marathon

PB: 1:22.23 (2019)

Schedule: T54 Marathon 05.09

A car accident in 2007 left Pat in the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) for three months and a wheelchair user since but, since his first marathon, in Dublin, in 2013 which he completed in two hours and 38 minutes, he has become world-class.

He trains on the roads in his native Kildare but also in nearby Mondello Park, Ireland’s premier car-racing track. In June 2019 Pat set a massive new PB by breaking one hour and 23 minutes in Duluth, Minnesota. It is a notoriously fast course but it knocked over six and a half minutes off his PB. That ranked him five minutes faster than anyone else in the world in the T53 class and also fourth fastest in the world in the less impaired T54 class that season.

Pat made his Paralympic debut in Rio in 2016 where he finished 16th and in Tokyo will once again be one of very few T53 athletes competing in the T54 ‘mixed’ marathon, which takes place on the final day of competition.

Ireland’s hand-cycling Paralympic champion Mark Rohan has coached him for the past year but getting races has proved very problematic due to COVID. His last marathon was in

Dubai in January 2020 where he recorded a time of 1:34.55.

In the past year Pat has returned to college as a mature student and is studying Community and Youth Development at the Technical University of Blanchardstown.

Twitter: PaMonahan1986

Instagram: patrickmonahan86

JASON SMYTH

Age: 34 (DOB 04/07/1987)

Hometown: Eglington, Co Derry

Coach: Tom Reynolds and Stephen Maguire

Club: Derry Track Club

Classification: T13

Disability Group: Vision Impairment

Event: T13 100m

PB: 10:46 seconds (Paralympic record, London 2012). SB: 10.63

Schedule: T13 100m Heat and Final 29.08

Jason is the fastest Paralympian of all-time and still holds the World and Paralympic records in T13 100m (10:46) and 200m (21.05), which he set at the London Paralympics in

2012. He won double T13 sprint gold on his Paralympic debut in Beijing 2008, retained them in London and in Rio, with the T13 200m removed from the programme, still dominated the 100m , leaving him chasing a sixth crown in Tokyo in his fourth Paralympic Games.

Jason competes in T13 because he has Stargardt’s disease, which affects his central vision. His 10:22 time from 2011 also makes him the second fastest Irishman of all-time.

That was just four hundredths of a second outside Olympic qualification, thwarting his ambition to compete in both the Olympics and Paralympics. In 2010 he was the first Para athlete to compete in the European (able-bodied) Championships where he narrowly missed making the final.

On top of his five Paralympic titles Jason has also won eight World Championship golds, six European titles and a World Indoor 60m crown in 2006.

Since Rio 2016 he has won the European title in 2018 and the World title in 2019. He noticeably ran a season best of 10.63 at the Northern Ireland Championships, just 100th of a second slower than his fastest time in Rio 2016. Since May 2016 Jason has been based back in Northern

Ireland where he lives outside Belfast with his wife Elise and two daughters Evie (5) and Lottie (3).at the Technical University of Blanchardstown.

Twitter: smyth_jason

GRETA STREIMIKYTE

Age: 25 (24/08/1995)

Hometown: Bettystown, Co Dublin

Coach: Feidhlim Kelly

Club: Clonliffe Harriers

Classification: T13

Disability Group: Vision Impairment

Event: T13 1500m

PB: 4:29.33 (2021)

Schedule: T13 1500m Final 28.08

Tokyo will be Greta’s second Paralympic Games. She made

her international debut in 2015 and followed it quickly with

a European bronze medal in 2016. She was fourth in the T13 1500m final on her Paralympic debut in Rio in what was then a personal best of 4:45.06.

Since then she has won gold at the 2018 and 2021 European Championships. She credits her PE teacher Sean Gallagher for encouraging her to start running and coach Enda Fitzpatrick for bringing her to international standard.

Disappointed at only finishing fifth at the 2019 World Championships, she switched to train with the Dublin Track Club where she is coached by Feidhlim Kelly and trains with a group of current Olympians. Greta’s times have made a huge leap this season when she knocked a whopping nine seconds off her 2018 PB. She ran 4:32.15 in May, retained her European title in Poland in early June with a new T13 European record of 4:29.38 and went on to lower it further, to 4:29.33, at the AAI Games in the same month.

That time ranks her number one in the world in her event. She competes in T13 because she has retinopathy with only vision in her left eye. Her family moved from Lithuania to Swords (Co Dublin) when she was 15 and she is a triplet. She has a degree in International Relations from DCU where she also obtained a Masters in Business Management in 2019.

She works, two days a-week, for AIB to facilitate her training. The opening ceremony of the 2020 Paralympics coincides with Greta’s 26th birthday.

Twitter: streimitkyte

Instagram: streimikyte

CANOEING

PATRICK O’LEARY

Age: 48 (DOB 17/10/1972)

Hometown: Moycullen, Galway (born in Cork)

Coach: Neil Fleming

Classification: KL3/VL3

Disability Group: Amputee

Event: KL3 200m, VL3 200m

Schedule: KL3 Hats 02.09, Semi Final 03.09, Final 04.09

VL3 Heats 02.09, Final 03.09

Pat made history in Rio 2016 as Ireland’s first ever Paralympic paddler where he finished sixth in the KL3 final. When a new VL3 event was introduced in 2018 he decided to continue his Paralympic career. He describes va’a canoeing as “a completely different skillset” because you only have one paddle but he has proven an exceptionally quick learner.

He reached the VL3 final at the 2019 World Championships and, in June 2021, became European VL3 champion in Poznan, Poland where he also made the KL3 final.

Pat first represented Ireland in canoe-polo and took up para-canoeing in April 2011, just five months after having his leg amputated for medical reasons. Coached by former Irish

international Neil Fleming and a member of Galway Kayak Club he is a regular finalist at World and European level in both the KL and VL3 200. He has a doctorate in organic chemistry in which he lectures at NUI Galway. He is married to Jude and has two sons Sean and Joe.

Twitter: eentjebeen

CYCLING

RONAN GRIMES

Age: 32 (DOB 24/12/1988)

Hometown: Athenry, Co Galway

Coach: Neil Delahaye

Club: Orwell Wheelers

Classification: C4

Event: Track: Kilo & Individual Pursuit. Road: Road Race and Time-Trial

World Rankings: 5th track (2020)/8th road (2021)

Schedule: C4-5 1000m Time Trial 26.08

C5 4000m Individual Pursuit 27:08

C5 Time Trial 31.08

C4-5 Road Race 03.09

Ronan was born with a club left foot and initially took up cycling for transport during his student days. He joined Orwell Wheelers in 2014 but only discovered para-cycling in 2016 and made his Irish debut at the World Road Championships in South Africa in 2017. He has won a World Championship medal in each of the last three years. In 2019 he won world track silver in the Scratch (non-Paralympic event).

In 2020 he won bronze in the Individual Pursuit (track) and this year he won bronze in the Road Race at the World Road Race Championships in Portugal in June (despite crashing during it) and was also fourth in the Time Trial. He is an endurance rider and is targeting the Pursuit & TT in particular.

Ronan has a Masters in Pharmacy and a PhD in health services research. He is based in Dublin where he works for the Irish medicines regulatory board (HPRA). Testing the safety of COVID vaccines meant he was particularly busy in work from late 2020 onwards and, in late Spring 2021, he took a leave of absence to train fulltime.

Twitter: ronantg

MARTIN GORDON (STOKER)

Age: 36 (DOB 18/03/1985)

Hometown: Sligo Town, Co Sligo

Coach: Pete Mitchell

Club: Black Line (UK)

Classification: MB Tandem

Event: Track: 1km Time Trial. Road: Time-Trial

World Ranking: 12th track (2020)

EAMONN BYRNE (PILOT)

Age: 37 (DOB 13/03/1984)

Hometown: Coolock, Co Dublin

Coach: Pete Mitchell

Club: Black Line

Martin played rugby and soccer in his youth before he suddenly lost his sight in 2002, caused by retina detachment related to a pre-existing condition. He initially cycled in endurance events but physiological tests indicated sprinting would suit him best.

He and Eamonn became a tandem pair in the wake of the Rio Paralympics and first competed for Ireland in 2017. Their last competition was the 2020 World Track Championships where they were fifth in the Sprint race and 10th in the 1km Time Trial.

With no World Championships in 2021 they secured their place in Tokyo by delivering strong performances during selection trials on an Irish team track camp in March 2021.

Martin lives in Stoneybatter with his partner Louise and daughter Nora (5) and is a barrister who works as in-house counsel for the Garda Siochana.

Eamonn took up rowing when he joined the Gardai and, in 2012, switched to cycling and won a national title in his first year. He has won several Irish Elite track titles in sprint disciplines but,

since becoming Martin’s pilot, has concentrated most of his energies on their partnership. He has taken leave from his job (a garda based in Malahide) this year to prepare for Tokyo. He shares a birthday with Martin’s guide dog Juno.

Twitter: The Flash G Instagram: irish.sprint.tandem

Twitter: Eamonnbyrn Instagram: irish.sprint.tandem

GARY O’REILLY

Age: 28 (DOB 10/05/1993)

Hometown: Portlaoise, Co Laois

Coach: Ralf Lindschulten

Club: Laois CC

Classification: H5 handcycling

Event: Road only: Time-Trial and Road Race

World Ranking: 5th road (2021)

Schedule: H5 Time Trial 31.08

H5 Road Race 01.09

Gary broke his back in a work-place accident in 2014.

Getting fit through cycling has helped him progress to using crutches now, only using wheelchair for longer distances and he has made remarkably quick progress in international handcycling. He had no interest in sport before his accident and initially took part in wheelchair basketball and rugby.

A chance meeting with Irish teammate Declan Slevin at a basketball game led him towards handcycling and he started ompeting in the National League in 2017. In his first World Road Championships in 2019 he finished sixth.

This year he won bronze in the Time Trial at the World Road Championships (Portugal) in June where he was also fourth in the Road Race. He is a fulltime athlete.

Instagram: garyo93

RICHAEL TIMOTHY

Age: 26 (DOB: 27/04/1995)

Hometown: Ballymore, Co Roscommon

Coach: Neill Delahaye

Club: Castlerea CC

Classification: C3

Disability Group: Vision Impairment

Event: Track: 500m Time-Trial/3km Pursuit. Road: Road Race & Time-Trial

World Rankings: 4th track (2020) and 7th road (2021)

Schedule: C1-C3 Individual Pursuit 25.09

C1-C3 500m Time Trial 27.08

C1-C3 Time Trial 31.08

C1-C3 Road Race 03.09

Richael played schoolgirl soccer for Ireland (U15 and U17) alongside current Irish captain Katie McCabe) and gaelic for Roscommon until her football career was ended by an acquired brain injury. It was caused by treatment for a rare condition known as HHT (Hereditary Hemorrhagic

Telangiectasia) which affects veins and arteries. It left her with just 30 per cent power in her left leg but she has made remarkably quick progress since taking up cycling.

She made her Irish debut in 2017 and won her first international medal at the Manchester Para-Cycling

International in December 2019, winning silver in the Scratch race and knocking 17 seconds off her Pursuit PB. She won bronze at the 2020 World Track Championships in the non-Olympic Scratch event in 2020 and this year came fourth (Road Race) and fifth (Time Trial) at the World Road Championships in Estoril in early June. Richael has a degree in sports science from Athlone IT.

She worked with the Roscommon Sports Partnership and is doing a Masters in Performance Coaching with Setanta College but deferred her work and studies in April 2021 to concentrate on Paralympic preparation.

Twitter: richael_t

Instagram: RichaelT

EQUESTRIAN

TAMSIN ADDISON

Age: 48 (05/02/1973)

Hometown: Radnage, Buckinghamshire

Coach: Joyce Fearn

Horse: Fahrenheit (10 year old Danish Warm Blood,

bay gelding)

Classification: Grade V

Disability Group: Right arm impaired muscle power

Event: Individual Test & Team Test*. (She will also compete in the Freestyle if she finishes in the top 8 in Individual Test)

Schedule: Grade V Individual Test 26.08

Team Test 28.08

Grade V Individual Freestyle 30.08 Tamsin, who is born and based in England, became the first person in the world to regrow a bone in her upper arm (humerus) after being diagnosed with cancer when she was 21. A former event rider, she has competed for Ireland in para-dressage since 2014 and has had Fahrenheit since 2017.

They first gave notice of their potential by winning in Bishop Burton that year and since then are regular podium finishers on the international three star circuit. Most notable was winning the individual team title in Keysoe in 2019 where they also took silver in the individual. Tamsin was also ninth at the 2019 European Championships on another horse and is ranked in the world’s top 15 in para-dressage.

She competes for Ireland thanks to her husband Micheál O’Donoghue from Dundalk. She met him while studying at Queens University in Belfast (where she obtained a PhD) and lived in Ireland for the best part of eight years. Addison runs a livery and equine rehab yard (Radnage House Stables) which is home to 28 horses, as well as her qualifications in sports psychology and marketing.in the Road Race. He is a fulltime athlete.

Twitter: tamsin_addison

Instagram: tamsinaddisonparadressage

ROSEMARY GAFFNEY

Age: 62

Hometown: Clonmel, Co Tipperary

Coach: Sue Smallman

Horse: Werona (12 year-old Dutch warmblood mare).

Classification: Grade IV

Disability Group: Lower limbs impaired muscle power

Event: Individual Test*. (*She will also compete in the Freestyle

if she finishes in the top 8 in Individual Test)

Schedule: Grade IV Individual Test 26.09

Team Test 28.08

Grade IV Individual Freestyle 30.08 Rosemary is particularly delighted to make her Paralympic debut in Tokyo after being Ireland’s ‘reserve’ for London 2012 and Rio 2016. She has ridden since she was five but two major accidents have twice threatened her riding career.

She has had Werona only three years but they immediately clicked, winning the individual, team and freestyle Grade IV in the Keysoe three star in 2019, scoring 74% in the latter in what was only their third major international together. They were also third in three star events in Hartpury and Waregem in 2019 before Covid disrupted international competition.

An accident while mounting her horse in 2007 shattered

Rosemary’s knee, tibia and fibula. It took her two years to return to competitive riding and she moved to compete in para-dressage. In 2014 she suffered an even worse fall, breaking 40 bones in her other leg that necessitated six operations in 10 days, yet she returned to compete, initially graded in Grade III. COVID restrictions gave her time to work on her partnership with Werona but it made her regular work, as the long-time Course Director of Kildalton Equine College in Kilkenny, harder because all her classes had to be taught online.

Instagram: rosemary.gaffney1

KATE KERR HORAN

Age: 28 (DOB 10/11/1992)

Hometown: Tinahely, Co Wicklow

Coach: Donie McNamara

Horse: Serafina T (10 year-old mare, dark brown)

Classification: Grade III

Disability Group: Impaired muscle power

Event: Individual Test & Team Test.* (*She will also compete

in the Freestyle if she makes the top 8 in the Individual Test)

Schedule: Grade III Individual Test 27.08

Team Test 28.08

Grade III Individual Freestyle 30.08 This is Kate’s first Paralympics and she has been partnering Serafina for three years. She has been on the Irish High Performance team since 2011, was ninth in the World Equestrian Games in 2014 and finished eighth at the European Championships in 2017. This partnership had a brilliant 2019, placing high in three star competitions in Doha, Waregem, Kronenberg and Hartpury before making the podium in Keysoe where they scored their PB of 71% in the Freestyle. Kate broke her wrist at the start of 2020 and then Covid intervened and limited their international competitions since. Even though she was in Wicklow and her coach was in Limerick they managed to work ‘live’ together through the use of technology.

When Kate was a toddler she was found unconscious in the family’s fields, possibly kicked by a horse. Her parents were told she might not walk again and she spent a year in the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH). She needed a tracheostomy (pieces of her ribs were inserted into her vocal chords) to help her breath until she was 11 and is weaker on

her left side.

Yet she recovered not only to ride but to compete in ablebodied and para-dressage. She has a degree in Equine

Business from NUI Maynooth, is a qualified riding instructor and helps her mother Pam run their family business, the Broomfield Equestrian Centre.

MICHAEL MURPHY

Age: 24 (DOB 22/04/1997)

Hometown: St Barnet, West London

Coach: Elder Klatzko

Horse: Clever Boy (14 year-old warm blood, black gelding)

Classification: Grade I

Disability Group: Peripheral neuropathy (impairment

group: impaired muscle power).

Event: Test & Team Test.*

Schedule: Grade I Individual Test 27.08

Team Test 28.08

Grade I Individual Freestyle Test 30.08

Michael qualified for Tokyo on his previous horse (Skjoldsgaard Hipp-vo) with whom he was 12th at the 2019 European Championships. He says COVID restrictions actually helped him as it made him focus on getting and working with a Paralympic-quality horse. He first competed for Ireland in the Hartpury three star in 2018, a big moment as he was returning to the sport for the first time in three years, after struggling with motivation after the loss of his eldest brother James in a kayaking accident in New Zealand in 2015. Michael has only partnered ‘Clever Boy’ (aka ‘Charlie) in the past year but they’ve already excelled. They dominated their class, with a string of first places, at this year’s Munich and Hartpury three star events and scored a PB of 82% in the Freestyle in Hartpury. Michael is a permanent wheelchair user. He was born, in London, with a rare progressive disorder called Dejerine- Sottas (a peripheral neuropathy which lessens reflexes, sensation, muscle tone and motor control). He had a double spinal fusion when he was 14 and is a permanent wheelchair user. He graduated with a biology degree from the University of Warwick last year and works as an environmental advisor for a large construction company in London. His grandmother is from Belfast, his grandfather is from Cork and, in 2012, Michael was a torch bearer on one of the relay legs for the London Olympics

Instagram: michael_murphy_dressage

POWERLIFTING

BRITNEY ARENDSE

Age: 21 (DOB: 17/12/1999)

Hometown: Mullagh, Co Cavan

Coach: Roy Guerin

Classification:

Event: 73kg

Schedule: 73kg Para Powerlifting 29.08

Britney is one of Paralympic Ireland’s youngest team

members in Tokyo and also a very ‘young’ athlete within her sport. She got the qualification standard for Tokyo in two weights – 67kg and 73kg - and her Paralympic ranking is seventh at 73kg. In 2018, in only her second year lifting, she produced three lifetime bests at the Asia and Oceania Championships in Japan to set a new 73kg world junior record of 89 kilos, which won the bronze medal in the junior category and fourth overall.

She was later upgraded to senior bronze due to an opponent failing a drugs test, which added a senior medal on top of her two junior wins in continental championships that season, including the European junior title. In 2019 she broke her world junior record with 100 kilos at the Hungarian World Cup securing senior bronze and junior gold and later increased it to 102 kilos in Kazakhstan.

Lockdown proved difficult for Britney because of the lack of access to gyms but she was undeterred and set up a gym in the family’s spare room.

Britney was five when her parents moved to Ireland from South Africa and only nine when she became paraplegic, due to a horrific car accident which left her in hospital and rehab for almost a full year. Her first wheelchair sport was basketball and it was at a basketball blitz that powerlifting was first suggested to her.

Twitter: britney.arendse

Twitter: BritneyArendse

SWIMMING

PATRICK FLANAGAN

Age:

Hometown: Rosses Point, Co Sligo

Coach: David Malone

Classification: S6

Disability Group: Spina Bifida

Event: S6 100m Backstroke, S6 400m Freestyle

PBs: 400m Freestyle 5:33:48

100m Backstroke 1:25:47

Schedule: S6 400m Freestyle 02.09

S6 100m Backstroke 03.09

Patrick grew up in Longford Town (his family only moved to Sligo in 2016) where he developed with the local swimming club which has also produced Tokyo Olympian Darragh Green. While in college in Dublin he moved to train with the national elite squad in Abbottstown. He was pipped for a medal in the 400 IM at the World Para Swimming Allianz European Championships that were hosted in Dublin in 2018. Patrick made the 400m freestyle final of the 2021 European Championships in Madeira (6th or was this a heat?) and was 11th overall in the 100m Backstroke. Patrick qualified with a degree in economics and finance from UCD (where he received an Ad Astra scholarship) in June 2021.

Twitter: PatrickFlan

Instagram: _thewheeldeal

ELLEN KEANE

Age: 26 (DOB 06/04/1995)

Hometown: Clontarf, Dublin

Coach: David Malone

Classification: SB8/9

Disability Group: Amputee

Events: SB8 100m Breaststroke, SM9 200m Individual

Medley (IM)

PB: 1:22.00, 2:39.36, SB: 1:23.38, 2:39.36,

Schedule: 100m Breaststroke 26.08

SM9 200m Individual Medley 01.09

Ellen, a bronze medallist in Rio 2016, is competing in her fourth Paralympic Games in Tokyo. She is an all-rounder who competed in four events in 2016 but her best events are 100m Breaststroke and 200m Individual Medley (IM)/ Ellen was aged just 13 when she debuted at Beijing 2008 and finished sixth in the 100m Breaststroke final. In London 2021 she reached three finals and was fifth in the 100m Butterfly.

In Rio 2016 she won bronze in the SB8 100m Breaststroke and reached two other finals - S9 100m Butterfly and S9 100m Backstroke final – and recorded lifetime bests in both. In 2018, in her home town, Ellen became European champion at SB8 100m Breaststroke and also won bronze in the Individual Medley Ellen has also won four bronze medals at World Championships - most recently at SB8 100m Breaststroke in 2019 (London) where she was also sixth in the SM9 200m IM final. Since Rio 2016 Ellen has graduated from DIT with a degree in culinary entrepreneurship from DIT. She trains fulltime at the National Aquatic Centre (NAC) in Abbotstown.

Twitter: keane_ellen

Instagram: keane _ellen

ROISÍN NÍ RIAIN

Age: 16 (DOB 07/05/2005)

Hometown: Drombanna, Co Limerick

Coach: John Szaranek

Classification: S13

Disability Group: Visually impaired

Events: S13 100m Backstroke, S13 100m Butterfly, SB13 100m Breaststroke, S13 50m & 400m Freestyle, SM13 200m Individual Medley (IM)

PB: 50m Free 28.77, 100m Back 1:09.37, 100m Butterfly 1:11.25, 400m Free 4:43.88, 200m IM 2:33.82

Schedule: S13 100m Butterfly 25.08 S13 100m Backstroke 26.08 S13 400m Freestyle 27.08 S14 50m Freestyle 29.08 SM13 200m Individual Medley 30.08 SB 13 100m Breaststroke 01.09

Roisin, from Limerick Swimming Club, is Paralympic Ireland’s youngest athlete in the Tokyo Paralympics. She announced her arrival on the world stage with a string of impressive swims at the World Para Swimming Series in Lignano Sabbiadoro in Italy in late 2020. She made her championship debut at the European Championships in Madeira in May 2021 where she won a bronze medal in the S13 backstroke in 1:09:37. She also made five other European finals and was fourth in 100m freestyle (1:02.72) and 100m breaststroke PB 1:22.37 where she was just narrowly beaten for a medal. Other events were 6th in 50m free (28:93), 6th in 100m butterfly 1:11.25 and ? in 400m freestyle final. Roisin has just completed Transition Year in all-Irish secondary school Gaelcholaiste Luimnigh. She is the eldest in her family and has three younger sisters, including twins.

BARRY McCLEMENTS

Age: 19 (DOB 06/12/2001)

Hometown: Comber, Co Down

Coach: Davy Johnston

Club: Ards SC

Classification: S9

Disability Group: Amputee

Event: S9 100m Butterfly, S9 100m Backstroke, S9 400m

Freestyle, SM9 200mIM/

PBS: 1:07.41, 1:02.26, 4:28.75, 2:27.18

SBS: 1:07.41, 1:02.26, 4:28.75, 2:27.18

Schedule: S9 400m Freestyle 25.08, S9 100m Backstroke

30.08, SM9 200m IM 01.09, S9 100m Fly 02.09

Barry trains with Ards SC in Bangor and made his debut for Team Ireland at the 2016 European Championships when he was just 14. He was also just two seconds off qualifying for the Rio Paralympics in the 400m freestyle. In 2018, aged 16, he made the S9 finals in 100m freestyle and backstroke at the Commonwealth Games. He also made two finals at the 2018 European Championships in Dublin, finishing fifth in 100m butterfly and 6th in 400m freestyle.

In the 2019 World Championships he narrowly missed making the 100m butterfly and 400m freestyle finals and butterfly is his preferred stroke. Barry broke one minute for the first time for 100m freestyle (59.81) at the Irish Trials in April 2021 He has a diploma in Sports & Exercise Science from Bangor SERC and, after Tokyo, wants to train to become a swimming teacher.

Twitter: barry63527855

Instagram: barrymcc10

NICOLE TURNER

Age: 19 (DOB 14/06/2002)

Hometown: Portarlington, Co Laois

Coach: David Malone

Classification: S6

Disability Group: Hypocondroplasia

Event: S6 50m Butterfly, SB6 100m Breaststroke, S6 50m

Freestyle

PBS: 36:42, 1:42.45, 35:56

SBS: 37:04, 1:42:45, 35:56

Schedule: 50m Freestyle 25.08

SB6 100m Breaststroke 28.08

S6 50m Fly 30.08

Nicole won a silver medal in the Youth category of the British Internationals on her senior international debut in 2015 and went on to reach six finals and swim PBs in each at that year’s World Championships in Glasgow.

In 2016 she won three medals (two silver and one bronze) at the European Championships and, despite her youth (age 14), reached five finals at the Paralympics in Rio, where her best placing was fifth in the S6 50m butterfly. In 2018 she won silver in 50m butterfly in the European Championships in Dublin. In 2019 she won bronze in 50m butterfly at the World Championships in London. In 2021 she won medals in all four of her events at the European Championships in Madeira; silver in 50m butterfly and 100m breaststroke and bronze in 50m freestyle and 200m IM individual medley. Nicole started swimming with Portarlington Piranhas before moving to Laois Marlins in Portlaoise. She moved to train with Ireland’s top swimmers at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin in 2017. In 2019, after completing transition year, she deferred her secondary school studies to train fulltime for Tokyo. Nicole was the flagbearer for Team Ireland at the Rio Paralympics closing ceremony.

Instagram: nicky_18

SHOOTING

PHILIP EAGLESHAM

Age: 39 (26/10/1981)

Hometown: Dungannon, Co Tyrone

Coach: Sean Baldwin

Classification: SH2B

Event: 10m Air Rifle Standing (R4), 10m Air Rifle prone (R5)

and Mixed Rifle Prone (R9)

Schedule: SH2 R4 30.08

SH2 R5 01.09

SH2 R9 04.09

This is Philip’s second Paralympics. He competed in the 10m Air Rifle prone in Rio 2016, an indoor event where he finished 30th. He has since added the 50m Mixed Rifle Prone, a new Paralympic event which is shot, from a distance of 50 metres using a .22 caliber rifle. It is shot outdoors, so wind and light play a part, making it a very different sport from his 10m precision events but he has taken to it very quickly. In August 2019 Phil became the first Irish para-shooter to qualify for a World Championship final and went on to take bronze in the R9 final in Sydney which earned him the qualifying standard in Tokyo for all three of his events. COVID-19 restrictions have limited his training and competitive opportunities since but he comes to Tokyo after several training camps at a specialist facility in Gibraltar.

Phil, originally from Dungannon and now living in Taunton, Somerset, is an ex-Royal Marine who contacted chronic Q-fever (a severe debilitating disease) while on tour in Afghanistan in 2011. He got involved in shooting in 2015 through the ‘Help For Heroes’ organisation. He has spent the past few years designing a ground-breaking wheelchair called ‘Victor’ to increase accessibility for all wheelchair users. It has variable height and off-road functions, has attracted investment of £700,000 and is now at preproduction stage. He says: “We decided to design something that adapts to the world rather than waiting for the world to adapt to us.” (www.victormobility.com).

TABLE TENNIS

COLIN JUDGE

Age: 26 (DOB: 05/04/1995)

Hometown: Blackrock, Co Dublin

Coach: Gavin Maguire

Classification: TT C3

Disability Group: Three limbs dysmelia (congenital amputation/impairment group: limb deficiency)

Event: TT C3 Singles Table Tennis

World Ranking: 19th

Schedule: C3 Men’s Singles Qualifying 25.08 & 27.08

Quarter Final 27.08

Semi Final 28.08

Final 28.08

Colin, born with only one arm (left) came agonisingly close to qualifying for the 2016 Paralympics and was ranked fourth in the world in Class 2 in 2017. He won the Class 2 European title in 2017 but was reclassified to Class TT3 in May 2018 which significantly increased the numbers and standard of his competitors.

A recipient of an Ad Astra scholarship while he studied in UCD, he took a career break from his job as an actuary with KPMG in 2019 to train fulltime for Tokyo. In 2020 he won double gold (singles and team) at the Polish Open and double bronze (singles and team) at the Spanish Open. He clinched his Paralympic debut by winning a bronze medal at the World Qualifying Tournament in Lasko (Slovenia) in June 2021. Eight-time Paralympian Michael Cunningham is among his training partners in Ireland and he trains in his alma mater St Michael’s College and Blackrock College and competes for the UCD club. To to get more wheelchair opponents Colin trains a lot abroad, regularly bases himself in Bratislava and competes, in able-bodied and wheelchair competitions, for German club TT Frickenhausen.