Contents

• Early life
• Life as a Paralympic athlete
• After the Games

William McQueen competed for Great Britain at the Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Summer Games, winning a gold and a bronze medal.

Early life

William McQueen was born in 1969. His father Don was in the RAF, and the family lived in Brussels. Aged 3, William suffered a stroke and was flown from SHAPE NATO HQ, to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, which would be his home for the next four years. He witnessed the sad end of many young lives here and this had a profound impact on him.

William says of his time in hospital:

My parents visited me once every two months.  We were taught to become as independent as possible, for example, strengthening muscles and limbs with physiotherapy. I hated physiotherapy! It was so repetitive.

Aged 7, William was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. He joined a local karate club, and was happy to discover he enjoyed it more than physiotherapy.

He later returned to Belgium, where he joined the SHAPE Sharks swimming club and learned to swim. Here, he was challenged to jump from the high diving board into the water. An American from the 101^st Airborne Division awarded him with a parachute badge for overcoming his fear to conquer the jump.

At the age of seventeen, Bill joined a disabled swimming group in Fife, Scotland and was asked to enter his first swimming competition. He began to win medals and caught a glimpse of how good he could be if he trained.

Training was very competitive, seven nights a week.  Some nights, I was tired after working eight hours in a warehouse. The more swimming competitions I participated in, the more medals I won. Some nights I would break my personal bests and world records.

Every two weeks, Bill travelled to Darlington, in County Durham. He would train at 7 a.m. for 2-3 hours in the swimming pool in the Dolphin Centre. He’d attend lectures in sport psychology, and then he’d be back in the pool for two more hours of swimming.

The mention of the Paralympic Games in training sessions encouraged Bill to push himself even further, training harder than ever.

Image © Fife Leisure

Life as a Paralympic athlete

Bill was one of 22 swimmers chosen to represent Great Britain at the Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games, one of over 220 athletes in total. Bill says of his experience:

I was excited to have been chosen…The Olympic village is amazing. There are competitors from every country in the world. You hear different languages and accents being spoken. Everything is colourful, and it is a very memorable experience.

On 7 August 1992, Bill celebrated his 23^rd birthday with a gold medal winning performance in the Men’s 50m freestyle S5.

There were three false starts from an Italian and a South African swimmer. I exploded off the diving blocks and was underwater for the first ten metres. I knew when to increase my speed. I slapped the touch board. My world record was 39.5 seconds, a world record lasting over 20 years.

Bill also took third place in the Men’s 4x50m S5 relay with teammates Kevin Walsh, Andrew Stubbs and Mark Butler.

After the Games, Bill's health deteriorated and he was advised to use a wheelchair. He began wearing hearing aids and studied to improve his British Sign Language.

After the Games

Outside of sport, Bill worked with Fife Constabulary as a CCTV operator until his health prevented him. He volunteered with the Royal Auxiliary Air Force at 603 City of Edinburgh Squadron, and he took up pistol shooting.

In 1999, he and his father Don, also established a comprehensive directory called ‘DisabilityWORLD.com’ collating information and websites for disabled people. This directory is no longer in use.

He has recently had the opportunity to train in archery and aspires to compete for Great Britain once again.

Bill is currently studying for a BA (Hons) in history and is considering an MA in sociology. His ambition is to teach people with disabilities and encourage them to achieve their goals and live life. William’s advice to anyone reading this is:

Never give in, everyone is good at something in life. Sport is an excellent way of making friends and discovering yourself.