By PETER DOUGLAS
A GOLD medal dream at this year’s Rio Paralympics is another step closer for Macclesfield super mum Amanda Reynolds.
After she “smashed” her personal best times – and her opposition – at the recent National Championships in Perth, the paracanoeist’s performances will likely see her realise a long-held ambition to represent Australia at the Games.
Reynolds, whose home club is the Sherbrooke Knox Canoe Club, finished first in the (K1 200) KL3 at Champion Lakes, Perth – also winning this class at the Oceania Championships in South Australia earlier this year.
These feats followed her gold medal performance at the 2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Milan, Italy.
The Rio 2016 Paralympics will be held in September this year and Reynolds said she can’t wait.
“Representing your country is the pinnacle of any sport,” she said.
“It’s what we all work towards, to wear the Australian colours and do everyone proud.”
Spurring her on during her journey is her husband Wayne and sons Tyler and Broc, who have played an integral part in her bid for Rio.
“I’m just so grateful for the sacrifices they’ve made so I can do what I do,” she said.
“I work really hard and never up.
“I’m always looking to think outside the box and push a little harder.”
The road to Rio has been far from an easy path for Reynolds.
Previously, she had suffered chronic leg pain for about 20 years due to complications from a dislocated knee.
Subsequently, she had lived with depression, chronic pain and an addiction to prescription drugs.
The mother of two made the decision to undergo elective surgery in 2012 to amputate the lower part of her right leg.
Reynolds’ journey into the sport first started after, on a whim, completing the gruelling Murray Marathon with her friend.
Not long after, it was suggested she try flat-water sprinting and the rest is history.
She later earned a Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship, which offered her invaluable access to elite coaches, sports therapists and nutritionists.
While Reynolds once trained at Auravale and Patterson Lakes, she now trains at elite facilities in the Gold Coast.
The Mail first followed her progress in 2014, when the Paralympics was a far-away dream.
At the time, Reynolds said “getting to where I am now is really surreal”.
“I’ve now got two years to go before Rio and my main goal is to get my times down,” she said.
“This has been a real group effort, it’s not just me doing it on my own, it’s everyone around me that is what’s getting me to where I am.”
