Iron man

Australian Paralympic hero John Maclean rows for the gold this September

Australian John Maclean is different from most of us in that he has swum the English Channel, completed the Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon and raced in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. He is also different from most of us in that he is paraplegic, after being hit by a 12-tonne truck whilst cycling when he was 22.

Now, Maclean, 42, is going for the one thing he hasn’t achieved – a Paralympic gold medal. He will be racing in the mixed TA (trunk and arms) double sculls rowing event with partner Kathryn Ross this September, having only taken up rowing in February 2007. He didn’t meet Ross until last May, when he’d just won the national championships, but the pair have already taken gold medals at world class meets and won silver at last year’s world championships.

In June 1988, Maclean woke up in intensive care, having last remembered being out cycling during training for a triathlon. He was 22 and a professional rugby league player – "I was living my dream and I was on top of the world," he says. "But I woke up and remember thinking that my legs had been amputated because I couldn’t feel anything there – it was a horrific feeling." He had broken his back in three places, his pelvis in four and punctured both lungs; in all, he had broken 17 bones. "At first I felt that my life had been shattered, but my mindset changed when I was moved from intensive care into a general ward. Other guys there had broken their necks and couldn’t do anything – I realised that I was not only lucky to be alive, but lucky that I could still use my body."

After leaving hospital, Maclean hit the gym and starting doing sports like kayaking with old friends. "My drive was to be seen as equal to other people," he says. "And having experienced what I had, I had a new definition of what pain was – nothing could ever come close to the pain I felt in that hospital."

When a friend started training for a triathlon, Maclean decided to join him. A few years and a few triathlons later, he saw a wheelchair athlete attempting, and failing, to complete the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon, possibly the toughest endurance event on the planet. The triathlon includes a 3.8km swim, a 180km bike ride and a 42km run, with wheelchair athletes having to use a hand cycle (cranking a lever) during the cycling section and a racing wheelchair (pushing the wheels) during the running section. In 1995, Maclean became the first wheelchair athlete to complete the torturous race. We’ve seen a video of the race, and he had to go backwards up Hawaii’s steep hills, grimacing at every push. But he wasn’t satisfied, because he hadn’t made the cut-off time for able-bodied athletes. He tried again in 1996, but narrowly missed the time again. Rather than give up, he came back in 1997 – he not only made the cut-off time, but came 946th out of 1,421 able-bodied athletes.

The next challenge was the English Channel in 1998, which no paraplegic person had ever swum. Again he succeeded, despite feeling "sharp pains that made me feel as if my shoulders were about to fall off." Shortly afterwards, he established the John Maclean Foundation, which provides financial and emotional support to help physically challenged kids realise their ambitions.

Now the aim is a gold medal, the one thing he has previously aimed for and failed to achieve. At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, he entered the 4 x 400m relay, 1,500m, 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon races – though it was an incredible achievement to qualify for so many events, he was devastated not to make the podium. "I tried to do too much," he says. "I’d beaten a lot of the guys who won medals before, but they were all focusing on one event. I learned my lesson this time."

Maclean has pictures of the Paralympic gold medal in his bedroom, his gym and his two offices. "A Paralympic gold medal is the one thing I don’t have, and my absolute mindset is to win one. If it’s not a gold, I’d rather spend time riding my Harley (Davidson)." But instead of cruising around on his very nice three-wheeled Harley, Maclean is training three times a day, six days a week. He and Ross are using all the technology that any top Olympic athlete would use – they have a range of coaches and a sports psychologist, and use heat chambers to simulate the conditions in Beijing this month. "We are absolutely ready and good enough to win this," he says. For more on the John Maclean Foundation, see www.jmf.com.au

Mixed TA double sculls rowing final, Thursday, September 11, Shunyi Rowing and Canoeing Park, session 3pm-5.30pm.