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Matt was already an active sportsman prior to his accident, participating in
football, motorbike racing, soccer, baseball and just about anything that took
his fancy.
Since the accident and the subsequent rehabilitation he has gone from strength
to strength widening his sporting skills and trying many sports.
These include :
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Rally driving
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Sailing (ocean racing)
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Skiing
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Quad bike riding
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Kayaking
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Scuba diving
Sporting Highlights
Sydney to Hobart - 1994
Following his discharge from hospital Matt moved to
Vanuatu to assist with his recuperation. It was in the islands that he was able
to return to scuba diving and was introduced to sailing.
Back in Sydney he obtained his open water dive certificate and was soon pushing
to be part of an all disabled crew that was to be entered in the Sydney to
Hobart yacht race in 1994.
Sailors with Disabilities was formed and a racing schedule was commenced. The
crew sailed to Airlie Beach and 400 miles east to Lord Howell island as part of
their practice routine. This culminated with sailing to Hobart in the 50th
running of the Sydney to Hobart where they finished a creditable 30th out of 400
boats.
The boat called "Aspect Computing" was also featured with its crew in a
documentary called Seize the Day which has been shown on various TV
channels including National Geographic, ABC and SBS.
NSW Rally Championship - 1998
After finishing the yacht race in 1994 Matt decided
that if a disabled crew could perform that well then there might be room for a
disabled race driver. After a 4 year battle for acceptance within pro-am
motorsport ranks Matt was relieved when CAMS (Confederation of Australian
Motorsport) accepted a compromise where rallies, hills climbs and super sprints
could be entered by disabled people in rally cars.
A second hand rally car was found and although it did have hand controls they
desperately needed updating as did the whole car. A necessary prerequisite was
also fulfilled - finding a beautiful female co-driver and then Matt was on
his way. The crew sought professional driving tuition from rally champion Rick
Bates. Previous to Matt's accident he had completed a week long course called
the Wayne Gardner Masterclass in Motorcycle Road Racing. Therefore he had some
inkling of the kind of training the crew would have to undergo.
Following their training the crew built up their skills during the season and
finished 3rd in their class (P2) in the final rally of the season.
Australian Rally Championship - 1999
The crew decided to enter the Australian Rally Championship in 1999 in a
group A (4wd) turbo car. Te big challenge was actually getting the car to the
start line for the first round. To everybodys surprise the car was ready for the
round through backyard engineering. A computer controlled pneumatically operated
gearshift mechanism was built and installed. The shifter proved to be the
difference and the crew started 48th and made it to 19th outright in a round of
the Asia Pacific championship. The next event in Queensland saw them move into
16th outright in the national championship, a good result for any new team.
World Cup Alpine Ski Racing
Matt moved back to Hobart in 2000 and sporting inspiration came in the form
of the 2000 Olympics. Coincidentally Tasmania had a bumper snow season that
year. Matt had a sit ski and decided to attempt to gain selection in the
paralympic ski team. Matt was awarded a spot on the development team in 2001
following the domestic season. By the end of the following season he had won a
full AIS scholarship with a focus on the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy.
Matt spent the next two Australian summers competing in World Cup ski races in
Canada.
However he had to retire from the team due to a family tragedy and his
increasing desire to get back to sailing and rally driving.
Today
Currently Matt is President of Sailability, an
organisation dedicated to providing access to disabled people to experience
sailing.
He is also in the process of building a professional rally race team to in the
Tasmanian rally series as well as Tasmania's famous Targa and other tarmac
races.
Click here to contact Matt Speakman
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