The Good Men Project Sports’ new feature, Doing It Right, highlights athletes that give back and make a difference in our society. This week our International Sports Editor David Packman looks at Australian paralympian Dylan Alcott.
___
In the lead-up to the Australian Open this year, paralympian and bon vivant Dylan Alcott played tennis in his wheelchair for 24 hours straight for the Starlight Foundation and Variety Children’s Charity, raising over $100,000.
He called the experience “brutal” but for those who know the affable 24-year-old with the incredible zest for life, it’s clear he wouldn’t have it any other way. “20 hours in, I looked down at my wrist and it was four times the size,” he said. “It was killing me at the end.”
But nothing would stop Alcott – according to him it was merely mind over matter. “I was born with a tumour on my spinal cord” he said. “Starlight and Variety; they really saved my life when I was a kid. Variety gave me my first wheelchair, Starlight gave my family and I a wish to go away when we needed it most.”
I did it #dylans24tennis pic.twitter.com/U4Go22xYw5
— Dylan Alcott (@DylanAlcott) December 11, 2014
Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad free
The event touched an estimated four million people worldwide and as well as giving much needed exposure to the charities involved, Alcott himself found himself in the centre of the spotlight. “There are people out there with disabilities doing amazing things but unfortunately they don’t get the chance to show off,” he told the ABC in an interview recently. “They don’t get out of the house and get amongst the general public, and when they do, often the public doesn’t know how to handle it.” Alcott ‘s life is testament to the fact he is on a mission to change all that. Dylan Alcott OAM – he received an Order of Australia Medal in 2011 – is a wheelchair athlete in basketball and tennis. He was a member of the Australian “Rollers” wheelchair basketball team and a critical element of their gold medal run at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. He was just 17-years-old at the time, making him the youngest gold medal winner for wheelchair basketball – in fact the youngest to even compete. What’s more surprising is that he is now the world’s No.2 quad wheelchair tennis player, having backed up his 24-hour marathon to capture his maiden Grand Slam on his home court. When you consider he took up the sport just over a year ago, that’s a remarkable feat. “I just did it to get a bit of a tan and get a bit fitter,” he said. He was definitely feeling the effects of that 24-hour marathon throughout the Australian Open though. Wearing an ice-pack on his wrist after his opening win he said, “I’d be lying if I said if I’m still not sore, but I’m playing the Australian Open in my home city, so who cares. I’ll tough it out.” As it was, he swept all before him, defeating Californian world No.1 David Wagner in the final — using his world-class backhand to devastating effect. “I get a bit of rip on it, don’t I?” he said. “It’s my money shot.” Addressing the 500-plus raucous fans on court after the match, Alcott was ready to party. “This is the biggest crowd in tennis I’ve ever seen,” he said. “Let’s all go and have some beers.”
The definition of a dream come true. 2015 @AustralianOpen Champion baby!!! pic.twitter.com/xFPLobonLS — Dylan Alcott (@DylanAlcott) January 31, 2015
Having a good time is also high on the Alcott agenda and he recalls an experience he had in the days between his 24-hour tennis marathon and the beginning of the Australian Open.
Still “in a world of pain” but as a reward to himself, he travelled to the nearby Meredith Music Festival, where he found himself crowd-surfing in his wheelchair – a regular occurrence for him and something he has become world famous for – from 60 yards back, only to end up on stage performing a verse from Protect Ya Neck with New York rapper Ghostface Killah and the Wu-Tang Clan.
“When I play in the US Open this year, him and the whole Wu Tang Clan are going to come down and watch. Can you imagine? My coach, my girlfriend and the whole Wu Tang Clan in my box!” Alcott said.
“They are my favourite artists of all time. They’re it for me. The song that I rapped is the last song that I listen to every time I go on court.”
With a growing fan base — and amassing an array of influential friends from the worlds of sport and music — Alcott remains a larger than life character both on and off the field, and he knows the importance of his voice in challenging the parameters for people with disabilities.
As he told the ABC: “If I could take a magic pill that would mean I’m not in a wheelchair anymore, you couldn’t pay me enough to take it — the Dylan in the wheelchair is the same as the Dylan without it.”