A FORMER teaching assistant has been selected to compete in the 2016 ICF Paracanoe World Championships, five years after she sustained a brain and neck injury playing rugby.
Frances Bateman was playing rugby for Gwernyfed RFC ladies against Blackwood when she suffered a traumatic brain injury, as well as injuring her neck.
The 34-year-old from Three Cocks was forced to retire from rugby as she has a neurological deficit on her left hand side which causes weakness, reduced sensation and reduced control.
Fran said: "I wear a leg splint for foot drop to help with walking and I also have some processing issues and as I get tired, my speech, concentration and balance are affected. It is a variable condition so I can appear much better sometimes than at others. Thankfully the neck injury wasn’t as bad as they initially thought."
Fran, who was no stranger to canoeing before her accident, said: "I’d retired from Canoe Polo in order to concentrate on my part time degree but before that I was involved in the GB development squad. I later went on to help set up Brecon Canoe Polo Squads form a coaching perspective and was heavily involved in white water canoeing, paddling around the world. I am a coach in sea, whitewater, sprint and slalom and have coached with Brecon Canoe Club for around eight years."
Not willing to be beaten by her injury, Fran, who first tried canoeing at the age of 16 through the Scouts, has spent the last five years rehabilitating in order to move forward with her sporting career.
"After my accident I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get back into a boat," said the former PE and Science teaching assistant, "but a few years back, friends at Brecon Canoe Club supported me doing some short sessions on the water.
"I eventually had my arm twisted to try slalom and as the boats are light and the runs spread out this suited me."
The journey to getting back in the boat was easy for Fran: "I required a lot of help to start with but it really my confidence back up. At the same time I was referred to the access to fitness group at Brecon Leisure Centre where I was able to begin building my strength and fitness."
In November 2014, Fran was lucky enough to be able to go for an assessment in Nottingham with GB Paracanoe and was "over the moon" when they said they were interested in her.
"I began training with the Welsh developmental sprint squad in a Kayak ready for the spring where there would be more assessment races to qualify to race in Paracanoe races at national regattas."
The following March, Fran competed and qualified in the national regattas: "There was a big change after this to the Paracanoe classification system so I had to wait to see if I’d classify within it. I had to wait to see if I was right sort of disabled for their criteria."
Disappointment followed for Fran when she was told she didn’t qualify: "I was gutted. A brain injury was included in the criteria but there was a silver lining. I was able to classify in the Va’a canoe class.
"A lot of athletes are unable to classify at all with the new rules so I feel so lucky. Despite it ruling me out of kayak for Rio, it does put me on a trajectory for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics in Va’a."
Fran had to quickly learn how to control the tricky outrigger sprint canoe that originates fro Polynesian fishing boats but said she loved the new challenge: "I spent the spring working hard learning to make the craft of fast and in a straight line. By the June I managed to get fast enough to be selected for the 2015 World Championships and I was over the moon."
It looked like all the hard work wasn’t going to pay off when Fran developed a stress fracture to her rib: "The championships looked in doubt but thankfully, with a lot of support, I was able to be fixed enough to go and compete.
"I raced and achieved a world championship silver medal in the VL3 Womens 200m. I was only 0.07seconds off gold. This meant I was officially good enough to be in the 2016 squad."
Fran has been training in Nottingham, Cardiff and Brecon since then and with the world championships early due to Rio qualifications, she had to hit the ground rolling.
"Qualifications are just about winning, it’s about times and how close to the world best you are. I got a personal best and qualifying for my second world championships is a dream come true."
Fran added that she wouldn’t have been where she is today without the support of numerous people: "I’d just like to say thank you to Gwernyfed Ladies RFC, Brecon Canoe Club, Welsh Rugby Union Charitable Trust for injured players, Canoe Wales, Disability Sport Wales, British Canoeing and The National Lottery UK."
Fran will be heading to Druisburg in Germany to race in the VL3 classification 200 meter sprint in May and said it meant "everything" to her.
"Since being on program my health is much more stable and the support and pride I get from being part of such a professional and successful team is irreplaceable. Every time I pull on my GB vest I grow in confidence and feel back of something awesome. It makes the tough bits of life seem worthwhile."