Kenneth Cairns

Kenneth Cairns (born 20 December 1957) is a British swimmer who won five Paralympic gold medals across five Games, along with several world titles.[15] He broke several records in swimming events, and was appointed an MBE in 2001 for services to disability swimming.[15][16] Cairns was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2015,[17] and into the Scottish Swimming Hall of Fame in 2018.[18][19]

Kenneth Cairns
MBE

Personal information
Born	(1957-12-20) 20 December 1957
Sport
Country	Great Britain
Sport	Paralympic swimming
Club	Port Glasgow Otters
Coached by	Eddie McCluskey
Medal record Paralympic Games Swimming 1984 Stoke Mandeville / New York Men's 25 m Backstroke 1B[1] 1984 Stoke Mandeville / New York Men's 25 m Breaststroke 1B[2] 1984 Stoke Mandeville / New York Men's 25 m Freestyle 1B[3] 1984 Stoke Mandeville / New York Men's 100 m Freestyle 1B[4] 2000 Sydney Men's 100 m Freestyle S3[5] 1984 Stoke Mandeville / New York Men's 3×25 m Individual Medley 1B [6] 1984 Stoke Mandeville / New York Men's 3x25 m Freestyle Relay 1A-1C [7][8] 1992 Barcelona Men's 150 m Medley SM3[9] 1996 Atlanta Men's 50 m Butterfly S3[10] 2000 Sydney Men's 200 m Freestyle S3[11] 2000 Sydney Men's 50 m Freestyle S3[12] 2000 Sydney Men's 4×50 m Freestyle 20 pts[13] 2004 Athens Men's 4x50 m Freestyle 20 pts[14]

Biography

At the age of 16 Cairns was involved in a motorcycle accident which resulted in damage to his spine and left him confined to a wheelchair.[16][20] He began swimming to improve his fitness in 1976 and, at the National Stoke Mandeville Games the following year, won all of the swimming events that he entered. Before dedicating his time fully to swimming he chose to go to college and finish his education.[20] He returned to the pool in 1982 and began competed in class S3 events up until he retired due to ill health just before the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.[15] When not swimming Cairns is a keen harmonica player who regularly competes in the annual National Championships in Bristol. In 2009 he won in the jazz section.[20]

Cairns made his Paralympic Games debut in 1984, winning four gold medals, one individual silver, and a team silver in the relay.[8] While this would prove to be his greatest Paralympic performance he was able to win at least one medal in every Paralympic Games from 1992 to 2004, finding particular success in the freestyle events. Between 1990 and 2006 Cairns won 16 medals in World Championship competitions, including 7 golds, and 21 medals in European Championships until 2001.[17] He swam relay events with Mike Kenny and Sascha Kindred amongst others.[8][14]

Now retired, Cairns continues to support swimming galas around the country that are organised by Scottish Disability Sport.[15] At one such event Cairns met and inspired Andrew Mullen who went on to find World Championship and Paralympic swimming success.[21]

References

1. "Swimming at the Stoke Mandeville & New York 1984 Paralympic Games – Men's 25 m Backstroke 1B". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
2. "Swimming at the Stoke Mandeville & New York 1984 Paralympic Games – Men's 25 m Breaststroke 1B". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
3. "Swimming at the Stoke Mandeville & New York 1984 Paralympic Games – Men's 25 m Freestyle 1B". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
4. "Swimming at the Stoke Mandeville & New York 1984 Paralympic Games – Men's 100 m Freestyle 1B". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
5. "Swimming at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games – Men's 100 m Freestyle S3". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
6. "Swimming at the Stoke Mandeville & New York 1984 Paralympic Games – Men's 3×25m Individual Medley 1B". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
7. "Swimming at the Stoke Mandeville & New York 1984 Paralympic Games – Men's 3x25 m Freestyle Relay 1A-1C". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
8. Brittain, I.S. (2012). "From Stoke Mandeville to Stratford: A History of the Summer Paralympic Games" (PDF). pp. 190–197. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 November 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
9. "Swimming at the Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games – Men's 150 m Medley SM3". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
10. "Swimming at the Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games – Men's 50 m Butterfly S3". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
11. "Swimming at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games – Men's 200 m Freestyle S3". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
12. "Swimming at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games – Men's 50 m Freestyle S3". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
13. "Swimming at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games – Men's 4×50 m Freestyle 20 pts". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
14. "Swimming at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games – Men's 4×50 m Freestyle 20 pts". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
15. "CAIRNS Kenneth, MBE". Scottish Disability Sport. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
16. Behan, Paul (9 August 2012). "Swim 'King' Kenny to feature on BBC Radio Scotland programme". Daily Record. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
17. "Kenny Cairns MBE". Scottish Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
18. Race, Loretta (1 October 2018). "Duncan Scott & Steven Tigg Earn Top Scottish Swimming Honors". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
19. "Scottish Swimming celebrate a year of success". Scottish Swimming. 1 October 2018. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
20. "Paralympians' Club – Kenneth Cairns". British Paralympic Association. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
21. "The New Kids on the Swimming Block". scottishdisabilitysport.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2014.