Bunbury native Sean Pollard is one to watch in the next couple of years as he looks to take the Para-snowboard world by storm.
Having only started competing in Paralympic sport in 2015, he has hit the ground running as he notches up the points he needs to qualify for the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Games.
After becoming a double limb amputee in 2014 while surfing in a remote area of Esperance’s Wylie Bay, Sean was determined not to let his disability get in the way of his active lifestyle, trying snowboarding for the first time while on a boys’ trip in Canada.
By chance, he was spotted by the Canadian Para-snowboard coach, who told him about the growth of the sport and encouraged him to consider competing back home in Australia.
Motivated by the prospect of returning to sport after acquiring his disability, Sean reached out to Paralympics Australia, who invited him to attend a specialist camp for Para-snowboarders with upper limb impairments scheduled for the next fortnight.
Sean achieved some great top 15 results in his first competitive season on the snow, including a sixth place finish in the men’s Snowboard Cross at the 2017 IPC Snowboard World Cup at Lake Tahoe, USA, a moment which ranks among the highlights of his still early career.
At the 2016/17 IPC World Cup Finals in PyeongChang, South Korea, Sean disposed of two-time World Championship medallist, Great Britain’s Ben Moore in the Snowboard Cross to finish eighth overall, before wrapping up his inaugural World Cup campaign with eighth place in the Banked Slalom.
While training for PyeongChang, Sean looks to Australian teammate Ben Tudhope for inspiration. He says that Ben’s enthusiasm and passion for sport and life are great motivators to train, and appreciates having him around during competition.
As he works towards achieving his ultimate sporting goal of winning gold at a World Cup or Paralympic Games, off the slopes Sean enjoys skateboarding, and has recently completed a Certificate III in Tourism.
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