Sarah James

Ten year old Sarah James is a triathlete in the making, and now that she has a specialised hand cycle, there’s no slowing her down.

The competitive youngster received the bike through the Halberg Disability Sport Foundation’s AllSports Activity Fund and has been testing its speed limit ever since.

“I like going fast,” says Sarah, who has Spina Bifida. “I love my bike because now I can race my school mates when they’re running and go in the cross country at school.”

Sarah is always willing to give anything a go, especially when it comes to sport. She’s a keen swimmer and plans on competing in a triathlon in the future.

“I enjoy both cycling and swimming so it would be good to do a triathlon. I think sport is great, I like going along to ParaFed Junior sports club and having a go at different sports.”

Halberg’s Disability Sport Adviser Justin Muschamp met Sarah shortly after she and her family moved to Christchurch. He helped her apply for the Activity Fund for the new bike, and gave the family some valuable contacts at ParaFed Canterbury.

DSA Justin found Sarah a pleasure to work with.

“She is always happy and friendly – it’s great to see her involved in so many sports and have such a great goal to work towards. She is very competitive and has no fear,” he says.