SUPER ATHLETES

Jack competes in the VR3 category of canoeing and had already achieved gold in the World champs in both 2021 and 2022. 2023 didn’t go as planned for Jack due to injury and a boat breakage, but this just inspired Jack to dig deeper and work harder. In this year’s Paralympic Games Jack went out to Paris with one mission, to come home with a medal. This was a mission that Jack not only completed, but completed with style and the best attitude possible.

 

We sat down with Jack a couple of weeks ago to chat about his Paralympic journey, his experience and what it takes to become a Paralympic medallist. You can watch the entire interview on our SYNCH TV Youtube channel 

 

 

It was really interesting to hear Jack’s story, including how he became the Mr England through his earlier experiences in his modelling career. It really does take a huge amount of commitment, motivation and hard work to even get to the Paralympic games, let alone to come within an inch of taking a gold medal.  Jack’s aim was to finish on the podium, so picking up a silver medal was huge for Jack and for the British team.  But as Jack tells us, he now wants a gold.

 

Jack rides the Synch Super Monkey.  This was actually a bike that was initially built for Matt, one of our founders.  Fully singing and dancing it was the perfect bike for Jack to use get around the paralympic village and training facility. After returning to the UK with the silver medal there was not a chance we wanted the Bike back, with the performance Jack put in the least he deserved was to keep the bike.

 

What we didn’t expect was how much the Super Monkey would impact Jacks life.  Jack has an above the knee prosthetic leg, meaning that the leg articulates at the knee which in turn makes cycling quote difficult.  Having the assisted pedalling really negates this issue which means Jack is able to use the bike every day to get to his training sessions as well as getting out and about with the family. Seeing how much Jack uses the Super Monkey and how much he loves it, we are stoked to continue working with Jack and can’t wait to work with him more in the future

 

Zoe Smith is one of the nicest and most determined people you can meet who unfortunately lost her lower leg after a car accident in 2015. Zoe grew up body boarding but decided to take up surfing in 2021. After some encouraging words from an amputee British surfer called Pegleg, Zoe stared to surf.  It was not easy as there are things that you would never consider.  Firstly, as an amputee, you need a prosthetic leg that you can take in the water.  Most prosthetic limbs are not designed to get wet, especially with sea water and the corrosive effect this would have on the prosthetic limb. Of course, a prosthetic leg that is designed to go into the water does not come cheap, in fact it’s about £12,000.  So, after raising the funds and getting the appropriate leg Zoe started to work with Surfing England and even finished in 5th place at her first ISA Para Surfing World Championships. That is impressive enough for any surfer that has only been surfing for a few years, but to learn as an adaptive surfer its mind boggling.

 

Fast forward to this month (November, 2024) Zoe went back to Huntingdon Beach in California with the Surfing England team to compete in the International Surfing Association (ISA) Parasurfing World Championship. Zoe has spent the last 12 months training super hard for the contest, even relocating to Cornwall during the summer to ensure the most time in the water as possible.  Between surfing in Dorset, Cornwall and the Wave in Bristol Zoe had really put the time in and got herself as ready as possible for the worlds and left for California with her own expectation of returning with a gold medal and the crown of World Champion. Zoe did not disappoint. We are so proud of Zoe and her World Champion title.

Zoe rides the Synch Super Monkey