Calum Titmus from Great Gidding defended his title as British Special Olympics Figure Skating champion for the second time and also won gold in Ice Dance and medals in Speed Skating.
Twenty one year old Calum Titmus from Great Gidding competed in Inclusive Skating Glasgow 2015 from 10-12 April 2015. This was the 3rd Special Olympics GB National Competitions, the NISA National Inclusive Skating Championships and the International Club Competition, held with competitors from Austria, Iceland, Ireland, Finland, Canada, Scotland and Wales.
Remarkable success
After two days of intensive competition in a number of events, he defended his title as British Special Olympics Figure Skating champion for the second time and also won gold in Ice Dance and medals in Speed Skating. This is all the more remarkable when you realise that Calum is Autistic with severe learning difficulties. Figure Skating as a Special Olympics sport was brought to Britain for the first time in 2012, and in 2013 Speed Skating was added to the event. Calum entered the Speed Skating event at three distances, winning bronze head-to-head against non-learning impaired competitors and retaining his British Special Olympics Speed Skating title.
Calum wins gold
Inclusive Skating
Calum is also heavily involved with Inclusive Skating. This is a charity that is trying to set up a family orientated group at each ice rink in the UK. This group will be for anyone with any visual, hearing, bio-mechanical or learning difficulty, along with family and carers who want to learn to skate. Please look out for local fundraising events for Calum and Inclusive Skating.
Calum attends Huntingdon Regional College and trains twice a week at Planet Ice in Peterborough. He also trains at the gyms in the One Leisure group and with the Piranhas Swimming Club in Huntingdon as well as the Peterborough Special Olympics Swimming Club.
Calum with Speed Skating coach Mike Rivet(Canada)
Special Olympics is the world’s largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to more than 3.7 million athletes in more than 170 countries. Visit www.specialolympics.org and www.specialolympicsgb.org.uk
Inclusive Skating is a global project for impaired skaters, based in the UK. Our goal is to develop a programme that will include all skaters with an impairment and will allow them to participate in all competitions and events on an equal basis. www.inclusiveskating.org
Well done Calum !! Fantastic achievement.