Kenneth Cairns

Kenneth Cairns MBE (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 Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2001 New Year Honours for services to disabled sports.[16][15][17]

Kenneth Cairns
MBE
Personal information
Born (1957-12-20) 20 December 1957
Sport
Country Great Britain
SportParalympic swimming
ClubPort Glasgow Otters
Coached byEddie McCluskey
Medal record
Paralympic Games
Swimming
Gold medal – first place1984 Stoke Mandeville
/ New York		Men's 25 m Backstroke 1B

[1]

Gold medal – first place1984 Stoke Mandeville
/ New York		Men's 25 m Breaststroke 1B[2]
Gold medal – first place1984 Stoke Mandeville
/ New York		Men's 25 m Freestyle 1B[3]
Gold medal – first place1984 Stoke Mandeville
/ New York		Men's 100 m Freestyle 1B[4]
Gold medal – first place2000 SydneyMen's 100 m Freestyle S3[5]
Silver medal – second place1984 Stoke Mandeville
/ New York		Men's 3×25 m Individual Medley 1B[6]
Silver medal – second place1984 Stoke Mandeville
/ New York		Men's 3x25 m Freestyle Relay 1A-1C[7][8]
Silver medal – second place1992 BarcelonaMen's 150 m Medley SM3[9]
Silver medal – second place1996 AtlantaMen's 50 m Butterfly S3[10]
Silver medal – second place2000 SydneyMen's 200 m Freestyle S3[11]
Silver medal – second place2000 SydneyMen's 50 m Freestyle S3[12]
Bronze medal – third place2000 SydneyMen's 4×50 m Freestyle 20 pts[13]
Bronze medal – third place2004 AthensMen's 4x50 m Freestyle 20 pts[14]

Cairns was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2015,[18] and into the Scottish Swimming Hall of Fame in 2018.[19][20]

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.[17][21] 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.[21] 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.[21]

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.[19] 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.[22]

References
  1. "Swimming at the Stoke Mandeville & New York 1984 Paralympic Games – Men's 25 m Backstroke 1B". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  2. "Swimming at the Stoke Mandeville & New York 1984 Paralympic Games – Men's 25 m Breaststroke 1B". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  3. "Swimming at the Stoke Mandeville & New York 1984 Paralympic Games – Men's 25 m Freestyle 1B". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  4. "Swimming at the Stoke Mandeville & New York 1984 Paralympic Games – Men's 100 m Freestyle 1B". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  5. "Swimming at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games – Men's 100 m Freestyle S3". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  6. "Swimming at the Stoke Mandeville & New York 1984 Paralympic Games – Men's 3×25m Individual Medley 1B". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  7. "Swimming at the Stoke Mandeville & New York 1984 Paralympic Games – Men's 3x25 m Freestyle Relay 1A-1C". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 27 February 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  8. Brittain, Ian (2012). From Stoke Mandeville to Stratford: A History of the Summer Paralympic Games (PDF). pp. 190–197. ISBN 161229412X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 November 2017.
  9. "Swimming at the Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games – Men's 150 m Medley SM3". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  10. "Swimming at the Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games – Men's 50 m Butterfly S3". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  11. "Swimming at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games – Men's 200 m Freestyle S3". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  12. "Swimming at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games – Men's 50 m Freestyle S3". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  13. "Swimming at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games – Men's 4×50 m Freestyle 20 pts". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  14. "Swimming at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games – Men's 4×50 m Freestyle 20 pts". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  15. "CAIRNS Kenneth, MBE". Scottish Disability Sport. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  16. United Kingdom list: "No. 56070". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2000. p. 15.
  17. Behan, Paul (9 August 2012). "Swim 'King' Kenny to feature on BBC Radio Scotland programme". Daily Record. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  18. "Kenny Cairns MBE". Scottish Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  19. Race, Loretta (1 October 2018). "Duncan Scott & Steven Tigg Earn Top Scottish Swimming Honors". SwimSwam. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  20. "Scottish Swimming celebrate a year of success". Scottish Swimming. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  21. "Paralympians' Club – Kenneth Cairns". British Paralympic Association. Archived from the original on 10 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  22. "The New Kids on the Swimming Block". scottishdisabilitysport.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
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