Tokyo Paralympics: Nick Cummins ready for 'surreal' experience with GB wheelchair rugby squad
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Nick Cummins was in the Great Britain squad which won the 2017 European Championship
Leicester Tigers wheelchair rugby player Nick Cummins is still coming to terms with the "surreal" idea of taking part in the Paralympics.
Cummins was named in the GB Paralympics squad for Tokyo, having narrowly missed out on selection for Rio 2016.
Great Britain start out against Canada on 25 August, with New Zealand and the USA also in their group.
"It's the pinnacle of sport, the Paralympics is the highest tournament you can compete at," Cummins, 36, said.
"To play this competition is a whole different level of intensity, there's a lot more fanfare and things like that, even with Covid restrictions. It's going to be very different but it's obviously a special occasion."
Cummins contracted meningitis when he was 19 and told BBC Radio Leicester he felt "isolated, almost reclusive" after eventually being discharged.
He took up wheelchair rugby with the Tigers in the hope of building his strength, fitness and confidence and gradually played his way into the GB development squad.
But the notion of playing at a Paralympics in a "fast-paced, difficult sport like wheelchair rugby" would have been "pretty mind-blowing" back when he was "sitting in a hospital bed, immobile", Cummins said.
He added: "It's a lifestyle being in the GB elite squad. Your diet, your sleeping, your whole routine is built around wheelchair rugby.
"It's given me some great opportunities as well, playing tournaments all around the world.
"One of the best things I ever did was to go down to that first session and stick with it."
GB squad: Chris Ryan, Gavin Walker, Ayaz Bhuta, Jonathan Coggan, Ryan Cowling, Nicholas Cummins, Kylie Grimes, Aaron Phipps, Jim Roberts, Stuart Robinson, Jack Smith, Jamie Stead.
Great Britain have yet to win a medal in wheelchair rugby, having lost bronze play-off matches in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008, as well as finishing fifth in Brazil five years ago, when Australia took gold.
There is, though, plenty of optimism in the squad, with the only disappointment for Nick being the absence of crowds at the Yoyogi National Stadium because of Covid restrictions.
"Japan is really enthusiastic about wheelchair rugby. We played Japan two years ago and had 10,000 people watching, which is pretty unprecedented," the University of Leicester PhD student said.
"It's a shame we won't have the same thing but it's going ahead, and there's medals at stake just the same as before.
"It was surreal to watch the Olympics and think I'm going to be competing in a similar event in the same place."
The Paralympics opening ceremony takes place on 24 August and the event ends on 5 September.
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- Published2 June 2021
