An eight-strong squad of adaptive judo athletes will shortly be making the trip over to Cologne for the second European Intellectual Disability Championships.

The squad will have high hopes of topping their performance from last year’s inaugural event held in London where they claimed a handful of medals and is full of European and World medallists!

Leading the pack from the women’s side will be serial medallist Skye Westwood who has been unstoppable in recent years! Westwood will be joined on the mat by former World Champion Nikki McDermott. Both will have fond memories of competing in Cologne as they topped the podium at the 2017 World Championships hosted at the same venue.

It promises to be a strong challenge for the Gold medals from the male squad with Joshua Hemsley, Thomas Mawdsley, Kyle Jones, Shaun Banks, Christopher Murphy and Mikey Lomas all scheduled to compete. Hemsley and Mawdsley have enjoyed a competitive rivalry on the mat in previous years but Hemsley has now moved up to -73kg competition, increasing the depth in the squad. Mike Lomas has been a consistent performer on the Global stage and will be looking to add a further major title to his CV.

Adaptive Judo Lead Kerry Tansey couldn’t wait to get out to Germany and get the team prepped: “We are taking a young but very experienced squad out to the Championships, all of which will have hopes of medalling! We can’t wait to get onto the mat and begin our preparations ahead of the weekend”

Tracey McCillen, Chief Executive, UK Sports Association said “I am delighted to see another strong Judo squad off to the European Championships.  It’s a real testimony to the dedication of British Judo to establish an elite pathway for players with an intellectual impairment that we see it taking real shape. 

Britain has some strong players, all of whom have worked hard to reach this level.  On behalf of us all here at UKSA, congratulations on your selection and good luck in Cologne.  Great to see you making your mark amongst Europe’s best.” 

The competition gets underway on 19th October and you can watch the full live stream by clicking here

Squad List:

WOMEN:
Under 57kg (L2)	Nikki McDermott	South Shields Judo Club
Under 57kg (L2)	Skye Westwood	Rush Judo Club
MEN:
Under 73kg (L1)	Joshua Hemsley	Stokenchurch Judo Club/Akrotiri Judo Club
Under 66kg (L1)	Thomas Mawdsley	The Mill Judo Club
Under 60kg (L2)	Kyle Jones	Pontarddulais Judo Club
Under 73kg (L2)	Shaun Banks	Stokenchurch Judo Club
Under 81kg (L1)	Christopher Murphy	Shettleston Judo Club
Under 90/100kg (L1)	Mikey Lomas	Miramar Judo Club