Despite coaching some of Australia’s biggest names through a golden era of Paralympic success, Andrew Dawes is looking to the future. The experienced campaigner is joining forces with Australian Athletics as the nation looks to climb the medal table ahead of Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032.
Formally starting his role as Para Performance Coaching Manager at Australian Athletics in early January, Dawes’ appointment comes off the back of a significant increase in funding from the Australian Sports Commission – positioning Athletics as one of the top-funded Olympic and Paralympic sports.
Having coached athletes to 12 Paralympic gold medals and led the New South Wales Institute of Sport’s Wheelchair Track and Road program for 25 years, he quickly breaks down the objectives of his role at Australian Athletics.
“We have never had such an uplift in funding before, it’s massive for the program. I have been involved since the mid 1990’s and for us now, it’s about trying to get the best use out of it,” Dawes said.
“Our job is to improve our performance at major benchmark competitions. That’s kind of my goal when I go to bed at night and the reason I’m doing this; to help Australia get back towards the top of the medal table.”
Having coached for over three decades including steering Paralympic greats Kurt Fearnley, Louise Sauvage and Greg Smith to Paralympic titles, Dawes possesses a wealth of experience and existing relationships within the industry that form the foundation of his new beginning.
“I have been on teams for a long time and it’s definitely a community, there is a lot of trust and goodwill. When I was applying for this job, it was because I felt like I was aligned with the people and common purpose at AA,” Dawes said.
“We need to build the base. Our system is largely reliant on the classification of athletes and we need to keep finding those little pieces of gold with high potential. Then it’s about developing good programs and high-quality coaches who can support the talent.”
Australia managed 11 medals at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Para Athletics (three gold, two silver, six bronze) led by James Turner and Vanessa Low, with Dawes noting the significant impact that sporting success can have on an individual’s life.
“I get great enjoyment out of seeing the athletes grow as people. Sport can play such a powerful role in an athlete’s life, but especially for Para athletes – it can change their whole mindset,” Dawes said.
“I met Kurt [Fearnley] when he was 13-years-old and he came from a lovely family, but he was having trouble getting bullied at school and stuff like that. Now he’s in the top five most important people in Australia, but he hates it when I say that.”
Searching for competitive advantages ahead of his first test at the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships which will be held in New Delhi, India this September – Dawes will be keeping a keen eye on the future.
“For me success looks like taking a big team and showing that we are building that base. We want to take a lot of young and promising athletes to give them that experience, and obviously the current medallists and established athletes,” Dawes said.
“I would like to see us get back towards the top 10 nations in the world and at the pointy end of that.”
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics
Posted 5/2/2025