Daniel Fitzgibbon

Daniel Fitzgibbon

Australian Paralympic Team Portrait 2016
Personal information
Nationality	Australia
Born	(1976-06-15) 15 June 1976 (age 40) Manly, Queensland
Medal record Sailing Paralympic Games 2012 London Mixed Two Person SKUD18 2016 Rio Mixed Two Person SKUD18 2008 Beijing Mixed Two Person SKUD18 IFDS World Championships 2004 Melbourne Single-Person Dinghy 2014 Halifax Mixed Two Person SKUD18 2015 Melbourne Mixed Two Person SKUD18 2011 Weymouth Mixed Two Person SKUD18 2016 Medemblik Mixed Two Person SKUD18

Daniel Fitzgibbon, OAM (born 15 June 1976) is an Australian Paralympic sailor, who won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. He won gold medals at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Paralympics with partner Leisl Tesch in the Two person SKUD 18.

Daniel Gerard Fitzgibbon was born in The Brisbane suburb of Manly on 15 June 1976. Having sailed since the age of five, he joined the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron in 1990. On 29 March 1997, an incident occurred at the Middle Harbour Yacht Club jetty in which he broke his neck, leaving him a quadraplegic. He sued the Waterways Authority for negligence at the New South Wales Supreme Court. Fitzgibbon, who claimed that he was pushed into the water, stated that it was their failure to include a handrail in the design of the jetty that caused him to fall off. They stated that he dived in because he thought a friend was drowning, and thus was responsible for the accident. His claim was unsuccessful, and he appealed to the High Court of Australia, who ruled by a 4–3 majority that the case should be re-heard on the basis that all the evidence presented at the original hearing was not properly considered.

In 2004 Fitzgibbon competed in the Disabled Sailing World Championship, which he won in his class, and was jointly awarded the Disabled Sailor of the Year along with Andrew Hartley.

In 2007, Fitzgibbon partnered with Rachael Cox in the SKUD International Championships, where they won a gold medal. They later competed in the IFDS World Championships and placed fifth. They were jointly named as Sailors of the Year with a Disability. The two teamed up again in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics in the SKUD 18 class and won the silver medal. The class, which premiered at the 2008 games, was created when Fitzgibbon convinced the International Foundation for Disabled Sailing to adapt the class to allow two sailors with disabilities to participate. They were again jointly named the Sailors of the Year with a Disability.