Coffees and bug spray in hand, Signet is starting the day early riverside with Aussie paracanoe champion and decorated ANZAC, Curtis McGrath. When prompted to talk about his life, the fourteen-time paracanoe gold medallist jokes - "Well, I lost my legs and now I paddle a bit", which for those who are familiar with Curtis' heroic story, is a significantly humble summary. McGrath's sense of humour and positive mindset was always prevalent as we went on to chat about his experiences, his preparations to compete in 2024 and the endurance of the ANZAC spirit.
On August 23rd 2012, while serving in Afghanistan as a Sapper (Engineer) for the Australian Army, Curtis McGrath stepped on an IED (Improvised Explosive Device), forever changing the course of his life. He suffered multiple injuries from the explosion, most notably the loss of his left leg below the knee and his right leg at the knee. Still covered in blood, dust and debris, McGrath sensed the shock of the situation hitting his squad and tried to reassure his friends that he was ok. In the true spirit of the ANZACS and with a dose of dry humour, he joked that he was going to the Paralympics and that the bomb blast had put to waste a perfectly good pair of combat boots that he could no longer wear...
“As the guys carried me along on the stretcher… I knew my legs weren't coming back.”
“The ANZAC spirit is about coming together to help each other. As the guys carried me along on the stretcher… I knew my legs weren't coming back. I could see them around me, and they were emotionally hurting. I felt that I could say something that could give them a bit of hope, not a promise that I would be ok, just some hope, so I said, 'I'll be fine, I'll just go to the Paralympics...but it won't be in the Green and Gold, it'll be in the Black and White'. They were patriotic Aussies and there was always a bit of banter with me originally being from New Zealand. They responded with 'suppose you can walk to the rescue chopper then!' <laugh>. Aussie or Kiwi, we looked after each other and that's what being an ANZAC is all about.”
Upon returning to his home in Queensland, McGrath was faced with the challenge of rebuilding his life. From surgery to rehab and taking his first steps with prosthetics, the loss of his legs didn't diminish his spirit. He decided to make good on the promise he had made with his friends and tried several sports before landing on the Paracanoe.
“I didn't always dream of trying to be a paracanoe World Champion, it was something that came out of the situation, the cards that I was dealt. I realised that my legs weren't coming back and saw the opportunity to become an athlete.”
Although born a Kiwi, McGrath lived in Australia, and it was Australia that really supported him on his journey in sport. He wanted to give back to the home he chose and decided he would try and don the Green and Gold.
“I chose to represent Australia because I knew the country, the team and the system would support me in order to achieve my dreams. That's what made me feel at home and I feel privileged and honoured to have that opportunity. I have connections to both sides of the ditch, and I love each of them in their own way, but for me and my paddling career and in my sporting life, it's going to be the Green and Gold.”
Just 18 months after his accident, McGrath claimed the title of World Champion at the World Sprint Canoe Championships in Moscow, Russia, marking the beginning of his professional paracanoe journey.
“It all started when I first crossed that line and realised it was possible.”
“Winning my first World Championship gold in Moscow, in a 200-metre canoe event was the moment for me that I realised, 'Man I could actually do this, this is a reality now.' I loved every moment, and I reckon I'd love all of it over and over again. Here I am 10 years later, it's been a heck of a trip, but at the same time, it all started when I first crossed that line and realised it was possible.”
In the decade since, McGrath has gone on to win fourteen gold medals across multiple competitions. He became the first Australian ever to secure gold in the paracanoe event at Rio in 2016 and followed that up four years later in Tokyo, where he defended his title and claimed another gold in the 200 metres.
Despite his incredible achievements, McGrath remains grounded and humble, acknowledging the support of those around him to be fundamental in his success.
“I am now in a fortunate position where I can support others... ”
“I'm incredibly grateful for the support that I get from those around me. Because of them, I am now in a fortunate position where I can support others and help them achieve their goals too.”
As McGrath gears up for 2024, he embraces a new role as co-captain of the Australian team. “This time around is going to be about leadership, mentoring, supporting the rest of the squad and the wider team,” he notes, emphasising the importance of giving back and fostering a sense of camaraderie within the Australian team.
“It's a nice feeling to have an Aussie company backing you up. I saw what Signet had done in the past and the athletes they had supported. I started to understand why a packaging company would want to support Australian Athletes. It's not about cardboard boxes, it's about helping people compete and reach their dreams. Signet's support means a lot to me.”
Signet is proud to support Curtis McGrath as a member of Team Signet. Join us as we get behind him, the rest of the team, and over 60,000 Aussie businesses all chasing their own dreams.
Read on to find out more about McGrath.
Signet: Do you recall what your earliest dreams were before the accident?
Curtis: I had ambitions to potentially be a fighter pilot in the Air Force, but at the same time, I was not that great at school, so my expectations were dashed by that. I always have enjoyed aviation but also always enjoyed sport as well. It has just been this sort of one door closes and another door opens for me, and I have just gone through those doors and tried to make the most of them.
Signet: What's the dream for you now?
Curtis: 2024 will be my third Games. Both Games I’ve been to have been very different from each other and I think this one is going to be different again. I still want to go there and do well and stand on the podium and hear Australia's national anthem. I am getting older; I understand that there's people still trying to chase me down and beat me which is starting to happen. That is the natural course of sport, especially professional sport. At the same time, I've been given this amazing opportunity to co-captain the Australian team. This time around is going to be about leadership, mentoring, supporting the rest of the squad and the wider team. It's interesting, people always ask do you know this athlete or that athlete but whilst we do know them, we never get to hang out with them because we never really come together as a complete team until the big world sports events are on. It's always an amazing experience to be competing together with all the incredible Aussie athletes and some of the international athletes as well.
Signet: Who are your greatest supporters and where do you feel support from the most?
Curtis: I think support comes from many different angles. Particularly in sport, you need your coaches and your physios and your teammates and that's one side of it. Because you spend more time out of the boat than you do on land, it's definitely your family and your friends that you need. The support that I get from my wife Rachel and her love and support of me doing something that's kind of selfish is incredible. Sport is a pretty selfish endeavour because often it doesn't pay that well. Having the opportunity to represent your country often comes with a lot of sacrifice. That's time without families and friends, doing things with them like traveling or even being there for their birthdays. I think I have only been around for Rachel's birthday a couple of years, and that was during Covid. So, it's just one of those things that we have to sacrifice together, but she understands my ambition and dreams. She supports me just as much as I support her, I hope <laugh>.
Signet: Let's talk about you being a Kiwi. At what point do you start to feel like really representing the Green and Gold and it meaning a lot to you?
Curtis: I think you start to feel the Green and Gold from the support that comes with it, not to say that any other country's going to be any different, I'm just saying that for me, I chose to represent Australia because I knew the country, the team and the system would support me in order to achieve my dreams. That's what made me feel at home and I feel privileged and honoured to have that opportunity. It was a difficult decision to choose between New Zealand, which is my birth country and Australia where I live. I had to be realistic about the outcome and what sort of support was available to me. Also, I was here in Australia, in the Australian army. For me, looking at the two countries, I see them as the same place in a way. I have connections to both sides of the ditch, and I love each of them in their own way, but for me and my paddling career and in my sporting life, it's going to be the Green and Gold.
Signet: What, if anything, do you lament or wish was different?
Curtis: I wouldn't mind being able to go a little bit further in my paddling and racing. I think my body type and my physiology would love to go 500 metres, but we don't have that opportunity at the World level. I think in the big picture, there's a great opportunity for organisations, governments, non-profits, etc. to get behind the movement and help elevate that team just to show what is possible. Not just the athletes, but to the people that watch them, the people at home sitting on the couch, the punters, the fanatics, the people that don't know and just happen to flick it on. You can see what is possible given a minor disability or a severe disability, your life's not over when you find yourself in a wheelchair or with prosthetics. There is a whole other world awaiting you.
Signet: Is there a unique Paralympic spirit or is it just the Games spirit that's grown wider? Is there something special or different that you see happening?
Curtis: I think so. This is my perspective of para-sports specifically - I didn't know anyone like me at all. I didn't see anyone, I wasn't aware of the Games movement until I was injured. That's when I became aware of it. When I was injured, I got to go over to the US and do this thing called the Marine Trial Games, which is a precursor to the Invictus Games. I got to see people like me doing things that I did before I got injured but with prosthetics, with wheelchairs, with missing arms and other disabilities. That is when I started to realise that there is an opportunity for para-sports people to get out there and be fit and active and healthy and do all the things that I enjoyed before. That's when I realised that there was an opportunity for me to go down that path. With my path, my journey, I've moved with that growth of the Paralympic movement. It is amazing to see, and as I pointed out, there's a long way to go, until we’re seen as equals because we still wake up every day and train just as hard. You know, we might go a little bit slower due to a missing arm or leg or whatever it is, but it doesn't mean we're not trying and we're not competing at the highest level against people that are like us. That's the difficulty in the national sense that we don't have that many athletes, paracanoe athletes especially, but when we come together on a world stage, like the Paralympic movement, we can shine and show what's possible to the absolute pinnacle of sport.
Signet: And what's that feeling like when you come together?
Curtis: The feeling's magic. It is pretty special to be around athletes that you've looked up to, you've worked with and admired and competed against and you become friends with them. I think that's one of the beautiful things about sport is that it does bring people together with like-minded goals and dreams that are trying to do the same thing. There's always politics in sport and that's unfortunate, but it is a pretty cool place to be around people that are doing the same thing as you, and pushing themselves just as hard.
Signet: How is life now? What's it like and how are you feeling about it?
Curtis: I'm getting a little bit older, and life is moving and there's lots of opportunities away from my sport. I'm starting to consider about what I should do after my professional sports career and where I should go and I sort of haven't made any definitive decisions yet. I just feel that it's an incredible opportunity to wear the Green and Gold. I think if anyone has that opportunity and turns it down, there'll be an incredibly good reason to that rejection. The opportunity for me is hands down one of the greatest privileges of my life, and I think I'm going to hit it hard and do the best I can.
