Jack Eyers

Started: He began paddling in 2014 at Poole Harbour Canoe Club in England. (paralympic.org, 17 May 2018) Reason: "I have always been interested in sport, but I just never found my passion, and a sport which I wanted to continue. I started canoeing purely for my pleasure, fitness and enjoyment and it has just developed from there. I really liked the fitness side of the sport, the outdoor element and being on the water." (paralympic.org, 17 May 2018) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (Planet Canoe Facebook page, 24 Aug 2023) Additional Info: MR ENGLAND In 2017 he became the first person with an amputation to win the Mr England beauty pageant. He has also walked in fashion shows, including for the New York and London fashion weeks. "[Mr England is] a competition all around the modern man, the role of being Mr England is all about representing the country as a role model, you go to different events and functions with that duty. At that period of my life I was very focused on challenging the perception of disability. The Mr England title was how I was going to do that, then in 2018 I got selected for the GB [Para canoe] team and I parked some of the duties to focus on being an athlete. I have been on the cover of Men's Health, I have worked with Gymshark, I have been on the catwalk, I'm doing sport at a high level, it's a real sense of hope. If someone had told me at a young age I was capable of those things, it would have changed my outlook." (bbc.com, 29 Mar 2024; Twitter profile, 26 Jul 2021; bournemouthecho.co.uk, 06 Jan 2021; BBC Three YouTube channel, 15 Dec 2018; britishcanoeing.org.uk, 01 Jan 2017) LONDON 2012 OPENING CEREMONY He has worked as a stuntperson, and performed as part of the opening ceremony of the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. The experience motivated him to pursue a career in elite Para sport. "Fit people with disabilities were asked to attend auditions in London for a circus school, they were looking for amputees to get involved with the opening ceremony. I was one of the 40 selected and we trained for three months ready for the ceremony. It was an incredible experience and then on the day to climb that rope in front of the Royal Family, 80,000 people and the TV cameras, I had a real taste for the limelight. It gave me that drive to find sport again and I wanted to be in that stadium doing an individual event under the lights and canoeing I guess is the answer to that." (bournemouthecho.co.uk, 06 Jan 2021; paralympic.org, 17 May 2018) OTHER ACTIVITIES He has worked as a personal trainer, offering services through a business called Jack Eyers Online Coaching. He has also featured on the television show 'Ninja Warrior UK', and served as an ambassador for the charity LimbPower. (Instagram profile, 18 Oct 2023; jackeyers.com, 01 Jan 2023; stewartslaw.com, 31 Jul 2020)