Britain’s Terry Bywater has competed in seven Paralympic wheelchair basketball events and is therefore an excellent judge of the sport’s development. When he speaks with awe of the atmosphere in the Bercy Arena at the 2024 Games in Paris, his words carry weight.
Moments after helping his team top Group A with an 85-50 win over France, the 41-year-old reflected on the exhilarating atmosphere emanating from the packed crowd and how it illustrated the progress the sport has made since its Paralympic debut in Sydney over two decades ago.
“That crowd – wow,” exclaimed Bywater. “Thank you, Paris, thank you, France, that was something special.”
“Just look at the stadium when the final whistle blew. France lost and the crowd stayed and applauded all of us for at least five minutes. That just shows how great wheelchair basketball is. I think we earned a lot of respect out there from the 15,000 fans in the stadium. I’m super proud of the guys.”
“Wheelchair basketball has evolved tremendously. Every year it gets bigger and better – just look at the athletes that are on the court now.”
“For me the turning point came at London 2012 – we set the bar high there, the fans came, filled the stadiums and got the support. I think that helped wheelchair basketball in general.
“Tonight was just incredible. Playing in front of 15,000 fans at the Paralympics is something I will never forget.”
Bywater’s Paralympic career began at the 2000 Sydney Games and has earned him four bronze medals in the six competitions he has competed in so far.
“Sydney was a dream come true for me because it was my first time playing in the game. And even then the stadiums were full,” he recalls. “I was a young 17-year-old and didn’t play many minutes.
“But the difference between 2004 and 2024 is clear to see. We’re filling stadiums all the time now and wheelchair basketball has changed – it’s faster, there’s more contact and more points are scored. I just think it’s fantastic for wheelchair basketball in general.”
Great Britain have reached the quarter-finals against Australia after three straight wins in Group A, but Bywater is taking nothing for granted in what appears to be a wide-open competition. Defending champions USA have topped Group B, with Canada and Spain among other teams having impressed so far.
Bywater explained: “I know it’s a cliché, but from now on every game counts. I’ve been here several times and I know how difficult it is to win a Paralympic medal and get to the final.”
“There are a lot of teams here that want the same thing as us – we have the USA, Australia, Spain, France. We all want to get to the final day. We’ve had three good performances and I want us to keep getting better.”
“The level is super high now. We’ve seen some close games here, and in the game before that Canada beat Germany – with all due respect to Canada, who would have thought that?
“We had a lot of warm-up games beforehand and everyone beat everyone. That’s fantastic for the competition. It’s not like before, where you thought you might have an easy group game and you could give some players a rest – now we have to approach every game with 100 percent. You can’t take any game for granted.”
However, Bywater is encouraged by Great Britain’s performances so far ahead of the knockout stages of the competition.
He added: “It was a well-rounded team performance against France. Everyone played and we have two young players in the squad, two debutants, Lee (Fryer) and Pete (Cusack), who were fantastic, and our leaders in the team shone.”
“I’m super proud. It was a dream to be at the Paralympics, let alone seven, and I play as number seven. I still have the coaches’ trust to let me play. Every time I go on the field, I have the guys around me. They want me to take care of the ball, shoot – they still believe in me. That gives me a lot of confidence.”
