Brown, who competed as a water polo athlete, has spent 25 years in elite sport and has previously worked as Paralympics GB performance manager.

For the past five years, she has worked as performance director for British Handball where she developed the programmes for both the men's and women's teams ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

"I am absolutely delighted to be returning to Paralympic sport and the opportunity to be Performance Director for GBWR," said Brown.

"It is a very exciting time for wheelchair rugby as it capitalises on the performance foundations and interest from the London Paralympics.

"UK Sport has shown faith in the foundations with the funding award and I am really looking forward to working with everyone in the sport - players, coaches, officials, volunteers and the board to continue the work of building a sustainable performance pathway to achieve the ultimate aim of podium success."


The appointment comes after the Britain's wheelchair rugby team finished fifth at London 2012.

"This is an exciting and important appointment and I am absolutely delighted that Lorraine is joining our team," said GBWR chief executive David Pond.

"She has an incredibly impressive background in high performance sport and her leadership and experience will be invaluable as we build a sustainable performance system and get GB into the medal range at Rio."

Brown is the first of several new appointments within GBWR, which hopes to announce a new head coach later this month.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]