PNZ members voted unanimously to award the accolade to Crichton at the national governing body’s Annual General Meeting in Auckland.

The New Zealander has given over 40 years of service and dedication to Paralympic sport, representing his country at four Paralympic Games, two as an athlete and two as a swimming coach.

Competing in swimming at the Stoke Mandeville 1984 Paralympic Games and Seoul 1988 edition, Crichton was one of New Zealand’s first Para-athletes to be fully integrated into an able-bodied training system and was one of the few at that time to be focused solely on a single sport.

His six-medal haul at the Paralympics is made up of one gold, three silvers and two bronzes.

Although his work coaching Para-swimmers dates back nearly 20 years, he is best known as the coach of New Zealand superstar Sophie Pascoe.

Under Crichton's direction, Pascoe has swam to 10 Paralympic medals including three golds at Beijing 2008 and the same again at London 2012.

Crichton was expected to break his partnership with Pascoe prior to London 2012 to coach in Timaru, but broke off the engagement at the last minute citing it as "crazy" to leave his coaching duties with his young prodigy.

Last year, he was appointed PNZ’s full-time performance coach for New Zealand’s Para-swimming programme, while outside of swimming, he has coached a number of national and international triathletes, and coached the Canterbury wheelchair basketball team in 2005.



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