Susanna Wills repeated the words – “just give it a bit of time” – as she climbed back into the kayak.
It was a lesson she had learned long before she entered the boat: that the things which first feel impossible can, with patience and persistence, become instinctive.
The narrow hull offered little forgiveness. Without the security of training floats, the upturned kayak became a familiar sight as Wills learned the delicate balance of Para canoe, each capsize followed by another climb back aboard.
Many newcomers would have found the repetition frustrating, whereas Wills found it familiar. Rehabilitation had already taught her that frustration is rarely the enemy of progress.
Sport had always been a really big thing for me mentally. Once I started doing some more exercise again and focusing on something, it kind of gave me a bit of purpose.
Late last month, 33-year-old Wills made her World Championships debut in the KL2 kayak and VL2 va’a at the ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships in Poznań, Poland. Her results indicated great promise, finishing sixth in the A final of the KL1 and eighth in the A final of the VL2, both outcomes earning LA 2028 qualification points.
Less than three years after a life-changing mountain biking accident, Wills has emerged as one of Australian Para canoe’s fastest rising athletes.
“I’ve been quite determined my whole life to do well with whatever I’m doing,” she said.
“I think I’ve got consistency and I’m hard working and coachable. The more you can take on the feedback you’re given, the quicker you’ll get better.”
Growing up, sport was where Wills found challenge, purpose and enjoyment. Away from competition, she built a career as a structural engineer, applying the same analytical mindset to solving complex problems that she now applies to high performance sport.
Those qualities became invaluable on Mother’s Day in 2023 when a mountain biking accident left Wills with a fractured T12 vertebra and spinal cord injury, resulting in paralysis from the waist down.
Now I just want to keep getting better, keep learning and go faster.
Five months in hospital followed, before almost another year living in temporary accommodation while modifications were made to her home.
Rehabilitation demanded patience, but it also offered perspective.
“Sport had always been a really big thing for me mentally,” she said. “Once I started doing some more exercise again and focusing on something, it kind of gave me a bit of purpose.”
Watching Australia’s Para canoe team compete at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games sparked an unexpected thought.
“I watched it and thought, ‘That actually looks like a sport I’d enjoy,'” she said.
Not long afterwards, Wills travelled to the Gold Coast to paddle for the first time. The learning curve was steep, but the challenge never intimidated her.
“Can I do a little bit better today? Can I increase my pace just a little bit more?”
Working with Paddle Australia’s National Para Canoe Head Coach, Anna Wood, Wills chased improvement in small details – adjust the stroke, steady the boat, listen, repeat. She has since relocated from Brisbane to the Gold Coast to immerse herself in the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) Para Unit, accelerating her development under Wood’s guidance.
The environment suited Wills perfectly and national team selection soon followed.
So too did her international debut at the World Cup in Brandenburg, where she finished sixth in the women’s KL 200m.
“It was pretty surreal,” she said. “Before my accident, it wasn’t really something I’d ever thought about – but to actually represent Australia was pretty cool.
“Now I just want to keep getting better, keep learning and go faster.”
Just think about all the things that were really hard when you first had your accident and now you just do them second nature.
Looking back on the challenges she has overcome, Wills often reminds herself of how far she has come.
“Just think about all the things that were really hard when you first had your accident and now you just do them second nature,” she said.
In many ways, the upturned kayak has become the perfect metaphor for Wills’ journey.
Paralympics Australia is only able to continue doing its work driving the Paralympic Movement forward in Australia because of the generous support it receives from Government, Corporate Partners and donors.
The focus continues to be on delivering teams to each Summer and Winter Paralympic Games and supporting Para athletes as they enter and progress through the Para sport system and into their post-sporting careers.
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