Volunteer Week: The Classifier Who Changed A Paralympic Medallist’s Life

Dayna Crees was “in a pretty flat space”, according to her physiotherapist Tanja Spencer.  

‘You need to stretch; you need to do strength work’, Spencer would urge the then-pre-teen. Without such intervention, Crees’ hereditary condition would almost certainly deteriorate.  

But there was a problem.  

“It’s hard for a 10-11-12 year old to hear that sort of stuff,” Spencer said. “I always felt like I was just adding more onto her plate. 

“She’d try really hard. She’d come back to clinic and be like, ‘I was good for a month but then I stopped’.  

“So, I started to reflect on how you really need to work towards something to give it meaning – ‘I’m doing this for a fun run’, or ‘I’m doing this so I can reach a goal that I set’.  

“It led Dayna and I to start talking about that and eventually she said she was open to giving athletics a try.” 

That conversation had life-changing implications. Not only was it the foundation of Crees’ Para athletics career – which has already yielded medals at Paralympic and World Championship level – it also set Spencer on a path to becoming an athletics classifier, a role she described as “an absolute joy” which has “such a huge impact on someone’s whole belief about themself”.  

This Volunteer Week, Paralympics Australia acknowledges Australia’s classifier community, volunteers who apply their professional knowledge to creating pathways for people with a disability to compete fairly in sport.  

As part of the Federal Government’s Para System Uplift, the national classification system is undergoing major improvements, removing bottlenecks and allowing more people with disability to gain the many benefits of sport involvement. But classifiers remain unpaid, many juggling regular work alongside their passion for service.  

In Crees’ case, Spencer’s dedication helped launch an international sporting career.  

“She always told me that if I didn’t do my exercises, I could end up using a wheelchair,” the 24-year-old said. “But, beyond that, if I didn’t have the support of Tanja learning about classification with me and my family, I don’t think I’d still be competing.  

“She’s played a crucial role in understanding and learning about Para sport and advocating for me to be involved. She’s somebody that I pretty much owe all of this to.” 

Yet, Spencer’s interest lies further towards the grass roots, in provisional classification.  

“For me, it’s about just getting kids started,” she said. 

“I’m interested in doing things that smooth the way and make it easier for people to get involved.”  

Spencer had long considered physical activity at any level important for her patients and she set up a running group at the children’s hospital where she was working.  

It led to a visit from Athletics Victoria representatives, who introduced Spencer to classification.  

“It became clear to me that the power of classification was way more profound than me just helping my clients run,” she said.  

“When the kids that I was working with were classified, they’d run in a school athletics carnival and actually have success. They could go on to a regional competition and get into the school newsletter or stand up in front of the school at assembly with all the other kids that were representing their school.  

“They went from being a kid that was like, ‘I suck at sport, I always come last’ to it completely flipping, to ‘I’m really good at sport for a person with my disability’.  

“They started to understand that it was unfair for them to race against kids that didn’t have a disability.”  

That change in self-perception, Spencer said, meant children were much more likely to try sports and stick at them if or when the going got tough.  

Crees was one of those youngsters who’d finish last or near last in her races. But, after Spencer filled out the paperwork for her to receive a provisional classification, everything changed.  

Spencer explained the way it could work.  

“A PE teacher, for instance, can look at the time the student ran at the school carnival, go to School Sport Victoria and compare the time to other students who have a classification. If the time is good enough, they’ll move up and experience the feeling of success in sport.” 

Higher up the chain are multi-class events, where children with different classifications compete directly against each other. Beyond that, at national level, the process formalises to include a classification panel.  

“When I talk to my clients, I say to them, ‘It’s a bit unfair that you have to run against kids that haven’t got exactly the same body as you’,” said Spencer, who now balances work as a Pathways Specialist at Paralym. 

“Those other kids don’t have to go into hospital to see a physio. They don’t have to wear orthotics. They don’t have to have injections and all that stuff. Having a classification means that we are comparing your results to other people whose bodies work just like yours.” 

It’s sound advice. Among the Australian team that competed at the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi last year, three – Jordan Fairweather, Liam Kernick and Crees – heard those words or similar from Spencer as one of her clients.  

“It creates an opportunity where kids are willing to give things a go,” she said.  

“To look back and be like, ‘Wow, these little conversations, things like a running group and facilitating classification have meant that they’ve all gone on to do amazing things’.” 

Crees won bronze in the javelin throw F34 at the Championships in New Delhi, consolidating the bronze she won at the Paris Paralympics the previous year, her debut Games.  

She had started as an ambulant athlete. Over time, as her condition changed, she focused on throwing events and, eventually, moved to seated throws.  

“It was really lovely to see her then coming back into clinic with her medals,” Spencer said. “There were photos of her in the newspaper.  There was such a sense of pride and accomplishment.  

“The impact on her has been more than wellbeing, it’s been physical. She’s strong and balanced because of sport. It’s amazing.  

“With such a sense of pride within herself, she has the capacity to give back. She’s just started coaching a kid who has the same health condition as her, which is pretty amazing.” 

By David Sygall, Paralympics Australia.

Published 21 May, 2026.