| Bruce Thwaite | |
| Full Name: | Bruce Oliver Thwaite |
Bruce Oliver Thwaite (2 December 1923 – 21 September 1991) was an Australian Paralympic competitor. During World War II, he sustained a spinal injury when he landed on a tree after parachuting from a bomber plane over Germany.[1] He was treated at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital.[1]
He first represented Australia at the 1957 International Stoke Mandeville Games in archery.[2] At the 1962 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Perth, he won gold medals in the Men's Swimming 50 m Crawl Class B and Men's Swimming 50 m Breaststroke Class B events, a silver medal in the Weightlifting Class B Middleweight event and a bronze medal in the Men's Precision Archery event.[3] He competed at the 1964 Tokyo Paralympics in swimming and weightlifting. He then took up lawn bowls.[2] At the 1974 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Dunedin, he won a gold medal in the Men's Singles event and a silver medal in the Men's Pairs event.[2] At the 1976 Toronto Games, he teamed with Eric Magennis to win the gold medal in the Men's Pairs wh event.[4] [5] The first New South Wales Paraplegic Sports Club meeting was held in his jewellery shop in the Sydney suburb of Concord.[6]