Three Finalists Named for 2006 USOC Paralympic Coach of the Year Award
US Paralympics - March 30, 2007

James Gumbert coached the U.S. team to the Gold medal at the 2006 IWRF World Championships.

The U.S. Olympic Committee has announced the nominees for its 2006 Coach of the Year awards. In the Paralympic Coach of the Year category, three finalists were named for their outstanding achievements last year: James Gumbert (Austin, Texas/wheelchair rugby), Ron Lykins (Stillwater, Minn./wheelchair basketball) and Julie O’Neill (Colorado Springs, Colo./swimming).

Gumbert led the 2006 U.S. Paralympics Wheelchair Rugby National Team to undefeated runs through the North American Cup and Canada Cup before winning the gold medal at the World Wheelchair Rugby Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand. The U.S. went 7-0 at Worlds, with two of those victories coming over New Zealand, the overall No. 1 seed entering the event.

Lykins led the 2006 U.S. Paralympics Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team to a silver medal at the Wheelchair Basketball World Championships in Amsterdam. The team won their first five games by an average of 26.6 points before falling to Canada, the four-time defending champions, in the gold-medal game.

O’Neill, head coach of the 2006 U.S. Paralympics Swimming National Team, led the U.S. team that won the overall medal count at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Swimming World Championships in Durban, South Africa. It was the first time the U.S. had won the medal count at an IPC World Championships or Paralympic Games in the sport of swimming. Twenty of the 25 athletes on the roster finished with at least one medal, and three of the five who did not medal had at least one fourth-place finish.