‘We need to keep him training’: Harry jokes about UK’s star Invictus athlete
Harry has been in Australia promoting his Invictus Games
Prince Harry has joked about keeping his star Invictus Games competitor training hard – by not telling him the opposition think he is unbeatable.
Former Invictus captain David Wiseman won a clutch of medals in the pool and at other events when he led the UK team at the Games staged in Orlando, Florida, last year.
And when Harry visited the venues for the 2018 Games, being hosted by Sydney, he heard from one potential Australian Invictus Games competitor how Mr Wiseman is one of their feared opponents.
David Neagle, 39, a former Australian Defence Force officer, met the Prince at the aquatic centre in the Sydney Olympic Park as he trained in the pool with others.
He said about the former UK Invictus captain: “He’s just a phenomenal athlete, I remember seeing him walking out to the pool and thinking, ‘has he competed in the Commonwealth Games?’ He’s just huge and he swam like nothing else.
“Somebody made a bit of a crack that we’ve still got a bit of work to do to catch Dave Wiseman and Harry said: ‘I’m not going to tell him that, we need to keep him training’.”
On Wednesday, Harry launched the Sydney Invictus Games, the latest instalment of his Paralympic-style competition for injured and sick military personnel and veterans.
In Australia in 2018, more than 500 competitors from 17 nations will compete in 11 adaptive sports across Greater Sydney, including Sydney Olympic Park and on and around the city’s harbour.
The Invictus Games, which this year will be held in Toronto, Canada, has been an important long-term project of Harry’s public work, and he is patron of the Invictus Games Foundation, which oversees the delivery of the tournament.
During the visit to the aquatic centre, the Prince met Pilot Officer Nathan Parker, 21, who lost part of an arm in an accident.
He said about Harry: “He’s so invested in the Games but also the people and the veterans behind it, he’s just so down to earth and he just wants to help people recover – he’s phenomenal.”
Harry has been in Australia promoting his Invictus Games and during the launch of the event on Wednesday he was drenched to the skin when he went on a walkabout.
Patrick Kidd, chief executive of Invictus Games Sydney 2018, joked: “We gave him a right royal drenching out in the harbour.
“It was an unbelievable couple of days and we got some fantastic ideas from him, on how to get the best from these fantastic facilities.”
Harry has spent five days on his overseas tour and earlier in the week visited Singapore to play in a charity polo match in aid of his Africa based Sentebale charity, which supports youngsters with HIV.
