Kenneth Cairns

Discipline: Swimming

Inducted to Hall of Fame: 2018

KENNNETH 'KENNY' CAIRNS competed and medalled at five Paralympic Games between 1984 and 2004. His most successful were in Stoke Mandeville in 1984 where he won four golds and one silver. Between 1990 and 2006 Cairns won a total of 16 IPC World Championship medals including seven golds and also won a further 21 medals at European level, with 12 golds among the total. He retired just prior to the Beijing Paralympic Games in 2008 but stayed involved in the sport as he continually put his support behind Paralympic Swimming, and always faithfully supported local and national swimming galas organised by Scottish Disiability Swimming all over the country. And a chance meeting with a young Andy Mullen circa 2007 inspired the latter to pursue his own swimming dreams.

Cairns was awarded an MBE in 2001 for services to disability swimming and was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.

In his spare time Kenny loves music and is a very talented harmonica player, evidenced by the fact he won the jazz section of the 2009 National Championships.

Achievements