A YORK wheelchair athlete has thanked supporters who helped him keep a bid to boost his performance well on track.

Tiaan Bosch is busy competing and practising using a new racing chair he had specially made for him in Florida, which has already helped him shave seconds off his times.

Earlier this year The Press reported that Tiaan, 33, from Fulford, had appealed for help with finding about £3,000 to pay for the custom-made wheelchair.

His training had been restricted because he had to borrow a racing chair which was not made to his specifications and which he could only use for a limited time each week.

He had the new chair made in Florida after calculating it was worthwhile travelling to the US because the work would be done much more quickly and at a lower cost.

It then had to shipped back to Britain – but there was an immediate glitch because the new chair went missing for a week shortly after it was meant to have arrived at Heathrow.

However, Tiaan did not panic as he was sure such a bulky item would not simply disappear, and sure enough it turned up in a warehouse in Brussels.

Having got the chair back to York he is now on a busy training regime, including track training, partly at Huntington Stadium, gym work, then more work at home using rollers, as well as competing at events.

Tiaan said he was getting to know the other competitors, and was perhaps four to six seconds slower than those who had been racing for two to two-and-a-half years.

“I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself,” he said. “This time next year I want to be up there where the top guys are.”

Tiaan is concentrating on 100m and 200m races, though he is also doing 400m races to build up his stamina.

Shortly after getting his new chair he found he had shaved 25 seconds off his 400m time – which was already not that much over a minute – and he thanked everyone who had supported him in getting the money together for the chair.

“I’m enjoying it,” he said. “I’m just training, that’s the main thing, until I’m good enough to break out on the scene.”