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22
CHRIS McNICHOLL
GET TO KNOW:
CHRIS McNICHOLL
TEAM PHYSIO
HOW DID YOU GET INTO
PHYSIOTHERAPY?
I have two older sisters who are physios so the
profession runs in the family. I have always had an
interest in Science, and Biology, and have always
enjoyed sport, however I was fairly average at it.
I think I have ended up in sports physio because
I am fulfilling my sporting ambitions through
supporting the athletes and teams I work with
rather than competing myself! I was always
into Medicine and love sport- so sports physio
was a natural pathway for me. I completed my
undergraduate degree here at the University of
Ulster in 1996 and then subsequently completed
a Masters in Sports Physiotherapy at Cardiff
University.
After graduating I spent a year working in
Birmingham before I came home to work in the
NHS for five years - initially in the Royal and then
Down/Lisburn Trust. At that point I would say I
had almost had two careers - the 9-5 working in
Hospital Outpatients and then working evenings
and weekends as a Sports Physio. After this I
set up and ran a Private practice with my wife in
Magherafelt where we serviced a lot of local Club
Soccer, GAA and Rugby teams. My move into
working in Elite Sport came when I took a post
in 2007 at the Sports Institute Northern Ireland
- where I worked fulltime up until joining Ulster
Rugby this Summer.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR OLYMPIC
INVOLVEMENT?
During my time with SINI at Jordanstown I led
the Physiotherapy delivery in several different
programmes but Athletics, Boxing, Judo and
Cycling would have been the main sports that I
looked after. Over the years I spent a lot of time
working with Paddy Barnes, Michael Conlon
through their Olympic campaigns and also spent
a lot of time with Martin Irvine who became World
track cycling champion. Those guys have all
come so far in their careers, turning professional
etc. so it was nice to see them develop and finish
their Olympic campaigns before moving on.
Most recently, I was selected for Team GB as
one of the physios in the medical team. I spent a
month in Rio, which was an incredible experience
but it was hard work. My role was at the holding
camp, which was about a half hour flight from
Rio and that is where all the GB athletes would
come to prepare for their events. We had a full
training centre for swimming, athletics, rugby etc
- everything was set up from scratch. The British
Olympic Association spent millions developing
this training base, where the athletes would train
and only drop into Rio for their event two or three
days before, avoiding all the hype and allowing
them to remain focussed, which I have no doubt
contributed to their success. I would be having
my breakfast with Adam Peaty and then two days
later watch him smash a world record, it was an
incredible atmosphere to be in.
Highlights from Rio was definitely working with
the men’s rugby 7s team, who won a silver and
also the women’s 7s team - who were incredible
athletes. Other highlights were spending time with
all the GB sprinters, working with the modern
pentathlon squad and Belfast’s Patrick Huston an
archer - those guys were great.
WHAT WAS YOUR MOTIVATION TO
JOIN ULSTER?
Having spent the last 9 years with SINI, the
sports I had been working with had quite a small
number of athletes and thankfully not many
injuries occurred. So I actually just wanted to get
my hands on more injuries. My expertise and my
role here is the management of injuries and the
rehab of injuries so to be working within a full
contact sport with a large squad like Ulster was
a motivation. Another motivation was that I had
worked with a number of the players before in the
Sports Institute and I had always really admired
them and I got a sense that I wanted to come
here and challenge myself and be a part of the
team environment.
DESCRIBE YOUR ROLE WITHIN THE
MEDICAL TEAM?
My main role at Ulster Rugby is the rehabilitation
of players after injury up until they can join
the Strength and Conditioning staff (S&C) on
the pitch. I also assist Gareth Robinson with
the treatment of injured players and provide
matchday and pitchside cover for the games. I
have been really impressed with the collaboration
between the Medical, Science and S&C teams