As the 2025 Invictus Games played out across Vancouver and Whistler, athletes like Lieutenant Commander Steve Irwin brought their competition and their stories to UBC.
The Invictus Games were established by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex in 2014 as an opportunity for veterans and active servicepeople to compete in international athletics as a part of ongoing recovery from injury or illness. Occurring every two years, this year’s games brought over 550 athletes from 25 nations to Vancouver to compete across 11 adaptive sports.
Irwin represented the United Kingdom in skiing, wheelchair rugby and three freestyle swimming events — the last of which were held at the UBC Aquatic Centre. Irwin has been an active serviceman in the Royal Navy for 14 years, spending 11 of those years as a helicopter pilot.
“I unfortunately can't fly anymore because of my injury but I'm still working with helicopters, looking at upgrades, buying new helicopters, radars, etc. … I'm still in that world,” Irwin said in an interview with The Ubyssey.
In April 2022, Irwin had an operation to remove his left psoas, which had been discovered to contain a sarcoma. The psoas is a long back muscle that runs from the pelvis to the top of the femur, and gives significant support to the abdominal muscles.
“Unfortunately, that caused nerve damage, so I can't feel or use my left upper part of my left leg, so my quad muscle is dead on my left hand side.”
A lifelong athlete, sports constituted a pivotal part of his rehabilitation journey.
“During my rehab process, I tried a lot of wheelchair sports; I tried wheelchair basketball, tried sitting volleyball, archery — everything like that. But I think the aggressive nature and the fast paced pace of rugby really, really, really captured me.”
Sports have long been used in rehabilitation regimens, particularly for veterans. Besides the role that athletics have in boosting physical function following an injury, playing sports also fosters social connection, according to the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport.
“Rehab can be very, very boring but just to manage to bring sport into it, to have such a competition,” Irwin said. “[It’s exciting] to have something to focus on; to break up that sort of monotony of rehab.”
It was in rehab that his recovery officer suggested he apply for the Games.
“We had four trial weekends where we had to go and thankfully, I was picked for the team after that which was good. I wasn't expecting it so it was a real honour to be chosen,” he continued.
Irwin brings to the Games not just feats of athleticism, but honour for his country too.
“You see all your team walking around in the Team UK kits; it’s such a special feeling and I’m very proud to be British,” Irwin said.
Irwin competed at UBC Aquatic Centre last Friday in three races — placing tenth, seventh and third respectively — and supported Sarcoma UK in all his competitions. But it’s not all about winning.
“[Sports] brings out the best in people; the competition, the camaraderie,” he said. “There's so many para sports or assisted sports that you can get involved in. Just go give them a go. You might really turn out to love them.”
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