Vicky Tolfrey BSc PhD
Reader in Applied Disability Sport & Director of the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport
Contact details
Room: JB.0.09
Phone: +44 (0)1509 226386
Fax: +44 (0)1509 226301
Email: V.L.Tolfrey@lboro.ac.uk
Background
Vicky completed her first degree in Sport Science at Manchester Metropolitan University in 1993 for which she was awarded the Exercise and Sport Science Department prize for best all-round Sport Scientist. Following this, Vicky was appointed as the Project Assistant for the British Wheelchair Racing Association (BWRA) whilst completing a part-time PhD. In 1999, she completed her PhD entitled 'Pushing economy and wheelchair propulsion technique of wheelchair racers'. After completion of the work with the BWRA, Vicky went on to work with the Great Britain Men's wheelchair basketball team for four years. Vicky is a BASES Accredited and has provided applied sport science support to Paralympic athletes since 1994, and has attended the Atlanta, Sydney Paralympic Games, the Cyprus holding camp for Athens 2004 and the Far East holding camp for Beijing 2008. She led the Beijing Acclimatisation Group, a multi-disciplinary team of sports scientists and healthcare experts which developed individualised support programmes for each of the Paralympic sports, ensuring that each team was best prepared for the challenge of Beijing 2008. She acts as a sport science consultant for the Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Association and served as a member of the International Paralympic Committee Sport Science and Medicine Group 2005-2010. In 2005, Vicky received a BASES Award for Good Practice in Applied Sport Science and in 2011 was awarded a BASES Fellowship for her work in Disability Sport and mentorship of others in this area. She is the Director of the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport which is based at Loughborough University.
Research Interests
Disability sport, wheelchair propulsion kinematics, elite sports performance physiology, exercise testing and interpretation, training and performance.
Vicky teaches on the BSc physiology undergraduate programme.
Selected Recent Publications
- Mason, B.S., Porcellato, L. van der Woude L.H.V. and Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. (2010). A qualitative examination of wheelchair configuration for optimal mobility performance in wheelchair sports: A pilot study, Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine.42, 141-149.
- Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. and Crosland J. (2010). The nutritional practices of competitive wheelchair games players. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly. 27, 47-59.
- Goosey-Tolfrey,V.L., Lenton, J. Goddard, J, Oldfield, V, Tolfrey, K Eston, R. (2010). Regulating intensity using perceived exertion in spinal cord injured participants. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 42(3), 608-613.
- Webborn, N., Price, M.J., Castle, P. C. and Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. (2010). Cooling strategies improve intermittent sprint performance in the heat of athletes with tetraplegia. British Journal of Sports Medicine.44(6):455-460.
- Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. Foden, E., Perrott, C., and Degens, H. (2010). Effects of inspiratory muscle training on respiratory function and repetitive sprint performance in wheelchair basketball players. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 44, 665-668.
- Croft, L., Dybrus S., Lenton, J. and Goosey-Tolfrey, V. (2010). A comparison of the physiological demands of wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. 5(3):301-315.
- Rittweger, J., Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L., Cointry, G., Ferretti, J.L. (2010). Structural analysis of the human tibia in men with spinal cord injury by tomographic (pQCT) serial scans. Bone. 47(3): 511-518.
- Lenton, J.P, Fowler, N.E., Woude, van der L.H.V., Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. (2010). Effects of 4-weeks asynchronous hand-rim wheelchair practice on mechanical efficiency and timing. Disability and Rehabilitation. 32(26):2155-64
- Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. (2010). Supporting the Paralympic Athlete: Focus on wheeled sports. Disability and Rehabilitation. 32 (26), 2237-43.
- Leicht, C., Sharpe, G., Smith, P.M., Perret, C and Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. (2010). The effects of a respiratory warm-up on the physical capacity and ventilatory response in paraplegic individuals. European Journal of Applied Physiology. Dec;110(6):1291-8.
- Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L., West, M., Lenton, J.L. and Tolfrey, K. (2011). Influence of varied tempo music on wheelchair mechanical efficiency following 3-wk practice. International Journal of Sports Medicine. 32(2), 126-131.
- Mason, B.M., Woude, van der L.H.V., de Groot, S. and Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. (2011). The effects of camber on the ergonomics of propulsion in wheelchair athletes. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 43(2), 319-326.
- Leicht, C., Bishop, N.C and Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. (2011). Mucosal immune responses to treadmill exercise in elite wheelchair athletes. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 43(8), 1414-1421.
- Leicht, C., Bishop, N.C and Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. (2011). Submaximal exercise responses in tetraplegic, paraplegic and non spinal cord injured elite wheelchair athletes. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports. 2011 May 23. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0838.2011.01328.x. [Epub ahead of print].
- Mason, B.M., Woude, van der L.H.V., Tolfrey, K., Lenton, J.P. and Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. (2012). Effects of Wheel and Hand-rim Size on Sub-maximal Propulsion in Wheelchair Athletes. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 44(1), 126-134.
- Leicht, C., Bishop, N.C., Paulson, T., Griggs, K. and Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. (2011, in press). Salivary immunoglobulin A during five months of training in elite tetraplegic athletes. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance.
- Mason, B.M., Woude, van der L.H.V., Tolfrey, K. and Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. (2012). Effects of Camber on Wheeled Mobility Performance. International Journal of Sports Medicine.33, 199-204.
You can view a fuller publications list on the University Publications Database.
External Activities
Selected External Research-Related Roles:
Invited reviewer for papers submitted to Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, European Journal of Applied Physiology, International Journal of Sports Medicine, Journal of Applied Physiology, Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, Journal of Sports Sciences, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.
Selected Invited Conference Keynote and Speaker Presentations:
- Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. (2006). Applied Sport Science Research in Paralympic Sport. Invited presentation at Stellenbosch University, October 2006.
- Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L., Price, M.J. and Campbell, I. (2008). Nutritional strategies and the application to Paralympic Sport. Chair and Speaker – Invited International Paralympic Committee Symposium. International Convention on Science, Education and Medicine in Sport, China, August 2008.
- Goosey-Tolfrey, V.L. (2009). Supporting the Paralympic Athlete: Focus on Wheeled Sports. Invited Keynote at the 4th International State-of-the-art Congress – Rehabilitation: Mobility, Exercise and Sports. Free University, Amsterdam, April 2009.
Selected Recent Research Projects and Sources of Funding:
- £300,000 awarded by the The Peter Harrison Foundation for a 2 year extension of the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport (2011-2013). Principle Investigator. Co-investigators are Prof. Biddle and Dr Howe.
- £600,000 awarded by the The Peter Harrison Foundation for a 3 year extension of the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport. Principle Investigator. Co-investigators are Prof. Biddle, Dr Brett Smith and Dr Howe.
- £15,000 awarded by GlaxoSmithKline Nutritional Healthcare (2006-2007) - Research Project: To examine the dietary habits of competitive wheelchair athletes.
- £75,500 awarded by the British Tennis Federation (2005-2008). Physiological profiling and preparation for the Paralympics in Beijing 2008.
- £100,000 awarded by UK Sport for Graduate Innovation Programme Studentship with the British Paralympic Association (2007-2010). Wheelchair configurations and optimising performance.
- £26,069 awarded by MEDILINK East Midlands Limited (2009-2010) - Research Project: The effects of specific respiratory warm-up on the physical capacity and exertional dyspnea of persons with a spinal cord injury.
- £19,000 awarded by Youth Sport Trust (2010) - Investigation into the support requirements of school aged G & T performers in disability sport.
- UKSport - An applied review of the physiological determinants of performance in upper body exercise in athletes with a disability.
- £25,079 awarded by the GBWBA (2009-2012). Physiological profiling and preparation for the Paralympics in London 2012.
- £294,447 – (2011) A 3-year Coca-Cola Active Healthy Living Grant with a research focus to encourage disabled people to become ‘fit for life, fit for sport and fit for success’. PI Dr Vicky Tolfrey with CI’s Dr Brett Smith and Dr Lettie Bishop.