I created a Windows application called UIAList. It’s open source and available on slohmaier/UIAList on GitHub.
It helps screenreader users by listing all available controls in the current window. The list can be searched. You can click, double click or focus the selected control.
In this first version all basic functionality is available. There might be some issues with the list or the click and focus actions. If so please open an issue on GitHub.
I attended my first international showdown tournament. I was very nervous and unfortunately that showed in the games. During the first group phase I lost all my matches and was put in the last group S. The 2nd day I had no games because of this. So I went shopping with my girlfriend in Bologna 😇 On the 3rd day I had 4 games and won all but the last one. My final result is 49 out of 52 men. It’s ok. Many thanks to Nicole for coaching me sometimes and now I know what to train for. My next tournament will be in November in Zurich.
Video in two times speed of the end of my last game:
Here are my results:
AUGUST 21, THURSDAY
Time: 8:00 – Table: 6
Lomaier Stefan vs Schmitt Florent
Set 1: 11-8; Set 2: 3-12; Set 3: 4-12; Set 4: 0-0; Set 5: 0-0
Winner: Schmitt FlorentTime: 10:30 – Table: 1
Lomaier Stefan vs Milaret Yohann
Set 1: 4-12; Set 2: 4-11; Set 3: 0-0; Set 4: 0-0; Set 5: 0-0
Winner: Milaret YohannTime: 12:30 – Table: 5
Di Bari Vincenzo vs Lomaier Stefan
Set 1: 11-3; Set 2: 12-6; Set 3: 0-0; Set 4: 0-0; Set 5: 0-0
Winner: Di Bari VincenzoTime: 16:00 – Table: 9
Bouilloux Franck vs Lomaier Stefan
Set 1: 11-3; Set 2: 12-6; Set 3: 0-0; Set 4: 0-0; Set 5: 0-0
Winner: Bouilloux FranckAUGUST 23, SATURDAY
Time: 9:00 – Table: 7
Lomaier Stefan vs Adriaensen Thomas
Set 1: 11-8; Set 2: 11-5; Set 3: 0-0; Set 4: 0-0; Set 5: 0-0
Winner: Lomaier StefanTime: 11:15 – Table: 2
Vercauteren Jirge vs Lomaier Stefan
Set 1: 10-13; Set 2: 11-5; Set 3: 8-11; Set 4: 0-0; Set 5: 0-0
Winner: Lomaier StefanTime: 12:45 – Table: 1
Bertrand Pierre vs Lomaier Stefan
Set 1: 0-11; Set 2: 0-11; Set 3: 0-0; Set 4: 0-0; Set 5: 0-0
Winner: Lomaier StefanTime: 15:45 – Table: 9
Harnandan Sergio vs Lomaier Stefan
Set 1: 4-11; Set 2: 12-10; Set 3: 5-11; Set 4: 0-0; Set 5: 0-0
Winner: Lomaier StefanTime: 16:45 – Table: 1
Lomaier Stefan vs Arbos Ginard Carlos
Set 1: 7-12; Set 2: 12-10; Set 3: 2-12; Set 4: 0-0; Set 5: 0-0
Winner: Arbos Ginard Carlos
After my slow start at the German ParaAthletic Championship the week before I wanted to run quick from the start. The temperature was similar. Around 34 degrees celsius. Very hot! This time the warmup was not rushed in any way and my trainer Carlos made a stride training the Tuesday before: start with quick and fast sprint strides to top speed and then switch to long speed preserving strides until the end. The was one other person in my race, which was way slower. So I basicly ran alone with Simon this time. No fast peiple running away from me this time.
The start was good this time and I kept the speed pretty well. 3-4 strides after the finish I fell… But the time was finally below 70: 68.23 seconds. Finally I managed a good 400m race as intended!
Video of start and finish (Don’t look at the fall at the end!):
On 14th of June I attendend the German ParaAthletic Championship 2025 in Leichlingen. I ran 400m again with Simon as my Guide. The day was very hot. Our preparation was a bit hurried, because I mixed up some times. But nonetheless we did a good warmup and went to the start. From the get go I held back a bit, because eof the 34 degress celsius. I just should’ve given it all. I did the bigger steps right from the start instaed of accelarating with smaller steps to top speed first. So in the end i got a new PB with 70.23, but my trainer and guide agreed I left some seconds on the track. Hope to do better next week in Vienna!
Here is a video with the start and finish of the race:
On May 17th I attended the Ludwig Jall Sportfest in the Dante Stadium in Munich. After the fall the week before in Regensburg (Read more) my goal for this reace was to not overpace in the beginning and use long strides for the race. This time I ran with Edi. He is one of my regular guides for track training outside. We had a good warm up and made some speed progression runs to the target pace for the race. This always helps me to note overpace. It also did this time. The start was a bit delayed. 4 times we heard “on your marks”, because there was a technical issue with the loud speaker.
But then it was resolved and we were off. We really hit the target pace well and powered through the whole 400m and finished in 70.6 seconds. A new personal best for me. At the medial ceremony we both got a gold medal. It really was a great race and I’m looking forward to the German para athletics champhionship in the middle of June!
I made a video of the race with my Meta Glasses and videos from my family:
On May 17th, I attended the Rolf Watter Sportfest in Regensburg with my guide, Simon. The race started quite late, at 18:30, but I was determined to run under 70 seconds. My start felt strong, and I was ready to give it my all. Unfortunately, I went out too fast and overpaced myself. My stride was too short and my frequency too high, which quickly caught up with me.
After 300 meters, I started to feel the lactate building up in my legs. By 350 meters, I began to stumble and ended up falling. 🙈 Nevertheless, I got back up and finished the race in 80.03 seconds—more than 10 seconds over my goal, and with scraped knees to show for it.
My next competition is in one week. I’ll focus on taking longer strides and pacing myself better. Onward and upward!
And here is a video of the start and my fall at the end:
Last year I was part of presenting Showdown in German television. The show is called: 1, 2 oder 3 with Elton. It’s a kids show, where children have to guess, which of the 3 answers for a question is correct. Bianca, a referee and myself presented the game and Elton asked a question about it. You can find the show here: https://www.zdf.de/kinder/1-2-oder-3/von-minigolf-eishockey-und-paddel-100.html The Showdown part starts around 15:20
This year the indoor German ParaAthletics championship took place in Erfurt again. But this year my trainer had another distance in mind for me. Not 3000m like las yer. Not 1500m as in the outdoor championship las year. Not 800m as in Augsburg.. I ran 400m.
My guide this year was Simon Pieper. He is a great athlete for long sprint, as 400m is called, himself. For 400m Simon really needs to mirror my legs and arms, so I’m not slowed down. Simon really did a great job with that in the training and the race!
I ran against 3 other man in a timed run. The race got of ok from lane 3. I think I could have done a better start. The first round was ok in lower 30 seconds range. After the 2nd corner we could change to lane 1 and in the 2nd we had to over take another runner, who overestimated himself. Unfortunately we lost speed, because we slowed down to his pace and accelerated after the corner again. After that it was the final corner and the finish line after 73.48 seconds. I was really happy all worked out with the starting block and the lane switch. Simon really did a great job! The time could have been better. But now I can top that in the outdoor events in the summer.
Last year was my first Showfown tournament and i came in second to last. This year I was keen to do better.
The tournament took place in Frankfurt in the Blindeninstitut. It was played on two Czech tables. One in a small room, which I preferred. The other in a gym hall in a nearby school. Especially with the used Dutch balls I had trouble hearing the balls well.
As an added distraction I hurt myself on my right thumb, which is on my racket-hand. It took a minor surgery to get the infection and pus out. Sometimes it really hurt during playing and I had to hold the racket in a different way to protect the wound as best as possible.
Nonetheless in the group phase I was a bit surprised, that I had a chance and actually won all games in the group phase. So after the first day I actually attended the quarter final, which I won too! The next day I played Horst from Kassel, who was too much for me. I won one set but lost the match. After that I played for third place an won. I’m pretty happy with my result. Let’s see what happens next year 🙂
Scoreboard for the tournament: https://showdown-turnier.de/index.php?TN=139&ad=results
German article: https://www.showdown-germany.de/2025/02/25/showdown-party-frankfurt/
AI generated song for the tournament:
If you want to become a downhillski guide for the blind in Germany, you can attend a training at blind.ski. Here is a promotional video:
