August 16, 2006 - All in the Family
One of the greatest parts about being at the full team training camp is having the opportunity to spend more time with the other adaptive team members who are not on my boat. Sometimes I can get a little myopic when it comes to focusing on just my training and just the work of my four, but it’s good to be here and to share with other athletes.
A little explaining is probably useful at this point. There will actually be four adaptive events at the Fisa World Championships. I am part of what is called the “LTA four+.” This is the boat for athletes who have full leg, trunk, and arm ability. In our case, we have two blind rowers and two amputee rowers. By rule, only two blind rowers are allowed on any crew and there must be at least two female rowers on the boat. I’m told the latter is a political move to force some less-progressive nations to include women in sport. It might change in future years, but not until after the 2008 Paralympics.
The other three events are all in sculls. There is the TA (trunk and arm) double and the arms-only men’s and women’s singles. All three events used fixed seat shells.
The fixed seat rowers on our team are all very capable athletes, and fun people, too. The double, Scott and Angela, have won gold at worlds three times. Both are fairly relaxed off the water, but also extremely focused athletes. Scott, in particular, has a great whit and a semi-sarcastic sense of humor that I find especially amusing. He’s the kind of person who can both dish out and take a heavy dose of good-natured kidding, so I find myself going back and forth with him quite often. He owns an ’89 Porsche, a hybrid Toyota Prius, and an old-school AMC jeep; all of which are red. He tells me that the Prius balances out the terrible gas mileage and environmental damage of the other two vehicles.
The best descriptor I can think of for Angela is “tough.” Not only does she race in the double, but she also competes as a world class surfer—her corn-rowed hair stands as testament to her boarder spirit—and she’s currently training to do a trans-Atlantic row with a few other adaptive rowers. She told me all about the adventure when we chatted during selection camp. Sixty days of rowing, two hours on, two hours off. I can’t even imagine. It is not surprising that she is a former U.S. Marine.
Our singles rowers remain the most mysterious to me, mostly because I don’t get to row with them and because they aren’t around me too much. Ron, the male rep, is finishing his training out West because of a job switch and Patty, the female representative, is staying in a hotel outside the city with Angela.
I have not met anyone who doesn’t absolutely love and respect Ron. He is Mr. Cool in the world of adaptive rowing. An elite level rower before he was injured and lost the use of his legs and back, he hasn’t lost anything on the water. It’s really impressive to see him cranking out 2:00 splits with just his arms on the erg. It’s also insane to talk to him about his race strategy, which includes a start whose rating can jump into the 60 and 70 stroke-per-minute range. He deserves to win; I really hope that this is his year.
Patty is relatively new to the sport of rowing, but not new to adaptive athletics. She started out as a wheelchair basketball and tennis player. Fortunately, she saw the light and came over to the far superior pursuit of rowing. Like I said, I haven’t gotten to spend too much time with her, yet, but I know that will change in the coming days as we travel abroad.
As a blind person, I really don’t like it when people tell me that they are “amazed” or “inspired” by me when I’m just doing things that are normal to me and to other regular people. I’m learning to be a little more compassionate towards the awe-struck, though, as I watch our fixed seat rowers. It’s proof that, even for one who is himself adaptive, we all find it difficult to comprehend how others can thrive without abilities that we take for granted. Because I respect them, though, I do not see the scullers or any of my other team mates as “special” for any reason other than their elite rowing ability. We all expect world championship quality rowing from each other, none of us is here for fun, and no one will be satisfied with just “participating” in Eton. Legs, eyes, arms, and backs can’t affect heart, and heart is what every champion lives on.
A little explaining is probably useful at this point. There will actually be four adaptive events at the Fisa World Championships. I am part of what is called the “LTA four+.” This is the boat for athletes who have full leg, trunk, and arm ability. In our case, we have two blind rowers and two amputee rowers. By rule, only two blind rowers are allowed on any crew and there must be at least two female rowers on the boat. I’m told the latter is a political move to force some less-progressive nations to include women in sport. It might change in future years, but not until after the 2008 Paralympics.
The other three events are all in sculls. There is the TA (trunk and arm) double and the arms-only men’s and women’s singles. All three events used fixed seat shells.
The fixed seat rowers on our team are all very capable athletes, and fun people, too. The double, Scott and Angela, have won gold at worlds three times. Both are fairly relaxed off the water, but also extremely focused athletes. Scott, in particular, has a great whit and a semi-sarcastic sense of humor that I find especially amusing. He’s the kind of person who can both dish out and take a heavy dose of good-natured kidding, so I find myself going back and forth with him quite often. He owns an ’89 Porsche, a hybrid Toyota Prius, and an old-school AMC jeep; all of which are red. He tells me that the Prius balances out the terrible gas mileage and environmental damage of the other two vehicles.
The best descriptor I can think of for Angela is “tough.” Not only does she race in the double, but she also competes as a world class surfer—her corn-rowed hair stands as testament to her boarder spirit—and she’s currently training to do a trans-Atlantic row with a few other adaptive rowers. She told me all about the adventure when we chatted during selection camp. Sixty days of rowing, two hours on, two hours off. I can’t even imagine. It is not surprising that she is a former U.S. Marine.
Our singles rowers remain the most mysterious to me, mostly because I don’t get to row with them and because they aren’t around me too much. Ron, the male rep, is finishing his training out West because of a job switch and Patty, the female representative, is staying in a hotel outside the city with Angela.
I have not met anyone who doesn’t absolutely love and respect Ron. He is Mr. Cool in the world of adaptive rowing. An elite level rower before he was injured and lost the use of his legs and back, he hasn’t lost anything on the water. It’s really impressive to see him cranking out 2:00 splits with just his arms on the erg. It’s also insane to talk to him about his race strategy, which includes a start whose rating can jump into the 60 and 70 stroke-per-minute range. He deserves to win; I really hope that this is his year.
Patty is relatively new to the sport of rowing, but not new to adaptive athletics. She started out as a wheelchair basketball and tennis player. Fortunately, she saw the light and came over to the far superior pursuit of rowing. Like I said, I haven’t gotten to spend too much time with her, yet, but I know that will change in the coming days as we travel abroad.
As a blind person, I really don’t like it when people tell me that they are “amazed” or “inspired” by me when I’m just doing things that are normal to me and to other regular people. I’m learning to be a little more compassionate towards the awe-struck, though, as I watch our fixed seat rowers. It’s proof that, even for one who is himself adaptive, we all find it difficult to comprehend how others can thrive without abilities that we take for granted. Because I respect them, though, I do not see the scullers or any of my other team mates as “special” for any reason other than their elite rowing ability. We all expect world championship quality rowing from each other, none of us is here for fun, and no one will be satisfied with just “participating” in Eton. Legs, eyes, arms, and backs can’t affect heart, and heart is what every champion lives on.
posted by Jamie at 11:23 AM
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