People in the Places

One of the questions I get asked most often is, "What is your favorite place you've been?" Well I'm going to fess up that there have been a lot of places that I've been that initially repelled me. I still went there, but my first impression was that I couldn't imagine ever living there.

Here are some of my initial reactions to places I've been.

1) Cincinnati Ohio - I went to the boathouse on the Flushing River and it was SO steep and long to get to the water, there was no running water at the boathouse (one port-a-potty) and it was just plain HOT.

2) Lincoln/Omaha Nebraska, Oklahoma City (or most any midwest location) - WIND. I don't know how to describe this to you. I felt like I was actually sailing with my boat catching the wind and throwing me all over the place while driving. Let alone try rowing if you're lucky enough to find a body of water. Most of the bodies of water are quite pond-like. Small, muddy, wet entries, maybe some lily-pads to get through.

2) San Francisco California - Microclimates! What are these? If I drive 10 miles the temperature changes possibly 20 degrees? How can you live with that? How do you dress? This is confusing. Let alone the real estate market. $3300/mth for a single efficiency in town - are you kidding me?!

3) Santa Barbara California - A place in serious drought. Do not use water if you go to California. As a matter of fact, plan to bring your own. Lake Cachuma nearby is at 20% and I can't imagine the college team even rowing on it. Lake Casitas isn't much better. It was at 50% when I was there forcing us to carry boats across what used to be the Olympic course that is now dry land. It's so dry in fact that the old town that flooded is almost visible again. The road leading to it is now walk-able. Gorgeous town, but not really a place for rowers.

4) Phoenix Arizona - There is literally no grass. NO GRASS! Bundle was perplexed at the very least. She would look at me and very clearly communicate, "Where the hell am I supposed to go to the bathroom mom?!?" It's also incredibly hot.

5) Houston Texas & Atlanta Georgia - These cities are HUGE. Not compact huge, but spraul huge. They go on forever. From one side to the other could take almost two hours. How is that a city? These cities are larger than some states.

6) New Orleans Louisiana - I have been here a bunch of times, but never in the thick of summer. I say thick quite literally. This place is a marsh. Yes, that should be obvious, but it's really not until you go in August/ September. The marshy wetness soaks you in every possible way. It just sits on you.

7) New England/Northeast anywhere - The cities are daunting. The driving is insane. The logistics to do anything seem never-ending. Days are shortened because of so much travel time. And the states are confusing. When I drive for five hours and pass through five metropolitans I call those cities. Here they are called states. Basically each state is a city (or maybe two).

8) New York City - So overwhelming. It goes on forever. So many unknowns of how to handle things.

These were my first impressions. After thinking these things, I really was wondering what I would find when I met people, and was curious to find out why they lived here. What I found is that there are some pretty amazing people in these places. As soon as I went rowing with a sculler or group, observed a practice, met up with a coach or some athletes, visited with friend(s) who lived there, and/or talked to some locals, I found that it really wasn't so bad after all - maybe even became kind of awesome.

The place grew on me because the people acted as the best spin marketing. They turned my impression on its head and many times even got me thinking about living there. "Sure, this could work."

My family has lived in a lot of places: Columbus OH, Pittsburgh PA, Durham NC, Oxford ENG, Seattle WA, Austin TX, Atlanta GA, Baltimore MD, Essex CT, Charleston SC. I have loved a lot of them and disliked some of them. Some I liked and then disliked and others I HATED and then LOVED. All cities have things that are great and things that are imperfect. The city itself really doesn't matter all that much. What does matter are the people. The people are the ones you will interact with. What are they like? What values does that city or does the community have at the core of its culture? These are the things that matter.

Living on a beach somewhere sounds lovely, but I'd sure hate to live there with a bunch of stuck up snobs who only sun bathe. Living with passionate, kind, creative and intelligent people who contribute to their community I could do pretty much anywhere - desert, mountain top, concrete cell...etc. I have learned that I could really live most anywhere at this point. My view of attractive location has become even broader.

I'm interested to see where I will end up after this trip. God only knows at this point, but I know I'll be happy so long as I can be around some of these amazing people I've been visiting.

Classifications & Expectations

• If someone is tall does that mean he or she will be good at basketball?

• If someone is a female rower in high school does that give her the right to a college scholarship?

•  If someone has a disability does that give him or her the right to go to the Paralympics?

Has the answer to these questions changed somewhat over time? As of 2014, I think the answer to all of these is “No,” but perhaps even 10 years ago some of these might have been answered with a "Maybe."

There are some key factors that apply across the board for AB (able-body) and adaptive sports to help athletes get to the next or highest level.

1. Someone’s inherent or genetic physicality can be a huge advantage. The body you start with is an important factor. You can probably imagine a stereotypical body type for these sports: Gymnasts, Swimmers, Rowers, Softball, Track. What you just pictured are probably pretty different for each one. Physical ability means current baseline physicality: your body as it currently functions including your heart, lungs, brain, muscles, limbs…etc. Some of these are permanent based on your genes, or your injury. Others may be able to be developed additionally through training efforts.
2. Age. Someone who is in their 20s probably has an advantage over someone in their 50s. People peak at different times and rowers many times can peak even into their 30s. 
3. Training is then a huge factor. An athlete who trains six times a week probably has an advantage over someone who trains twice a week. Are you doing sport-specific training? Cardio only? Weight training? Do you have a training plan that makes sense for maximal development? Some phrases used by great coaches that show this include: “What do you think our competitors are doing today?” “We are going to out-train our competitors,” “A day off, is a day given to our competitors,” and “If you want to win, you have to do more than the people you will meet on the line on race day” 
4. Biomechanics and rigging mechanics matter. An athlete who races a Fixed Seat with oars or riggers set for an LTA athlete is at a disadvantage. Every athlete is different in terms of arm length, body height, weight, reach, strapping requirements…etc. These are individual factors that must be taken into consideration. Getting a seat, oars and riggers that are functional for power application is key. This might not matter as much at the recreational level, but when you get up in the high performance group, this could make or break you.
5. There is the psychology of sport. An athlete who has the mental ability to push him/herself into handling a higher level of lactic acid build up and pain has an advantage. An athlete who can remain calm and think clearly while pushing him/herself through immense pain has an advantage. An athlete who is able to stay in the flow of her sport, and not burn out through training has an advantage. 
6. Strategy is another factor that can give someone an advantage over his or her competitors. Applying skill and physicality to be most efficient at producing results. What is the race plan, what is the play or move that will help you win the race or game?
7.  Who are your teammates? Iron sharpens iron. If you’re the big fish in a small pond, there is a limit to how much better you will get, even if it’s a lot of fun. Having strong, supportive teammates is a huge advantage and can help push you to a higher level. This also applies to gaining experience racing, and not just racing – but racing fast people who challenge you.
8. Experience is important. Time to learn oarsmanship, boat feel, steering. There are two Para-Rowing athletes in the AS category who both were rowers prior to their injuries. I think that is telling. 
9. Finally, one person might have a master coach where someone else has a sub-par coach. This many times means people who are serious about their sport move. They move to find a leader who can help shape them as athletes, challenge them, or maybe unite a team. Also, a good leader will help maximize all the other advantages in this list – that is worth finding. 

I am 6ft tall and I’m asked constantly if I play basketball or volleyball. The answer is that I played these a bit in middle school. I was also pretty terrible at them. I never once considered myself an athlete growing up despite the fact that I went to a sports camp every summer and was always on some kind of sports team. I was awful at pretty much everything. I still did it though – because it was fun to be active.

Then my freshman year of high school I started rowing. My sister got me into it because she was on the team that year as a senior. I found I liked it a lot and I was pretty good at it immediately – and that is always fun. Especially fun, when you’ve never been immediately good at any sport in your entire life.

I continued to row off and on through high school. My team with the Austin Rowing Club typically had 10 kids on it (half girls, half boys). The sport was pretty new and very few people knew about it or did it. I never had a conversation with anyone about rowing in college on scholarship because I didn’t think that was possible (because I wasn’t a “real” athlete) and because I didn’t even think that existed.

I went to college in Georgia my first year and ended up rowing there after swearing to myself I wouldn’t so I could focus on my studies. Then I started looking to transfer to the University of Texas for family reasons. I emailed the coach asking what the dues were, and when practices were – assuming it was still a club sport as when I left high school it was still a club program. Lo and behold I get an email back from CARIE GRAVES! The email asked for all my specs (height, weight, 2k…etc). So I sent them in not really knowing where I stood in the scheme of things having always been a big fish in a small pond on my rowing teams. Bam – I end up on scholarship at Texas. It took a full year rowing for Carie before I actually started referring to myself as an athlete. This was me benefiting from the women's rowing movement. 

The question above about high school female rowers expecting scholarships – for me that kind of worked. But that was 15 years ago! Times are changing. The stats still show that rowing is a great sport to make a run for a college scholarship, but every year it is getting harder and harder. I constantly dealt with this discussion working with an inner city program in Pittsburgh. Parents thought that their kids were definitely going to get scholarships just because they were involved and I had to manage their expectations and explain that their kids had to actually train hard to do that, and that for some of them, it would be a lot of extra work to have a shot at that opportunity. 

Rowing, unlike the sport of basketball, is a sport you don’t have to start when you’re 5 years old to be good at in college. As a matter of fact, you kind of can’t start that young because of the size of the equipment not being great for little bodies (although there are ways around this if you want to try it). Someone can start in high school and possibly get good enough at rowing to get a scholarship, but that doesn’t mean everyone will. If you are tall – yes, you have an advantage, but your height isn’t enough. You have to have the scores. If you are short, it doesn’t mean you are out of luck, but it means you have to work hard and hopefully you have a good set of lungs and a good heart to help you. Hopefully, all those other factors mentioned above are in your favor. 

Rowing was in the Olympics for the first time in 1900 for men (technically 1896 although it was cancelled that debut year due to weather) and 1976 for women, and in the Paralympics for the first time in 2008. We are a pretty young sport still, and therefore are still developing. Para-rowing is 32 years behind the women’s rowing movement if that helps put it in perspective and 108 years behind the men’s rowing movement.

Every Olympics and Paralympics we see people beating the previous Olympic or Paralympic Records. Sports are getting more competitive. What was standard last year, is not standard for this year. The newer a sport is, the “easier” it is to be awesome at it simply because there are fewer people doing it. Everything progresses. 

The way sports like rowing get faster and faster is by having an increase in the foundation/base level of participants. The more people participating, the more competition in the sport that drives it to a higher level. Junior rowing is taking off. My old Austin Rowing Club Junior team has over 100 kids now. That is ten times more than when I was in it. Every year the 2k standard for women to be looked at by D1 colleges seems to drop 5-10 seconds. I got a scholarship with a 2k just under 8-minutes. Now girls need to be under 7:30 to even start being noticed. Who knows if with the coaching, training schedule…etc that high school kids are getting now if I would’ve gotten a scholarship these days – I don’t know. Point is that if all the kids who would be unlikely candidates to get scholarships, or go to the Olympics immediately quit - we just plain wouldn't have a sport. 

The disability community has smaller numbers than the AB community, so a higher percentage of people end up at the highest level of sports. I think this is what initially created the mentality some people have of thinking they can get to the Paralympics fairly easily. As more people with disabilities sign up to participate and compete – the harder it gets to make it there. This is a good thing! Sport participation hopefully isn’t ONLY about going to the Olympics or Paralympics. It is exciting to see how far you can take a sport. By all means, people should look to these international competitions to help drive them. Make a run for it and see what happens. And sure, try all the sports you can to see where you are more naturally successful. 

If you make a run, just know that someone might end up being faster than you despite all of your time and effort. Many times the thing that it comes down to is out of your control. You can control your training schedule, what team you train with, who your coach is, how you take care of your body and to a certain extent your strategy and psychological approach the sport. There is immense honor in making a valiant effort to compete. That is hard work no matter what body you have. However, the one thing you can’t control is your inherent ability, the stuff that will never change. And sometimes, not always, this is what holds people back. Can a 5’4” woman train hard enough, and build up enough fitness and strength to beat a 6’2” rowing goddess like Susan Francia? That might be pushing it. It shouldn’t stop her from trying, but just know that at some point it’s not about how much you’ve trained or how much you “want” it. It’s about how fast you are on a given day against everyone else making a run for those seats.

Now let’s look at Para-Rowing categories.

The LTA category (Legs/Trunk/Arms) is the category with the highest level of functional ability in the sport of Para-Rowing. Athletes use a sliding seat, and minimal other adaptations, if any. With equal fitness, training…etc who do you think would more easily win, someone with…

• Muscular Dystrophy
• Spina Bifida
• Cerebral Palsy
• Single leg amputee
• Single arm amputee
• Club foot or fixed ankle
• Visually Impaired

The TA category (Trunk/Arms) is a category for athletes who use a fixed seat and are able to lean forward to use their hips and are able to have a strap that goes across their thigh(s) above their knee(s).  With equal fitness, training…etc who do you think would more easily win, someone with…

• Double leg amputee (at or below knee)
• Cerebral Palsy
• Spina Bifida
• Fixed knee(s)

The AS category (Arms/Shoulders) is a category for athletes who use a fixed seat and are unable to support themselves leaning forward without strap around their chest. With equal fitness, training…etc who do you think would more easily win, someone with…

• Cerebral Palsy
• Spina Bifida
• Double leg amputee (above knee)
• Spinal Cord Injury (Paraplegia)
• Spinal Cord Injury (Quadriplegia)

As the sport gets more competitive, the people making it to the highest level have disabilities that leave them with more inherent ability while still classifying for the sport. Similar to the taller the athlete - the more likely to make it to the higher levels. *NOTE: More likely, not guaranteed

Classification is a huge deal, and because Para-Rowing is so new it’s a hot topic. And it’s possible that the classification procedure may change one day after further examination. If that is to happen, that day would not be before 2020 at least though, so we have to function within the given system. However, just because the functional ability at the highest level might be out of some athlete’s reach, doesn’t mean you can’t compete. 

Look at masters rowing – athletes of all shapes, sizes and ages compete at all levels, get medals and have fun! Participate because it’s fun, because you love your teammates, because racing gives others someone to race against and improve, because you love learning more, because you like being fit and healthy, because you can give back to the sport, help mentor an up and coming athlete, or do more for the sport in another role. It’s not just Olympians or Paralympians who can have an impact! I would’ve loved to go to the Olympics, but I didn’t. I am still allowed to be happy with my performance in the sport even though other people beat me, right? I still love rowing after almost 20 years and plan to do it until I can’t sit in a boat anymore. I can still impact the sport even though I didn’t go to the Olympics or Worlds, right? Hopefully, our sport isn’t quite that shallow. Join me in being awesome in the sport even if you don’t make it to the highest level! There are plenty of other things this sport can offer you, and you can offer the sport. 

YOUR future

I was talking with my friend who is a pretty serious runner these days, Ben Durrant, who is in the Coast Guard on the Olympic Peninsula.

Picture of Ben, his father and I at the top of Mount Storm King

He was telling me about the book that talks about using the toe shoes to run that proved to be very effective for the author. Then I saw some running sandals for the first time in Seattle with another running friend Sara Dwyer who finds them to help keep her limbs running efficiently and safely so that hopefully she can run for more years of her life with fewer injuries. 



These are great products and help these two do what they love. They came to these conclusions, differing conclusions, after trying out many types of footwear over decades of running, learning from other runners, and paying attention to their bodies. They want to run well for a lifetime, and are actively pursuing that. They know how to train, what to wear, what their body needs and it's up to them to be independent enough to put all the information together in a meaningful way that is relevant to them specifically. The moral of these stories is that YOU know YOU. No book, no recommendation, no outline should dictate any aspect of your life. You alone, as an independent person and independent thinker, takes everything into consideration and decides for yourself what you want to do, and how you want to do it. Listening to your body to not push it too far too fast, but to still push yourself. A coach can help give you direction, but YOU know YOU. It should be a two-way dialogue and ultimately you get to call the shots. 

Another friend in Seattle, Joachim, was talking with me about how some people allow past experiences or things they have seen effect their own personal future. Some examples might include: - My friend has a really annoying child, so I'm never having kids
- No one in my family has had a successful marriage, so I don't believe in marriage
- I've never been good at art, so I'm never going to try anything artistic
- I had a really bad experience at church once, so I'm never going to be open to going to church again
- I had a difficult upbringing, so I would be a lousy mother/father 
- I don’t like sports because I’ve never been good at any of them
- I’ve never been good at dating, why even bother anymore 
- I can't do a push up because I've never been able to do one
I've been guilty of saying a few of these myself at certain times. Every statement implies a lack of grit shows an acceptance that failure is permanent/inevitable in each situation. Instead, how great would it be to realize that each of us has the power to change our own future, and not "own" these negative thoughts forever.

As the Landmark Forum says, "Some people perceive their future in terms of their past, using past traumas to interpret and predict what will happen to them in the future. The problem with most people is that they put their past where their future should be." I only did the Landmark Forum’s intro course once, but I definitely took this tenet away with me and have held on to it for many years. Keep the past in the past. The future should be kept shiny and new. Like I say in rowing, “Don’t worry about your last stroke, focus on your next one.” 

At a small group session I was in recently the facilitator used the statement, "What happens here stays here, what's learned here leaves here." I think we should have this same approach about our past. Leave it in the past, but learn from it and move on taking it with you to help with your independent thinking and decision making, but not allowing it to hold you back.

Two people who I have really enjoyed watching over many years forge their own future without letting the past creep in are Jeremy and Karissa Lightsmith who live in Seattle with their baby Mika. I've known these two for a decade or so through the swing/blues dance community. There are so many things that they have done that show that they are living a new life - not one that could ever have been predicted for them based on their past. A very basic example is the fact that when they got married they merged their names into a new last name Stell-Smith + Light = Lightsmith. Both of them took the new name.  Seeing them over the years and seeing how they have shaped and developed their relationship, their friends, their community, their child - it is a pleasure because it is so unique and so perfectly them. They have had faith that they can make it work with their signature on it and I am definitely in it for the long haul to see how they continue forging new territory. I want to see what they do next and see who their incredible kid grows up to be.  I am so glad I have so many friends like this, and that I’m getting to spend time with so many of them on this trip. It is encouraging to be surrounded by people who are facing life with a curious and fresh approach; people who know themselves and are seeing how they can make (not find) a place in this world. 

SUMMARY (Grit, Independence and YOUR future)Three of my latest blogs had a similar theme. Put together, I hope, for myself, that I will continue to have the grit to find out more areas where I can be independent that will give me the confidence to carve out a new future full of "Joy." 

"From"

All my life I have struggled with this question. My road trip is no exception, but it does make it just that much more complicated. 

"Where are you from?"

Some people are born somewhere, grow up there, work there, raise a family there and voila! That is where they are from. 

What about the folks who don't have such a stable location in life?

Here are some of the key things that I think could work as answers for this question and my answers for them. Maybe you can help me figure out where I'm from.

• Where were you born?  
• Ohio
• Where did you grow up? 
• My family moved around about 10 times growing up. I spent 3rd - 9th grade in Kent, WA so that's the majority of my adolescence, right? If you are wondering why I moved around so much. The answer is probably the same as why you didn't move around much. 
• For this one, most people respond by asking if I was an Army brat. Apparently that is a completely acceptable answer that doesn't require further investigation. The answer is no, but I claim God's Army since my dad was a minister and it confuses people enough to be somewhat accepted.
• Where are your parents from/family heritage? 
• Dad's family is from Pittsburgh PA. Mom was born in Brazil, spent her childhood in Argentina (where her family was from), then moved to England before marrying my dad and moving to the US. 
• Where did you go to high school? 
• Started HS in Tacoma WA (Annie Wright School) and graduated in Austin TX (St Stephen's School)
• Where did you go to college? 
• Started College at Emory University in Atlanta GA and graduated from the University of Texas in Austin.
• Where have you worked as an adult? 
• I worked for 5yrs in Austin TX at the American Cancer Society. Also worked 5yrs at Three Rivers Rowing in Pittsburgh PA. 
• Where is your accent is from? 
• I don't really have an accent - very neutral sounding.
• Where do you own property? 
• No longer own property, but I owned a condo in Austin TX for 7 years. 
• Where is your stuff currently? 
• In a storage unit in Pittsburgh PA. The rest is in my car. I'm homeless through December.
• Where do you work? 
• I am currently working remotely - no home base for work.
• Where your family is? 
• My mother and sister are in Pittsburgh PA. Sister was first to move back about 8yrs ago.
• Where are your friends? 
• My friends are spread out all across the country. My key best friends are in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Austin and Dallas.
• Where do you have roots? 
• I feel equally connected to Pittsburgh, Austin & Seattle as I spent pretty much equal time in each of those cities and visit somewhat regularly.

Also, being around my mother I can see her difficulty answering as well as she has an accent. In America, it seems that any given answer isn't accepted until the person asking can make sense of all the parts. 

• When my mother answers people by saying she's American there is always a follow-up question of, "But where are you REALLY from?" since her accent suggest otherwise. 
• Another example is a friend of mine who looks hispanic - if she says she's from Pittsburgh, people ask "But where are you REALLY from?" since her physical appearance might suggest otherwise.

What are people really trying to find out from this question? Maybe they are trying to gauge someone's familiarity with the area they live in, or figure out common connections, to hold someone to some stereotype or expectation based on where they claim home is, or maybe they are curious about something that seems foreign and unusual to them and are trying to make sense of it...etc

The question, "Where are you from" is really not that helpful for any of the deeper reasons someone might ask the question. Here is my challenge: next time these words start coming in to your head, consider analyzing what it is you really want to know and ask a more specific question instead. Maybe something like...

• Do you have any family in the area? 
• What are some of the things you like about living here? 
• Do you feel connected to the local community? How so?
• How long have you lived here? Have you always lived here?
• Did you go to school in the area?
• Do you plan to stay in the area?
• Where else have you lived?
• What is your family heritage? 

I bet the conversation will be much more interesting anyway if you ask more specific questions :) I know I would be much more keen to have this type of conversation. 

Honestly, I'm now just answering the basic question with, "It's complicated." 

Follow the Money

One of my good friends asked me on my trip how clubs compare in their priorities with teams. This was a fantastic question that I hadn’t actually thought to ask. Once I started asking, there was a theme that developed – follow the money. Maybe this is not very surprising, but let’s talk about it.

The programs that bring in more money get priority of time, equipment, coaching…etc. This, most often, is the juniors/youth programs. After all, the youth are our future, right?  

When in Colorado Springs, I got an excellent education from various employees at US Olympic Committee Headquarters regarding the progression athletes take and where resources are put in place to help them develop.

It’s all about having a wide base for athletes to get involved, try the sport, and test the waters (for rowing, literally). Then programs aimed at high performance development can pull from this large pool of athletes. The larger the pool – the more advanced the athletes will likely be when taken to the next level.

This pool stems from junior programs and goes into junior high performance and national teams and goes into college programs and into under 23 training programs and into high performance national team training and to the Olympics and to gold medals. Gold medals bring home money. Follow the money.

The Olympics have been around for a long time (rowing in the Olympics since the debut in 1900 for men and 1976 for women), and there is a large pool of able-bodied athletes/participants in sports that are very interested in the Olympics. The Olympics bring in a great deal of money. If you follow the money, the sport has has a lot of money for men’s rowing programs. It was only the Title IX  push that forced programs to equal out their funding for women’s sports which has boosted women’s rowing to a higher level in the past 20 years.

The Olympics are great and all, but what about the Paralympics? The Paralympics definitely also bring in money, but it is less, so the focus is also less. If I had to guess, I’d throw out a 80/20 Olympic/Paralympic focus based on what I’ve seen. Hopefully this will keep on changing every year. Given that para-rowing was introduced in 2008 in Beijing, we have a long way to go still to make a name for the sport. Currently, the money is driving a huge focus on recruiting disabled veterans for adaptive sports since the majority of Paralympic support comes from the Department ofDefense. Programs follow the money – find the veterans.

All athletes with disabilities hopefully benefit, including people with congenital disabilities, youth with disabilities, workers injured on the job, people injured through accidents…etc. But having veterans in your program will help with some of the money issues.

Then there is the Department of Education’s emphasis on the1973 Rehabilitation Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act giving the directive that schools and colleges must offer equal access to interscholastic, intramural and intercollegiate athletics for all students (including those with disabilities). This is a huge directive, but so far no real money has backed it. Follow the money – directives are good, but money is still needed in most areas to really implement this. 

The other issue with prioritizing is that all boathouse have limited equipment, space, coaching staff…etc. It would be great to be able to equally support every program, but there has to be a system to organize programming, right? The hierarchy that develops from the money also many times dictates the schedule.  Many teams use the same equipment, coaches, space, water and so priorities are needed to help everything run smoothly.

If the choice is between an adaptive practice or a junior practice at a given time – I’d imagine most often the junior practice would happen. Here is the typical hierarchy I’ve seen at clubs on my journey.

1.  College/Nationally Competitive program
2.  Juniors
3. Camps, Events & Rowing Leagues
4. Masters – who can only row/use equipment when juniors/colleges not using it
5. Adaptive – preferably at off-peak hours

Adaptive programs are mostly separated from membership. They mostly use different equipment (no or extremely limited overlap with other program use), they many times have different coaches and use volunteers who could come from anywhere. Their budgets are also many times separated from the club budget, or maybe they are a completely different non-profit that just uses space within another rowing club. The main thing that overlaps is the dock space. Adaptive practices are not necessarily quick on the docks and that is a big factor in terms of setting up practices. Point is that adaptive programs need support, and support comes in many forms – but one method of support is key in taking them to the next level and giving them the attention that will help them get to the next level: money.

So my challenge to you is this, next time you donate to your local rowing club, or to any rowing program, consider tagging your donation specifically for adaptive. Help encourage clubs to pay attention and develop these programs by making them follow the money.  

You have no idea how much any sized gift whether it be $25 or $20,000 can have an impact. I’d love to talk to you about it if you are considering making a donation. If you want a boat with your name on it – remember that adaptive boats are cheaper than able-bodied racing shells. If you want to support a program developing where you grew up, learned to row, currently live – talk to me. I can tell you exactly how you can help open up the sport of Para-Rowing, or check out this list of adaptive programs and contact one of them directly. 

Women’s rowing is up and running these days. The fight for equality is just starting for people with disabilities. Help ensure that everyone has access to the freedom found on the water. Twenty years from now you can look back and see that you were part of the para-rowing revolution. Won’t that be fun!