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DISABLED VETERANS TEST NEW WATERS -- "I
like that
relaxation because it gives me tranquility and
peace. It feels
like I am floating on air - just let the worries
fly away."
Veteran Mike Fradera, left, gets
coaching on a one man rowing shell from Debbie Arenberg who is an
expert at adaptive rowing equipment. Fradera lost his legs while
serving his country in Iraq. He got the chance to to go rowing on
the Hillsborough River thanks to a clinic offered by the James S.
Haley Veterans Hospital and the Stewards Foundation. (Tribune
photo by Jim Reed) |
Story here...
http://centraltampa2
.tbo.com/content/2009/mar/05/061532/
na-veterans-test-new-waters/news/
Story below:
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-------------------------
Veterans Test New
Waters
By JOSÉ PATINO GIROÑA
The Tampa Tribune
TAMPA - Michael
Fradera won't buckle to a challenge.
Even after losing both legs after a roadside bomb exploded while he served
in Baghdad, Fradera has embraced his love for athletics and competition.
He regularly lifts weights and this year already has competed in two
hand-cycling marathons.
His new venture is rowing.
Last week he attended a two-day clinic at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park,
1001 N. Boulevard, which offered disabled veterans an opportunity to try
rowing.
Fradera said rowing worked his biceps, shoulders and lat muscles. It also
was calming and soothing.
"It is a liberating feeling that you can glide through the water with
ease," said Fradera, 31, of Lakeland.
"You are just stroking; you are just enjoying the moment," he said.
He said he came to the event because he doesn't like to miss an
opportunity.
"If it's something new to me; I'll give it a shot," Fradera said. "You
can't say you don't like something unless you try it."
After rowing up and down the Hillsborough River, Frank Lopez de la
Victoria felt the burn on his biceps and abdomen. But it's where the
experience took him that continued to circulate his mind.
"I like that relaxation because it gives me tranquility and peace," said
Lopez de la Victoria, 64, of Clearwater. "It feels like I am floating on
air — just let the worries fly away."
click for more information -- a disabled veteran
owned business
The James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa teamed with the Stewards
Foundation and rowing manufacturer WinTech to hold the two-day clinic.
Jennifer Day, the hospital's adaptive sports coordinator, said Tampa
seemed like an ideal spot to introduce rowing to disabled people.
Collegiate rowing teams have trained here for years because of the river
and favorable weather, she said.
Also the sport has grown and there is increased interest among disabled
athletes. Last year the Paralympic Games in Beijing included rowing for
the first time in the competition, Day said.
The hospital received a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Paralympic Team to
enhance its sports program.
The hospital decided to buy adaptive chairs for the row boats that the
Stewards Foundation provided, and two indoor training rowers, Day said.
 Day
said rowing shows the participants new possibilities. Like other adaptive
sports, it can raise their self-esteem and increase confidence, Day said.
It also can help family relationships, she said.
"They [spouses] are seeing their significant other active in sports and
having interest in recreation," Day said.
In the future, the hospital and other program backers hope to hold more
extensive classes and seminars and turn adaptive rowing into an
established community program, Day said.
Lopez de la Victoria has used a wheelchair since 2002. A spinal cord
injury suffered more than 30 years ago while he served in the Navy
eventually prevented him from using his legs.
He remains active. He has competed in adaptive archery, shot put, javelin
and softball.
After his first time rowing last week, he said he found another sport he
is willing to try again and again.
"The smoothness, the tranquility," Lopez de la Victoria said. "It's just
peaceful. It's you, the boat and the water."
"I'll be doing this from now until they tell me I can't do it anymore," he
said.
Keyword: ROWING, for a photo gallery of the on-the-water clinic.
TO LEARN MORE
To learn more about
adaptive rowing and future programs:
Contact Jennifer Day at (813) 972-2000 ext. 3946.
Reporter José Patiño Girona can be reached at (813) 259-7659.
-------------------------
posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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