by Gary Norman
“When it comes to the self-confidence and esteem needed to get a job and become a contributing member of society, competitive sports can be a powerful tool. Winning is important to everyone, but to an athlete with a disability, simply competing can be a victory in itself,” said Athletes with Disabilities, a consortium of five athletic associations for the disabled.
Many will no doubt recall how the integration of persons of color into baseball during the early to mid-part of the 20th century chiseled away the barriers of racial discrimination. Similarly, as visually impaired people continue to advocate for equal access to employment, they must also insure opportunities to the active life fostered by participation in sports. Membership in athletic activities with fellow citizens increases the social capital of the blind people, allowing for public education about their abilities and lifestyle, and will inevitably lead to integration and the debunking of regressive stereotypes.
Since fall 2003, I have undertaken crew to my personal challenge and benefit. As noted, it is not in arid persistence, but rather in a dogged resolve, that success delights and personal growth flourishes. There is much to be complimented about seeking new challenges. Rowing is a sport at which a visually impaired person can participate as an equal with sighted counterparts.
Strenuous, but fun, the sport of rowing is the art of gliding a boat through water via the mastery of oars by hand. The two forms of rowing are sweep-oar rowing and sculling. In sweep rowing, teams consists of two to eight people, each sitting in alternate positions of starboard and port, applying two hands to pull a single oar through the rippling waters towards the shell’s stern. In sculling, one, two, or four people apply their hands to two oars, one in each hand. Generally, rowing does not require sight, but rather a sense of rhythm and a mental focus to form and instructions. Among the other issues that blind rowers must resolve are whether to help carry the shell to the pier and to tie down one’s guide dog at the boathouse. As carrying the shell requires both hands, assisting with this part of the practice may be difficult either without the guidance of the service animal or the ability to navigate with a cane. I have chosen due to safety concerns to tie down my dog during practices. As is true with other segments of society, during the course of history, rowing has evolved from elitism to an activity accessible to men and women of all ages and backgrounds.
In the classical period, people rowed vessels for commerce, transport, and war. Though ancient texts refer to humans racing vessels, before the 1800s, shells were not primarily rowed for exercise, non-ceremonial recreation or competition. The first rowing association formed in New York in 1836. This club’s name was New York (or Castle Garden) Amateur Boat Club Association. The first book to extol the virtues of rowing for fitness and health was Walker’s Manly Exercises, published in the same year. The first collegiate rowing club was formed at Yale in 1843, and in 1852, Harvard defeated Yale in the first intercollegiate contest. In 1858, the Harvard crew was the first to designate red, later crimson, as their color, and subsequent to a rowing victory, a Massachusetts newspaper spun an American expression when it reported this jubilant crew “painted the town red.”
The first book advocating the participation of women in rowing was published in 1870. The predecessor to the United States Rowing Association, whose goal is to make rowing accessible and enjoyable to all, organized in 1872. In 1997, rowing became a National Collegiate Athletic Association sport for women. People with a range of disabilities have been participating in crews for at least 20 years. Rowing positively affects the health status of participants, allowing an important release of stress for visually impaired people.
According to one rower, “Rowing is a low-impact sport. When executed properly, the rowing stroke is a fairly safe motion, providing little room for the serious injury often found in contact sports.” However, before beginning a rowing program, individuals should check with their doctors; this sport requires endurance, muscle development and anaerobic conditioning.
A law school comrade, who participated in the crew team while enrolled at Ohio State University, described his experiences to me, which consequently sparked my desire. I find it difficult to recollect what my initial expectations were, but I hoped that I would not endure instances of discrimination, which had been my experience in accessing other athletic activities in Baltimore. Indeed, I have been surprised and pleased with the level of receptivity and accommodation of the coaches. “Never having coached a blind person, it was an exciting challenge and worked out better than I expected,” said R.C., a coach and competitive rower with the Baltimore Rowing Club.
The evolution from the abilities I demonstrated at my first session to the closure of the novice course, and, then, now to the next level of participation and training, has been a source of personal growth and pride. My fellow team members reacted well to me, being perhaps a tad nervous at first having, in most circumstances, never rowed before and certainly not with a blind person. I am pleased to guide with a service animal named Langer, whom I tie down at the boathouse (much to his consternation). After training sessions, he sprints from the office at the boathouse to greet me. On one occasion, his exuberance to greet my friend and me resulted in a temporary inability to follow guide commands, for which I corrected him, to my teammates’ chagrin. As I continue to participate in this sport, dialogue about my blindness and mobility with a service animal will be required of my coaches and teammates, and me.
With a deep affinity for the water and an inner desire to improve my personal fitness and health, rowing is truly my favorite sport. I highly recommend it to everyone.