Wheelchairs vs. Legs., hs girl can't join track. Options

[pandamonium]

The article is long so imma make a summary. On my local news station there is this girl who is on a wheelchair but the specialized wheelchair for sport (she still uses her arms though). Everyone is okay for her to be on the track team including matches against other schools but the PIAA of the state wont allow her to be on the track team because of her wheelchair.

What do you think? Can she be on the track team? even though she is on a wheelchair..

My opinion: its a icky situation cause i feel bad for her but in my mind it still pops up that she is in a wheel chair there might be a slight advantage for her, but then again she moves them with her arms. I am not sure but i dont think she should be on the team. lol sorry.


Article here.

[mznikki]

That's really rude to say. Have you even met someone with a mental disability or even someone in a wheelchair?

Paraplegic To Swim 42 Miles in Pacific Ocean First American paraplegic to swim English Channel will now attempt 42-mile Catalina Channel double (Long Beach to Catalina Island roundtrip, 24 hours)

Long Beach, CA— On September 3-4, 32-year-old San Antonio, TX resident Jason Pipoly will attempt to become the first paraplegic to swim the Catalina Channel double—Long Beach, CA to Catalina Island and back, a total of 42 miles.

A boat that sleeps 30, chartered by Hanger, will accompany Pipoly the entire swim. A member of the Catalina Channel Swimming Federation will also be on-board. This swim has been submitted to the Guinness Book of World Records for consideration.

Swim Start and Finish:

Boat departs from Berth 55 ~ Queens Wharf ~ 555 Pico Ave., Long Beach, 6:45pm, September 3.
Boat takes Jason to Cabrillo Beach, the official start of the swim, 7:00pm, September 3.
Jason swims 21 miles, 12 hours to Long Point Beach on Catalina Island, touches and turns around for the second leg of the swim (another 21 miles and 12 hours).
Jason finishes the swim at Cabrillo Beach, approximately 7:00pm, September 4.
Paralyzed from the chest down in a car accident in 1998, Pipoly became the first American paraplegic, the second paraplegic in the world, to swim the English Channel, a 21-mile course (August 2002).

19 years before his accident, in 1982, 11-year-old Pipoly became the youngest person to attempt to swim the English Channel. He fell just four miles short after swimming 17-miles in whitecap, rough waters for eight hours. Pipoly was a guest on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (1982) right after he returned to the States. A still photograph of Pipoly’s interview with Carson is available. Pipoly attempted this swim at such a young age because his father had recently completed it.

“ Every time I get in the water, I thank God that I can do the things I can do,” Pipoly said. “My intentions are pure—to motivate others. I want to show people, by example, that it’s never too late to realize your dreams.”

Pipoly has trained three hours a day, six days a week, for the past four years, to be able to complete the Catalina Channel swim. One of the largest risks associated with this 42-mile swim is the concern around shark attacks--especially considering the recent San Luis Obispo fatal attack (August 19, 2003). - http://www.hanger.com/sections/po/newsroom/pipoly.html

People : The Hope of the Disabled Swimming Race World of the Went in for the Paralympics
Mr. Junpei Kimura

Mr. Kimura was born in 1985 in Hyogo and grew up in Tokyo. He has used crutches since he was in a kindergartner because of a congenital deformity of the leg. He's a graduate of Kosei Gakuen High school, currently a sophomore of the School of Education and a member of the swimming club. In his third year in high school, he was selected as an important swimmer by the Japan Swimming Federation for the Disabled and took part in the IPC (International Paralympics Committee) World Swimming Championship. He competed in the Athens Paralympics this summer and took sixth place.

Mr. Kimura, who walks around the campus with crutches, is a star swimmer. He came in sixth in the Athens Paralympics, though he said, “I was lucky to be able to participate in the Paralympics. I really aimed to get a medal but it was good result considering that I'm still developing." He has already set his sights on the Beijing Paralympics.

Crutches are necessity for him since he suffers from a congenital leg deformity. When he was in the first year of elementary school, he enjoyed splashing and playing in water, so his mother took him to a swimming school near his house. He has belonged to swimming clubs since he was a junior high school student. When he was in the second year in high school, a swimming coach said to him "You have what it takes to succeed in the swimming world of the disabled." This coach's words were his turning point. He first took part in the Japan Paralympics, and then he won the chance to compete in the IPC World Swimming Championship. Finally, he went in for this Paralympics. "In Athens, I was impressed with the swimmers who were more handicapped than I. When I saw their good results, I thought I could do it, too." he said.

Mr. Kimura, who has grown up without serious discrimination, thinks that our society should be a symbiosis between the ordinary and the disabled, because, he said, "We can understand each other if we live together." He chose this subject for the short essay in the university entrance examination. “I had confidence about this essay, and my idea is still the same. This is my belief.

He has thought that he would like to become a teacher of social studies. But now he is also interested in being a top athlete. He wishes to study at a foreign university where sports for the disabled are developed and rooted in society. He also wants to train in ideal surroundings. He said, "But this is merely one of many choices." Mr. Kimura's future is full of possibilities.- http://www.waseda.jp/student/weekly/conten...lish/e043p.html

When anyone, even someone who is handicaped, is in the water, they do have the ability to swim due to buoyancy. They do have some ability to move in the water even if it is only their arms they still can swim.

MDA.org

Some experts recommend swimming and water exercises as a good way to keep muscles as toned as possible without causing undue stress on them. The buoyancy of the water helps protect against certain kinds of muscle strain and injury.

Sorry, somewhat on topic about people in wheelchairs, but just responding to what kyrogenix had said.