Adapted Sports Summary
The Pennsylvania Center for Adapted Sports had its last swimming session for this season two weeks ago -- rowing and biking now take over. I'll summarize my last few sessions with the several people I worked with this winter/spring:
D. (progressive nervous system disorder) did very well with basic backstroke -- switched to ballroom dancing the last few weeks. I hope to see her next fall.
My blind swimmer was working on breaststroke, which she found made navigation easier. She had done head-above-water breaststroke only, and it was hard to impart the idea of the breaststroke breathing rhythm without her having seen it, but we'll work on that; trying to solve this sort of problem is what makes this all so interesting. (In the course of doing research on her navigation problem, I discovered the Adapttap technology, invented at Notre Dame University, and now in process of development -- a very big breakthrough for guiding blind swimmers down the lane.)
S., who'd had a cervical injury which affected both his arms and legs, was swimming magnificently by the last session (and walking much better, I'm happy to say.) He still has some work to do on balance, but overall TI has worked amazingly well for him -- the clearest proof of the effectiveness of this method that I have encountered. He's joined a gym with a pool, and I hope to work with him a bit more over the summer.
My very last student runs the whole program, and gets around quite well on one leg, which doesn't prevent her from skiing, canoeing, etc. She swims, as she says, like a polar bear-- fearlessly, head up. We've worked out way up to underswitch in a few hours, and she says she loves doing it. Eventually, we'll work on a one-legged two-beat kick, I hope.
As I told Terry, if I'd received no other benefit from working on TI, this experience would have more than rewarded me for learning to swim this way. I feel the greatest possible admiration for every person I've worked with -- great souls, getting on with life!
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05-04-2009
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