Paddle Sports
By Brandenburg, Susan; Handa, Ellen; Challenge,Publication Date: Spring 2002
Article discusses the popularity of paddle sports in the disabled community. Paddle sports include outrigger canoeing, kayaking, and rafting. Few or no modifications to standard equipment are needed for persons with mobility disabilities to participate in paddling, as the sports emphasize the individual’s ability. However, various adaptive changes to seating systems, paddle grips, and leg position can efficiently be created using common materials such as foam, duct tape, camping seats, boat buoys and the like. One example of an adaptation given is the Force 5 canoe seat. The article features three paddling venues: (1) Lake Powell, Utah, where a group of 14 people, some disabled, stayed on the MT Pockets wheelchair-accessible houseboat and engaged in various water sports; (2) A beginner lesson for a quadriplegic woman on the University of North Florida Lake by an instructor certified by the American Canoe Association and holding an Adaptive Paddling Endorsement; she subsequently established the not-for-profit Disabled Paddlers Association (DPA) in Florida with her husband; (3) The Rochester (NY) River Challenge, a series of outrigger canoe sprint races on the Genesee River. Some participants are working toward establishing outrigger canoeing as a Paralympic sport. One rowing-team member, working with the Rochester Rehabilitation Center, has developed the SportsNet outrigger canoe program, which integrates paddlers with and without disabilities. A resource list of paddle-sports associations is appended.
Published by: Disabled Sports USA (Website:http://www.dsusa.org)
Link to text: http://www.dsusa.org/ChallMagarchive/challmag-article-Summer02-paddlesports.html
