Blind students take to rowing

LITTLE ROCK — Students at the Arkansas School for the Blind are encouraged not to let their limited sight limit their dreams and ambitions.

After all, this is a school where blind students compete in wrestling, track and cheerleading.

“When we asked the students if any of them would be interested in trying out for a rowing team, several hands went up,” says Maggie Mathis, the school’s physical education teacher and coach.

Working in tandem to row a boat on the Arkansas River? Piece of cake.

Earlier this month, 10 blind and visually impaired students from the school attended five sessions of a rowing clinic at the Arkansas Boathouse Club in Little Rock.

Working with some sighted teammates — two students from Mount St. Mary Academy — the students’ efforts were met with strokes of success.

“I immediately jumped at the chance and thought that was something I wanted to do,” says Paige Clem, 16, of West Memphis. Back on shore after a recent session, the 10th-grader, who is farsighted with extremely impaired close-range and peripheral vision, was proud that the girls’ team smoked the boys’ during an impromptu race.

“My oar even came up out of its lock and we even had to stop the boat in the middle of the race for several minutes, and we still beat them,” she says proudly.

Jessica Bisbee of North Little Rock, a graduate student in occupational therapy at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, guided the students as coxswain (steersman of the boat). Bisbee, a rower, is using the clinic to implement an adaptive rowing program she developed as a class project.

It’s called adaptive because you adapt the equipment to meet the needs of the person who is using it instead of adapting the sport to work for the rower’s situation, Bisbee says.

Earlier this summer, Bisbee started her adaptive rowing program to work with rowers who didn’t have use of their legs by adding stationary seats to a boat.

Bisbee says there are similar programs in other areas of the country.

“I had the idea to host a clinic for the ASB students because they wouldn’t require additional equipment,” she says, explaining that as the coxswain, she gives verbal orders and directions to the rowers, who sit with their backs facing the direction the boat is traveling. Even sighted rowers don’t look to see where they are going.

With the visually impaired students, the adaptation comes with Bisbee giving them their instructions and coaching verbally — “bend your knees, sit up straight” — and actually placing the students’ arms and legs in the desired positions — instead of demonstrating visually.

“They took to it pretty quickly and learned to do it just as well as anyone else,” Bisbee says. “They were all really excited and seemed pretty fearless.

“I thought it would be beneficial to them because this is an activity that allows them to participate in the same way as their sighted peers.”

Jim Hill, superintendent of the Arkansas School for the Blind, agrees.

“One of the strongest forces within a human being is the drive to compete,” says Hill. “And this opens up another avenue for our students to compete in and participate in sports and builds their confidence.

“The student interest in this was very high,” Hill says. “Right now we’re hoping we can form two teams. We plan to buy an ergometer [indoor rowing machine] and the appropriate uniforms and equipment for them to be able to begin competing in the spring. The team will be coordinated by teacher and coach Mathis and James Caton, who oversees the students’ extracurricular activities.

“This all came about because of Jessica’s school project. I think it’s great when any organization or individual reaches out and creates an opportunity for handicapped people to be able to compete and participate in various sports,” Hill says. He says he hopes to add bowling and golf teams, too.

Kyler Reschke, 15, of Marion, was game to try his hand at rowing.

“I thought it would be something I would like to do but wasn’t sure,” says the ninth grader, whose vision is limited to discerning where doors and windows are and when someone standing in front of him is as tall or taller than he is is. “I thought, ‘I’ll try it and if I’m not good at it, I’ll stop, but if I am, I’ll keep going.’” For Kyler, the biggest challenge was getting and remaining in sync with his fellow rowers.

During the clinic, Bisbee took to the water with four boys and three girls (the three other students who didn’t pass a swim test — they were unable to tread water for at least 10 minutes — worked out in the gym).

“Safety is Arkansas Boathouse Club’s first priority,” Bisbee says. “Before anyone is allowed on the water, they must pass a swim test and watch a video on safety procedures.”

She adds that rowers must also remain aware of the river’s flow rate and know not to row when it’s flowing too fast.

Also, the club requires that a motorized safety boat, equipped with enough life vests for all the rowers, be on the water and near the rowing shells whenever rowers are on the water.

“Life vests are not worn when we’re rowing because they restrict the range of motion needed to row properly and if the boat were to capsize, a life vest could cause a rower to get trapped beneath the boat,” Bisbee explains, adding that the rowers’ oars also function as flotation devices.

Kyler enjoyed his time at the rowing clinic and thought it was a great experience but was a bit taken aback when the students were given the OK to hit the water.

“I was not expecting them to put us out on the river,” he says, adding that’s he’s ready to return to the river.

“I sure hope the school continues to offer rowing to us,” he says. “If it does, I want to be a part of the team.”