Laura Schwanger of Elkins Park is a world class athlete who’s won her share of medals — bronze, silver and the coveted gold — in international competitions. The fact that she’s in a wheelchair and her lower body is paralyzed because of multiple sclerosis hasn’t stopped her at all.
She competes in events for athletes with physical disabilities. The most renowned is the Paralympics, the second largest sporting event in the world. Like its counterpart, the Olympics, it’s held every four years and its participants are the world’s top athletes in their sports.
Until now, Schwanger’s sport was track and field. In 1988 in Seoul, she took home four gold medals. Four years later, in Barcelona, she won three silver medals and a bronze. Then in Atlanta in 1996, she brought home three silvers.
She was 38 and decided it was a time to bow out.
“I wanted to go on to other things,” she said.
So she returned to college, earned a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Immaculata College, and became director of the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans’ Association. (She is a vet who was diagnosed with MS in 1981 while in the U.S. Army.)
She still enjoyed recreational sports, but she thought her days of strenuous competitive sports like the Paralympics were over.
Then came an unexpected event and now, at age 49, she’ll compete in the upcoming 2008 Paralympics, which will be held next month in Beijing.
This time, she’ll compete in a sport that’s entirely new for her: rowing.
And, she’ll be competing not only as an athlete with a disability, but also as a recent breast cancer survivor.
“I wouldn’t be doing this if it weren’t for breast cancer,” says Schwanger. “That ‘Big C’ put a whole new perspective on my life.”
In 2006, a routine mammogram led to her diagnosis of invasive breast cancer. She took a medical retirement and underwent six months of treatment for her cancer.
Her final radiation treatment was on Oct. 6. The very next day, she joined a support group sponsored by the Wellness Community of Philadelphia (TWCP). Her participation in the organization proved to be a turning point.
It offers a wide array of programs and activities for people with cancer. Its purpose is to help them enhance their health and well-being and restore hope. The programs include support groups, educational workshops and mind-and-body classes.
Schwanger enrolled in a 10-week program geared to women with breast cancer titled Return to Wellness.
“It was invaluable!” she said.
The program included one hour of a support group and one hour of aerobics.
“I was the only one in a wheelchair, but our instructor incorporated exercises to meet everyone’s fitness level and always encouraged all of us,” said Schwanger. “Everyone was made to feel welcome and part of a successful group.”
Just as she was completing the program, she heard from her close friend in the disability community, Isabel Bohn. She’s the founder and director of the Philadelphia Rowing Program for the Disabled (PRPD), the largest rowing program of its kind in the U.S.
“Isabel asked if I wanted to join the indoor rowing program,” she recalls, “and I thought, ‘this is another way to get my strength back.’ And especially for women recovering from breast cancer treatment, it’s considered an excellent way to regain upper body strength.”
She had no thought of competitive rowing when she first started indoor rowing in early December 2006. She just wanted to gain strength and feel less fatigue. She faithfully went two nights a week to the boathouse on the West River Drive, where PRPD has its headquarters.
The rowers’ disabilities cover the gamut: there are blind and visually impaired participants, others with cerebral palsy, amputees and some, like Schwanger, with multiple sclerosis.
Despite the disabilities, the workouts are strenuous.
“I started getting stronger, and I liked what rowing was doing for me,” said Schwanger.
By April, when the outdoor rowing began, she started rowing in a boat for four rowers. Soon she was rowing solo in a singles scull.
By then, her impressive athletic skills were evident.
The next step was competitive rowing. On June 29, she competed in the National Rowing Championships in West Windsor, N.J. It’s an adaptive rowing championship, so named because the boats are adapted for athletes with disabilities.
Schwanger rows in a fixed seat scull. She has no movement in her lower body, so the seat must be stationary. And she competes in what’s called the “arms only” category, since her legs cannot do any work.
Although this was her first national competition, she beat out the reigning champion and was named National Champion for her category.
Then came another triumph. In August 2007, Schwanger competed in the World Rowing Championships in Munich. She was up against the world’s best adaptive rowers — and she came in sixth in her category.
“Most important, this qualified me for the 2008 Paralympics,” she said, explaining that only the top eight athletes could qualify for the big event in Beijing.
Ever since Munich, Schwanger has been busy training. In the fall, she rowed on the Schuylkill. Then, in the winter, she went to rowing camps in Florida and California, spending at least one week each month rowing in these warm weather venues.
In spring, when the outdoor rowing season resumed on the Schuylkill, the training became more intense. Now, as the date for the games gets closer, Schwanger rows eight to 10 times a week. At home, she practices on a rowing machine and works out at the Aquatic and Fitness Center in Abington.
Meanwhile, she is still an active participant in The Wellness Community. She goes to aerobics sessions every Tuesday and attends special events such as the Celebration of Hope. This annual educational conference, held this year on June 6, draws hundreds of cancer survivors and their families and friends.
At the June event, Schwanger was part of the morning program. She wheeled herself onto the podium to speak of her own experience with breast cancer, then she introduced one of the guest speakers.
“For me, the Wellness Community has been an invaluable stepping stone,” she said. “There’s such camaraderie and support, and you know there are understanding people available whenever you need them. For many people, it’s really a lifeline.”
This steppingstone has helped lead her to the 2008 Paralymics in Beijing, which begin with opening ceremonies on Sept. 6.
The adaptive rowing events take place Sept. 9 to 11. The Beijing games will be especially exciting for the rowers, because this is the first year that adaptive rowing has been included in the Paralympics.
Schwanger will once again row in a single seat scull, representing the U.S. in the arms-only event. Although it’s her fourth time at the Paralympics, it’s a first in several important ways.
“I’m much older now, I’m in a whole different place mentally and physically,” she said. “And breast cancer was my motivation. If I could beat breast cancer, I decided I could do this. There’s nothing that can hold me back!”
She’s grateful for all the support from her friends at the Wellness Community, as well as from the participants in the PRPD rowing program.
“They’re my cheerleaders,” she said of both groups. She purposely took photos of them, explaining that she would take the photos on the boat with her.
“All my cheerleaders will be with me in that boat,” she said. “I’m not rowing alone.”
She never expected to compete in another Paralympics when she “retired” at age 38.
Now she’s turning 50, and she’ll be competing with some athletes who are half her age. But she’s primed and ready. She’s even hoping to add to her collection of medals.
“I’ve prepared very well, and I’d like to come home with a medal,” she said “But, as long as I do my best, I’ll be satisfied. Whatever the outcome, I won’t have any regrets.”
For information on the Philadelphia Rowing Program for the Disabled, call 215-765-5118 or e-mail pacenter@aol.com
She competes in events for athletes with physical disabilities. The most renowned is the Paralympics, the second largest sporting event in the world. Like its counterpart, the Olympics, it’s held every four years and its participants are the world’s top athletes in their sports.
Until now, Schwanger’s sport was track and field. In 1988 in Seoul, she took home four gold medals. Four years later, in Barcelona, she won three silver medals and a bronze. Then in Atlanta in 1996, she brought home three silvers.
She was 38 and decided it was a time to bow out.
“I wanted to go on to other things,” she said.
So she returned to college, earned a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Immaculata College, and became director of the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans’ Association. (She is a vet who was diagnosed with MS in 1981 while in the U.S. Army.)
She still enjoyed recreational sports, but she thought her days of strenuous competitive sports like the Paralympics were over.
Then came an unexpected event and now, at age 49, she’ll compete in the upcoming 2008 Paralympics, which will be held next month in Beijing.
This time, she’ll compete in a sport that’s entirely new for her: rowing.
And, she’ll be competing not only as an athlete with a disability, but also as a recent breast cancer survivor.
“I wouldn’t be doing this if it weren’t for breast cancer,” says Schwanger. “That ‘Big C’ put a whole new perspective on my life.”
In 2006, a routine mammogram led to her diagnosis of invasive breast cancer. She took a medical retirement and underwent six months of treatment for her cancer.
Her final radiation treatment was on Oct. 6. The very next day, she joined a support group sponsored by the Wellness Community of Philadelphia (TWCP). Her participation in the organization proved to be a turning point.
It offers a wide array of programs and activities for people with cancer. Its purpose is to help them enhance their health and well-being and restore hope. The programs include support groups, educational workshops and mind-and-body classes.
Schwanger enrolled in a 10-week program geared to women with breast cancer titled Return to Wellness.
“It was invaluable!” she said.
The program included one hour of a support group and one hour of aerobics.
“I was the only one in a wheelchair, but our instructor incorporated exercises to meet everyone’s fitness level and always encouraged all of us,” said Schwanger. “Everyone was made to feel welcome and part of a successful group.”
Just as she was completing the program, she heard from her close friend in the disability community, Isabel Bohn. She’s the founder and director of the Philadelphia Rowing Program for the Disabled (PRPD), the largest rowing program of its kind in the U.S.
“Isabel asked if I wanted to join the indoor rowing program,” she recalls, “and I thought, ‘this is another way to get my strength back.’ And especially for women recovering from breast cancer treatment, it’s considered an excellent way to regain upper body strength.”
She had no thought of competitive rowing when she first started indoor rowing in early December 2006. She just wanted to gain strength and feel less fatigue. She faithfully went two nights a week to the boathouse on the West River Drive, where PRPD has its headquarters.
The rowers’ disabilities cover the gamut: there are blind and visually impaired participants, others with cerebral palsy, amputees and some, like Schwanger, with multiple sclerosis.
Despite the disabilities, the workouts are strenuous.
“I started getting stronger, and I liked what rowing was doing for me,” said Schwanger.
By April, when the outdoor rowing began, she started rowing in a boat for four rowers. Soon she was rowing solo in a singles scull.
By then, her impressive athletic skills were evident.
The next step was competitive rowing. On June 29, she competed in the National Rowing Championships in West Windsor, N.J. It’s an adaptive rowing championship, so named because the boats are adapted for athletes with disabilities.
Schwanger rows in a fixed seat scull. She has no movement in her lower body, so the seat must be stationary. And she competes in what’s called the “arms only” category, since her legs cannot do any work.
Although this was her first national competition, she beat out the reigning champion and was named National Champion for her category.
Then came another triumph. In August 2007, Schwanger competed in the World Rowing Championships in Munich. She was up against the world’s best adaptive rowers — and she came in sixth in her category.
“Most important, this qualified me for the 2008 Paralympics,” she said, explaining that only the top eight athletes could qualify for the big event in Beijing.
Ever since Munich, Schwanger has been busy training. In the fall, she rowed on the Schuylkill. Then, in the winter, she went to rowing camps in Florida and California, spending at least one week each month rowing in these warm weather venues.
In spring, when the outdoor rowing season resumed on the Schuylkill, the training became more intense. Now, as the date for the games gets closer, Schwanger rows eight to 10 times a week. At home, she practices on a rowing machine and works out at the Aquatic and Fitness Center in Abington.
Meanwhile, she is still an active participant in The Wellness Community. She goes to aerobics sessions every Tuesday and attends special events such as the Celebration of Hope. This annual educational conference, held this year on June 6, draws hundreds of cancer survivors and their families and friends.
At the June event, Schwanger was part of the morning program. She wheeled herself onto the podium to speak of her own experience with breast cancer, then she introduced one of the guest speakers.
“For me, the Wellness Community has been an invaluable stepping stone,” she said. “There’s such camaraderie and support, and you know there are understanding people available whenever you need them. For many people, it’s really a lifeline.”
This steppingstone has helped lead her to the 2008 Paralymics in Beijing, which begin with opening ceremonies on Sept. 6.
The adaptive rowing events take place Sept. 9 to 11. The Beijing games will be especially exciting for the rowers, because this is the first year that adaptive rowing has been included in the Paralympics.
Schwanger will once again row in a single seat scull, representing the U.S. in the arms-only event. Although it’s her fourth time at the Paralympics, it’s a first in several important ways.
“I’m much older now, I’m in a whole different place mentally and physically,” she said. “And breast cancer was my motivation. If I could beat breast cancer, I decided I could do this. There’s nothing that can hold me back!”
She’s grateful for all the support from her friends at the Wellness Community, as well as from the participants in the PRPD rowing program.
“They’re my cheerleaders,” she said of both groups. She purposely took photos of them, explaining that she would take the photos on the boat with her.
“All my cheerleaders will be with me in that boat,” she said. “I’m not rowing alone.”
She never expected to compete in another Paralympics when she “retired” at age 38.
Now she’s turning 50, and she’ll be competing with some athletes who are half her age. But she’s primed and ready. She’s even hoping to add to her collection of medals.
“I’ve prepared very well, and I’d like to come home with a medal,” she said “But, as long as I do my best, I’ll be satisfied. Whatever the outcome, I won’t have any regrets.”
For information on the Philadelphia Rowing Program for the Disabled, call 215-765-5118 or e-mail pacenter@aol.com
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