row2k Features
Visually Impaired Rowers Row It Alone
June 19, 2002
Tammi Swiantek and Lynette Lewis

PITTSBURGH, PA - The skies were overcast and did not hold much promise that the sun would shine, but the weather would not deferred the excitement that was coming to a frenzy on the back channel behind the boat house at TRRA.

Saturday, June 16th was a day that was long anticipated by the two visually impaired rowers who would tempt fate and row solo for the first time in their lives. As the many questions danced in the minds of the volunteers who came to assist with the equipment, Diane Lenzner (Asst Coach Adaptive Program) and Bert (Special Programs Director) explained the final instructions on safety to: Lynette Lewis guided by Suzy McIntosh and Tammi Swiantek guided by Patti Michaud. No words written by this author can best describe or capture the thrill behind this row! So to assist the reader in this adventure, the following accounts were written by Tammi and Lynette:

Photo: Tammi Swiantek, visually impaired rower Guided from behind by Patti Michaud

Tammy: I have been sculling for at least eleven years with the BOLD (Blind Outdoor Leisure Development) rowing program at TRRA. Yet, still, I often wondered, "Who just caused that wicked lean to Starboard," or "Why are we always veering to port?"

Since I have been blind all my life, I had simply accepted the fact that I would probably never know the feeling of rowing a boat alone - the effect of my body on a boat, without anyone else to steady or steer it.

I had accepted it, that is, until the morning of Saturday, June 16th! On that cloudy morning, I sat in an Alden single, my left hand on the dock and my right hand clinging to my oars as though they represented life itself. Years had passed since I had last been nervous about shoving off the dock, but now the thought made my heart set a rate far too fast for any stroke as I pushed the boat away and felt the surface beneath my starboard oar change from wood to water.

For a moment, I sat tethered by a rope to the dock, testing my balance and my control of the oars. Alden's move in the water like bathtubs, seemingly impossible to tip, bouncing along through whatever life - and motorboats - may throw their way. Yet somehow, compared to even the sleekest racing doubles I'd been in, this boat felt like a razor's edge barely balanced on the water's surface, especially when I lifted the oars and slid gently forward, wondering if I would flip it on the first stroke.

Finally, the moment arrived! Patti Michaud, a successful adaptive rower and my intrepid guide for this adventure, pulled ahead of my boat, and the rope was released, "I WAS FREE!"

Like a mother duck and her duckling, Patti and I eased upstream toward the narrow mouth of the channel. An excited smile spread across my face as I realized that I had not flipped my boat with the first stroke and that Patti's voice behind me was not much farther and no less reassuring than the voices of the many partners for whom I'd rowed stroke in doubles. Nervous tension cut the air as we stopped to let another boat pass close off our starboard side, but my heart soared when I knew we had handled this situation without incident. A moment later, we passed through the narrows with only the slightest drag of an oar, then turned around and passed through again, heading back down the channel.

Then came the moment of truth - a clap of thunder, driving rain, and Bert's call echoing across the water, "Everyone off the water!" If there was one thing I had been sure I couldn't do when I left that dock, it was to return close enough to be pulled back into it. Now, the pressure was on! Somehow, though, Patti's voice never showed the slightest urgency as she called commands similar to those a Cox might use to guide an eight back home. We docked more quickly and easily than I had in doubles a few times as a novice, thus ending an adventure that I'll never forget and hope to repeat someday.


Photo: Lynette Lewis, visually impaired rower Guided from behind by Suzy McIntosh

Lynette: Hi my name is Lynette and I have been rowing less than a year with the BOLD program offered at TRRA, but the twist is that I am blind.

I found sculling to be a lot of fun, but sometimes I would encounter trouble not knowing when my oars were either squared, feathered or backwards!

Imagine my surprise on the 16th when Bert explained that Tammi and I could experience rowing in a single with a guide! Me, row a single! You see I am a talker this meant I would have to be quiet in the shell. Bert explained that Suzy McIntosh, a women master from the club was to become my faithful guide, my voice on the water, my lifeline not to go overboard, and this meant that I had to be quiet on the water!

This was a new experience for me, I was use to rowing in front of someone laughing or exchanging a word or two. Now I was responsible for directing where this boat was going to end up and hopefully not upside down with me in the Allegheny. At first Diane and Bert held my shell in front of the dock while I raised and lowered my oar handles trying to feel the stability the Alden provided. Once we figured that I had it, the rope was released and Suzy was behind me calling, "Lynette take light strokes, so you can feel the movement of the Alden and follow my voice."

To me this felt like a game of follow the leader or Simon says, but I was never any good at games where you would have to listen to play them. Not an easy task for me to do because as you can guess by now, "I love to talk." Soon Suzy provided me the incentive to keep quiet, I was moving the shell on my own power without tipping over. It also helped me to feel secure knowing that Diana and Judy Stark were in the launch close by, just in case we had to do a river rescue.

Just as I began to feel comfortable and was rowing in a straight pattern, the skies opened up and the rain came down. Bert shouted to get off the water and Suzy calmly talked me back to the dock. The butterflies were spinning in my stomach while I ease myself next to the dock safely back to shore. As soon as my feet touched the wood Tammi and I embraced while we jumped up and down screaming in delight. I did it - rowed a single - yes!

TRRA has given me many opportunities to experience the water in many different ways: rowing in a double, sweep rowing, and now they gave me the most freedom I could ever experience as a blind rower, "Rowing in a single scull!" To me this is going to be my learning summer and I don't mean just learning to row!

A special note:
Lynette had expressed the desire to kayak solo, and with the assistance of Diana she paddled independently on Tuesday, June 19th.

Lynette was a little wet, but loved the experience.

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