Mt. Laurel, NJ—August 9, 2010— The 29th annual Bayada Regatta, an adaptive rowing event hosted by Bayada Nurses and Philadelphia Adaptive Rowing (PAR), will take place on Saturday, August 28 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. The event will be held at the Schuylkill River near the Strawberry Mansion Bridge on Kelly Drive at St. Joseph's University Boathouse.
An anticipated 60 participants—classified according to their physical, visual, or intellectual impairment—will compete in approximately 18 adaptive and recreational rowing events. The Bayada Regatta, sponsored solely by Bayada Nurses, has grown into the nation's oldest and largest adaptive rowing competition.
Brandon Culp of Wyncote, PA, will be participating in his second Bayada Regatta this year. A member of PAR and a peer mentor at Magee Rehabilitation, Culp says the Bayada Regatta is a way to spread the word about adaptive sports to family, friends, and other people with disabilities. "I use it to help people who have doubts about the future—it helps with my peer mentoring to encourage others who are newly injured," he says.
Bound to a wheelchair after a car accident nearly six years ago, Culp uses sports as a way to live a "good life." He began rowing to get in shape during the wheelchair rugby offseason, and ended up falling in love with it. Last year, he said he was hoping to just cross the finish line at the Bayada Regatta, and at this year's he will row for the first time in a single event.
"The Bayada Regatta is absolutely fantastic. Part of it is the group of people you row with. You become friends with them," Culp says. "It opens up doors to everything else, by the people you meet."
PAR—formerly known as the Philadelphia Rowing Program for the Disabled (PRPD)—is the host club for the Bayada Regatta and trains many of the competing athletes at its facilities on the Schuylkill River. Staffed by volunteers, PAR provides recreational and competitive rowing opportunities for individuals with disabilities. In the past, a number of PAR rowers have competed and placed in the International Federation of Rowing Associations (FISA) World Rowing Championships and the Paralympics.
The Bayada Regatta is open to the public and admission is free. Music, crafts, and free refreshments will be provided