On Friday, January 16 at 3-2-1-Attention Row! the Longmont Sculling Club hosted an event for wounded warriors in our area - and got them all erging (on rowing machines).  We had 16 participants – all veterans –with age ranges up to 84!  I was hoping to get some pictures from the event before I posted this - but I can’t wait to share any longer!!

We worked with folks from the Denver VA and Adaptive Adventures and rowing clubs up and down the front range.  11 of the participants came from the Denver VA, 2 came direct to LSC and 3 are involved in other Adaptive Adventures activities.

Three people rowed Arms and Shoulders (AS) and one Trunk and Arms (TA) (a triple amputee – with an awesome grip that he uses to kayak)– everyone else was able to use the sliding seat and row Legs, Trunk, Arms (LTA)…. The majority of the people are being treated for PTSD and/or TBI.   

I was very happy to have such competent volunteer team to help to instruct!  We spent a fair amount of time working in the small groups/ individually then took a break.  Then we pretty much got everyone rowing together for a while, adding in some short bursts of pressure - and a sing-a-long that I really hope was captured on video somewhere.  It was really great for a first day for everyone.  Some of the people are quite competitive in the 500 meter “race” at the end, and I expect we’ll see more of them.

Everyone seemed to have a good time – volunteers included.   

I’ll be reaching out to these people to see who wants to continue either on the ergs or on the water in the spring.  The more we do it, the more we learn.  It was great to give them something new to try, some exercise and a little friendly competition for those that wanted it.  

This was made possible by a grant from the Veterans Administration to USRowing and assistance from Adaptive Adventures.  USRowing has identified 5 areas of the country that are underrepresented in adaptive rowing, and the Longmont Sculling Club has been charged with spreading the good word of rowing to our wounded veterans in the area.  It has been very timely as we were starting to develop these programs pretty much in step with the grant process - and it is something that I have been working to get started here in Longmont for the past couple of years…. and now with USRowing support it will be that much easier.  
If you’d like to get involved in future events and programs either as a participant or a volunteer, please contact me at adaptive@LongmontSculling.com.  There will be more events and programs in the future and we'd love to get more community involvement.

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