What's Up Bracebridge Gravenhurst June 2010 - Whatsupmuskoka ...

Blind athletes tackle triathlonBy Allan CookFor the second year in a row, a uniqueteam of athletes will compete in the Joe’sTeam triathlon at the CNIB Lake JosephCentre in MacTier.The Blind Guys Tri Team – athleteswith vision loss who compete pairedwith a sighted guide – will participate inthe triathlon on July 10.The Joe’s Team event was foundedfour years ago by Lake Joseph cottagerand CNIB supporter Joe Finley, who isalso a cancer survivor. It is a fundraiserfor the Princess Margaret HospitalFoundation for cancer research. A sprinttriathlon, the competition consists of a750-metre swim, a 20-kilometre bikeride and a five-kilometre run.In its second year, CNIB boardmember Terry Kelly wanted tocompete, and the idea for the BlindGuys Tri Team was born.“He showed up and wanted to race,and his friend Tim Tremain teamed upwith him so that he could,” recalls BrianMcLean, team captain and manager forthe Blind Guys Tri Team.McLean is also the president ofAchilles Canada, an organization thatteams athletes with disabilities with ablebodiedpartners so that they may participatein events such as the Joe’s Teamsprint triathlon.“We have 15 blind or visuallyimpaired athletes coming from acrossthe country to compete at the race,”McLean explains. “Their guides need tobe in as good a condition as they are –better, actually, since the guide has to beready if their partner has one of thosemoments where they find some strengthand speed and endurance they didn’tthink they had.”The guides are tethered to their partnersfor the running and swimmingportions of the race, and steer tandembikes for the cycling portion, as well asbeing in constant verbal contact.“They let us know if we’re getting offcourse, and they cheer us on constantly,”says McLean, “and when we get tothe last hundred metres they let usknow we’re almost there, and we reallyPhotograph:courtesy of Brian McLeanBrian McLean, assisted by a guide, competes at the Joe’s Team Triathlon on the Blind Guys Tri Team.pour it on. There’s no feeling like crossingthe finish line in a race like this. It’samazing.”McLean is legally blind from retinitispigmentosa, which has left him withonly a pinhole of vision. Were it not forthe guides, he and the other visuallyimpaired members of the Blind Guys TriTeam would not be able to participate.“I can’t say enough about our volunteers,”he says, and encourages anyonewho wishes to get involved, either as aguide athlete or as a visually impairedathlete, to contact the CNIB.The 30 members of the Blind GuysTri Team will join 520 other participantsat the Joes Team event at the LakeJoseph Centre, which opened its doorsin 1961. The Lake Joe recreational facilityoffers unique specialized campingexperiences for people of all ages who areliving with vision loss.“We enjoy Muskoka in slightly differentways than those with fullvision,” McLean says of the triathlonsite. “The water feels so much coolerand more refreshing than a dip in LakeOntario. The air is so much cleanerand easier to breathe, especially whileyou’re working so hard in the race. Andthere’s the wind in the trees and thebirds as the backdrop when the cheersgo up when you finish.”www.whatsupmuskoka.com June 2010 31