Veterans Test New Waters

TAMPA - Michael Fradera won't buckle to a challenge.

Even after losing both legs after a roadside bomb exploded while he served in Baghdad, Fradera has embraced his love for athletics and competition.

He regularly lifts weights and this year already has competed in two hand-cycling marathons.
His new venture is rowing.

Last week he attended a two-day clinic at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park, 1001 N. Boulevard, which offered disabled veterans an opportunity to try rowing.

Fradera said rowing worked his biceps, shoulders and lat muscles. It also was calming and soothing.

"It is a liberating feeling that you can glide through the water with ease," said Fradera, 31, of Lakeland.
"You are just stroking; you are just enjoying the moment," he said.

He said he came to the event because he doesn't like to miss an opportunity.

"If it's something new to me; I'll give it a shot," Fradera said. "You can't say you don't like something unless you try it."

After rowing up and down the Hillsborough River, Frank Lopez de la Victoria felt the burn on his biceps and abdomen. But it's where the experience took him that continued to circulate his mind.

"I like that relaxation because it gives me tranquility and peace," said Lopez de la Victoria, 64, of Clearwater. "It feels like I am floating on air - just let the worries fly away."

The James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa teamed with the Stewards Foundation and rowing manufacturer WinTech to hold the two-day clinic.

Jennifer Day, the hospital's adaptive sports coordinator, said Tampa seemed like an ideal spot to introduce rowing to disabled people. Collegiate rowing teams have trained here for years because of the river and favorable weather, she said.

Also the sport has grown and there is increased interest among disabled athletes. Last year the Paralympic Games in Beijing included rowing for the first time in the competition, Day said.

The hospital received a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Paralympic Team to enhance its sports program.

The hospital decided to buy adaptive chairs for the row boats that the Stewards Foundation provided, and two indoor training rowers, Day said.

Day said rowing shows the participants new possibilities. Like other adaptive sports, it can raise their self-esteem and increase confidence, Day said. It also can help family relationships, she said.

"They [spouses] are seeing their significant other active in sports and having interest in recreation," Day said.

In the future, the hospital and other program backers hope to hold more extensive classes and seminars and turn adaptive rowing into an established community program, Day said.

Lopez de la Victoria has used a wheelchair since 2002. A spinal cord injury suffered more than 30 years ago while he served in the Navy eventually prevented him from using his legs.

He remains active. He has competed in adaptive archery, shot put, javelin and softball.

After his first time rowing last week, he said he found another sport he is willing to try again and again.

"The smoothness, the tranquility," Lopez de la Victoria said. "It's just peaceful. It's you, the boat and the water."

"I'll be doing this from now until they tell me I can't do it anymore," he said.

Keyword: ROWING, for a photo gallery of the on-the-water clinic.

TO LEARN MORE
To learn more about adaptive rowing and future programs:
Contact Jennifer Day at (813) 972-2000 ext. 3946.