To kick off our announcement that we will be competing in Olympic and Paralympic Trials, Anja and I held an event at Lock 32 Brewing Company last night. Thank you to everyone who came out to hear our story!
If you missed the article that Brian Sharpe wrote in the Democrat and Chronicle yesterday, here it is!
If you missed the event, Anja and I talked about how we've helped each other this year. I started training with Anja in April for the 2015 US Para Kayak Team Trials. Anja lost her leg to bone cancer as a child, and had already medaled at World Championships in canoe-- but as canoe wasn't in the Paralympics, she was going to race Kayak at trials and just "see what happened." Well, what happened is she won Para kayak trials . . . and went on to win World Championships in canoe. Our training partnership was clearly effective. We had a marvelous summer training together, and when it was all said and done, I decided to get back on the racecourse myself. I am in the best shape of my life thanks to CrossFit, and eager to see how that might transfer into the boat.
We also shared information about our mutual sponsor, the Greater Rochester Amateur Athletic Federation. GRAAF sponsors Rochester-area Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls with small grants several times a year to fund training, travel, and racing expenses. They are currently supporting 6 local athletes. Check out their website here.
We'll be talking more about GRAAF on the Evan Dawson show on WXXI on January 5th-- I will provide more information as it gets closer!
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