ADAPTIVE ROWING
Row New York offers comprehensive adaptive rowing programs during the winter, spring, summer, and fall for both youth and adults. Adaptive rowing was added to our list of programs in 2008 in collaboration with NYU’s Initiative for Girls and Women With Physical Disabilities two summers ago. With the success of that program, we are excited to offer more formalized programming with trained staff and more sophisticated equipment.
Why Rowing?
• Rowing is a sport that accommodates an extremely wide range of abilities with beneficial effects. The buoyancy of water helps overcome limitations that may seem insurmountable on land.
• Rowing develops both mental and physical skills and the potential for lifetime fitness.
• Adaptive athletes can row at any level – for recreation, for competition, and for rehabilitation therapy.
• Rowing provides an opportunity for the integration of adaptive athletes within their local rowing communities.
• Rowing allows each athlete to focus on his/her own physical progress while also contributing to the success of the team.
As stated in an article in Palaestra, a forum for physical education and recreation for people with disabilities,
“Adaptive rowing, for people who spend their waking hours in wheelchairs or on crutches, provides a respite, a chance to leave that chair or discard those crutches, a chance to think and feel – even look – like any able-bodied rower…. Adaptive rowing can help satisfy the quest for personal independence, physical self-sufficiency, mental self-dignity, and total freedom on the river.”
Why New York City?
We live in a city surrounded by water, but many residents, especially those with disabilities, have few opportunities to participate in recreational or competitive on water activities. Cities around the country are creating adaptive rowing programs for their community members. Row New York is excited to create strong and unique programming for New Yorkers with disabilities.
The timing is right. Rowing was added to the list of Paralympic Sports in 2008.