[Nfbc-info] Beach Cities Chapter member: Blind Paralympic rower heading for a busy future

[Joy Stigile]

Dear Fred,

Thank you for sharing these 2 inspiring articles with us.  Go Eleni!  I am 
looking forward to seeing all of my San Diego friends in 3 weeks at 
convention!

Warmly, Joy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fred's ol' XP" <regenerative at earthlink.net>
To: "NFB of California List" <nfbc-info at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2012 8:06 PM
Subject: [Nfbc-info] Beach Cities Chapter member: Blind Paralympic rower 
heading for a busy future


> Federationists -
> We are very proud of Eleni's hard work, and look forward to more great 
> achievements!
> Beach Cities Chapter - NFB California
>
> http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/columnists/pfingsten/pfingsten-blind-paralympic-rower-heading-for-a-busy-future/article_f21b9a05-3eaa-5291-a53b-c5a574df40ef.html
>
>
>
>
> Blind Paralympic rower heading for a busy future
>
> 2012-09-09T10:00:00Z 2012-09-08T19:27:15Z PFINGSTEN: Blind Paralympic 
> rower heading for a busy futureBy TOM PFINGSTEN For the North County Times
>
>
> Eighteen-year-old Eleni Englert's time in the spotlight started in London, 
> but rather than the standard 15 minutes, her career is likely to be 
> measured in four-year increments between Olympic Games.
>
> In late August, as the Vista teenager prepared for her turn in the hull of 
> a racing craft in English waters, the world had already been dazzled by 
> hundreds of professional athletes during the 2012 Summer Games.
>
> But it was a coed team of rowers pulling hard against oars as well as 
> physical impairments that would captivate Englert's North County fans.
>
> Englert's challenge is blindness.
>
> Maureen de Long, who described herself as a family friend and the team's 
> head cheerleader, told me Friday that Englert's eyesight has suffered at 
> the hands of an incurable disease called Stargardt's.
>
> "She was diagnosed with this a few years ago, maybe when she was 12 or 13 
> years old," de Long said. "It's a degenerative eye disease, and as she 
> gets older, she's losing more and more of her vision."
>
> That wasn't about to stop Englert, whose family has always been athletic. 
> (Her father, Vista dentist Jon Englert, was a rower himself earlier in 
> life.)
>
> "She was participating in some other sports like basketball that she 
> couldn't do with her declining vision," de Long told me. "She hasn't been 
> rowing that long, to be this successful."
>
> Englert found a San Diego team and started competing. Soon, she was flying 
> all over the place to row ---- New Zealand, Slovakia. London was not the 
> farthest she had gone to compete, but it was by far the biggest stage.
>
> "She's been traveling around the country, going to different national and 
> international competitions ---- and all the while maintaining a 4.0 
> average at school," de Long said.
>
> There was no medal in store for Englert's team this year.
>
> "The first day, they came in second place in their preliminaries, and then 
> the second day they came in second place," said de Long. "The third day, 
> they went to the finals and they were up against some really stiff 
> competition, and unfortunately, they placed sixth. But you're talking 
> seconds, regardless. It's not that much time."
>
> Englert is a powerful rower, to hear de Long tell it: "She's a big 
> girl ---- she's 6'2" and 185 pounds. She's a machine."
>
> Meanwhile, Englert's guide dog, a yellow lab named Briggs, became a mascot 
> of sorts for Team USA, de Long said.
>
> At 18 and headed for the University of Washington, Englert is a shoo-in 
> for bigger and better things. Briggs just might make more than one games, 
> as well, said de Long: "I'm pretty sure she's slated to go to Rio, but 
> they can't say it."
>
>
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