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

Karmalynne ladyklynne at gmail.com
Sun Sep 30 23:15:26 UTC 2012


Hey Fred,

Thanks for sharing with us!  Man, this is so totally rockin' cool!
Eleni has accomplished so much, and I am so very proud of her.

On 9/29/12, Joy Stigile <joystigile at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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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>
>
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