Because the reality is, it’s not easy—the endless training and the weeks on the road away from home—it can all take a toll. In this sport, your physical endurance will get you through a race, but it’s your mental endurance that sustains you over the course of a multi-year campaign.
When Sarah’s spinal cord was injured in a cycling accident she lost more than the use of her legs. She had always been active—she’d been on a bike ride training for a triathlon during the accident—and in a moment it was all gone. She felt like she had lost the essence of who she was. Sailing was how she found it again.
Cindy knows the feeling. One day, when she was 14, she woke up paralyzed from a rare inflammatory disease. She would spend the next 10 years hoping to wake up again and find herself cured. It wasn’t until she began sailing that something changed. Out on the water, the weight of her disability melted away. She wasn’t just free of her crutch and her wheelchair; she was simply free.
For this team, “I don’t know; let’s figure it out,” might as well be their mantra. Life has taken them off course, but they’ve figured it out. They’re figuring it out, still. How do you design a new seat for your boat and your particular set of abilities? I don’t know; let’s figure it out. How do you succeed as a two-woman team against a field filled with men? I don’t know; let’s figure it out. How do you chase a gold medal and do something you could never have done before your accident? I don’t know; let’s figure it out. Together.
" I think we’re trying to prove that two women can do just about anything they want to do, together. " - By Sarah Everhart-Skeels
" On the boat we’re both pushing it... let's push ourselves and just see what would happen. We know we have limits, but we don’t like to address them. " - By Cindy Walker
Story By : Uncharted waters
