- Feb 28, 2009
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Swimmer hopes to compete in Paralympics
Daniel Giles/TimesDaily
Roderick Sewell practices at the Royal Avenue Recreation Center in Florence. For two hours a day, six days a week, Sewell trains in hopes of representing the United States in the 2012 Paralympics in London.
By Michelle Rupe Eubanks
Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, September 12, 2010 at 3:30 a.m.
The moment Roderick Sewell's fingertips breach the water's surface, he feels he's home.
“It's where I feel I am most myself,” the University of North Alabama freshman said.
Nothing matters except this moment — not the history test next week, not the life he's left behind with his mom in Birmingham, not the two feet and calves that are missing below his knees.
From one end of the pool to the next, he swims 25 meters at a stretch, back and forth until 500 have elapsed and practice, for this day at least, is done.
Swimming is life to Roderick. It is what saved him once and, he is quite sure, will save him again.
What got him to Florence, the swim team and UNA is part of a much larger dream, one Roderick hopes will culminate with the 2012 Paralympics in London.
Getting to this point hasn't been easy, as no dream worth accomplishing ever is.
“I don't ever remember having my legs,” Roderick said. “I've always adapted to a life without them.”
At birth, the bones in his calves were missing and his feet were twisted, conditions that made forward mobility virtually impossible. The only way Roderick could have any kind of independence would be to remove his legs above his knees. The surgery took place when he was just 14 months old.
It wasn't until he was 10 that he took his first dip in a swimming pool.
“We were living in San Diego at the time, and really, the only reason I wanted to learn how to swim was that I was afraid of the water,” Roderick said.
He quickly overcame that fear. He learned how to use his upper body and improve his breathing techniques in order to propel himself through the water.
For a few years, life became a blur of school work and swimming, until the day his mother, Marian Sewell, said there was no money left. The family finances were so depleted that food and shelter were threatened. Swimming would have to take a back seat indefinitely.
“It was very expensive and, finally, we had to leave California because of financial difficulties,” Roderick said. “When we left we were homeless, and we chose to move to Birmingham because it would be cheaper and we had family there.”
For a time, Roderick and his mother were without a permanent address after they moved to Alabama in 2004. It took time and help from friends and family, but Roderick soon made his way back to the sport that had become a passion.>>>>>>
COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE: http://www.timesdaily.com/article/2...Title=Swimmer-hopes-to-compete-in-Paralympics