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10 Questions American swimmer Jason Wening
Updated: Friday October 27, 2000 9:11 PM
By Luba Vangelova, Special to CNNSI.com Jason Wening, co-captain of the U.S. swim team, has not been beaten in his 400-meter freestyle class since 1991. He is earning a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan. These are the third Paralympic Games for Wening, a bilateral below-the-knee amputee who was also born with a partially formed left arm and hand. 1. How have the International Aquatic Centre crowds been? The crowds have been fabulous. This country really knows the sport. They understand the races and can talk about splits and mechanics. Unlike in the U.S., where you tell someone you're a swimmer, and they'll just say something like, "Oh, that's done in the water, right?" 2. Has the crowd noise and partisanship affected the swimmers? Most of the athletes here are more revved up by it than distracted by it. It's a very friendly, supportive crowd. They're very supportive of great swims. Of course, they're especially supportive of great Australian swims. It's amazing that so many people are showing up for the Paralympics. The first time I heard the crowd, it sent shivers down my spine. 3. This pool has earned a reputation as a "fast pool." Can you notice the difference? Yes, if you swim long enough, you get a sense of whether a pool is fast or not. The way this one is designed [with special lane ropes and a consistently deep bottom] gets rid of the turbulence the swimmers create, dissipating most of it. 4. Have you applied anything from your biomedical studies to your swimming? I have, yes. I'm very analytical in general, so I take a very analytical turn on my swimming. Starting last September, I made a lot of revisions to my swimming technique. The primary things I changed had to do with my body position and the way I balance in the water. It's paid off huge. 5. Why were you and some other American athletes wearing yellow armbands at the Opening Ceremony? It was [wheelchair racer] Scot Hollonbeck's idea. It was a passive protest against the lack of support and services for Paralympic athletes by the USOC. We've gotten great support here, on the site. They've given us great uniforms and so on. But you don't produce successful athletes by giving them great uniforms. That comes from years of investing in training. In other countries, athletes get insurance, stipends and other support. 6. What did you hope your protest would accomplish? We wore the armbands to try and bring some awareness to Americans in general, and also to disabled people. A lot of disabled athletes are not aware of what is available to them. They spend more time looking for training than actually training. 7. What has the USOC's response been to your complaints? The magic mystery excuse is always budget. Forget about whether some of their money is simply being wasted [in other areas.] 8. Are there any signs that the situation will improve? Things have been better since '92 and '96. But we aren't completely satisfied with the rate at which things are improving. They created the U.S. Paralympic Sports Corporation, a new parallel national governing body. But it is drastically underfunded. It has $4 million a year to spend on 22 sports. That's nothing. The USOC also hasn't marketed the [Paralympic] rights they own. They've not pursued sponsorships. There are some great stories in these Games; you can't tell me the American public wouldn't be interested in them. The USOC has been very slow to recognize the value of what we're doing. Athletes from other countries have also been supportive of us in our efforts to change things. In many cases, they'd been through similar struggles back home. 9. Here at the Games, how well do the athletes from different countries get along? Great. We don't have the egos and the personal sponsorship money at stake that Olympians do. We see each other once very two years, so we'll chat with each other and catch up. 10. Do the athletes discuss their disabilities with one another? Yes. If people see someone with a new type of prosthetic or wheelchair, they'll want to know, how did you get that, and how well does it work. The Paralympics are an education movement as well. The athletes are teaching each other how to function in society with their disabilities.
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