World-Class Athletes with MD Compete in Paralympics
by Kathy Wechsler

This September, three athletes with neuromuscular diseases traveled to Beijing, China, to compete in the 13th Paralympic Games. The first-time Paralympians represented the United States in three different events: sailing, cycling and swimming.

Nick Scandone

Nick Scandone and crew member

Champion sailor Nick Scandone of Fountain Valley, Calif., has always dreamed of winning a gold medal for sailing.

This September that dream was realized at the Paralympic Games when Scandone, 42, and his crew member, Maureen McKinnon-Tucker, took home a gold medal in the SCUD-18 class for the two-person keelboat. In this event, the helm (Scandone) must be a classification 1 sailor (limited functional ability) and one team member must be female.

The first-time Paralympian and his crew actually secured the coveted medal with two races to go in the 11-race series that took place about 340 miles southeast of Beijing.

“It’s such an honor to win the gold, because it says you are the best in the world at that time,” says Scandone, who received a diagnosis of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrigs’s disease) in 2002.

Sailing much of his life as a member of the Balboa Yacht Club, Scandone has received numerous awards in his sailing career. Up until now, he considered his most significant achievement to be when he won the 2005 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Award.

“When I was diagnosed with ALS, I made a choice to get busy living and do the things I wanted to do in the time I have left,” he says.

In 2004, Scandone started training for the Paralympics by sailing in regattas across the country and around the world. He trained with both able- and disabled-bodied sailors.

“I also learned that you need a lot of support from friends and family — even sometimes strangers help as well as organizations like the MDA,” says Scandone, whose strongest supporter is his wife of 10 years, Mary Kate. “When I look at my medal, I am reminded of all who helped me get the gold.”

Anthony Zahn

Anthony Zahn, center, before a race

Racing bikes for 19 years, first-time Paralympian Anthony Zahn, Riverside, Calif., arrived in Beijing energized and ready to take on the world as a member of the United States Paralympic Cycling Team.

And take on the world he did. Zahn, who has Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, was awarded the bronze medal in the 24.5-kilometer road time trial, one of four cycling events in which he competed. Zahn competes in the LC4 category for athletes with disabilities affecting both lower limbs.

“As a person, I’m more than happy — I’m ecstatic with my performance,” says Zahn, 36. “As an athlete, even if I had won gold, I’d want to win by more — athletes are never satisfied.

“The day you stop being hungry; the day the fire goes out is the day you need to retire.”

Zahn also came in sixth in the 3-kilometer pursuit on the velodrome (indoor track), which made him very happy considering the velodrome was never his best event.

“When I get into something, I don’t go halfway into it,” he says. “I want to see how good I can get at something.”

In fact, cycling is such an important part of his life that he owns and operates a bike shop, Anthony’s Cyclery, where he puts in long hours so that he can take time off preparing for the next Paralympic Games.

Zahn predicts that one day he’ll retire from racing and focus on running his bike shop.

“But I just feel like I can’t do that and be at ease with myself, until I’ve gotten everything out of myself that I can,” he says. “If I’m capable of winning a gold, then I want to win that.”

Joseph Wise

As a young child with mitochondrial myopathy, Joe Wise of Menlo Park, Calif., took up swimming for health reasons and because it was a sport at which he could excel. In Beijing, the 15-year-old high school sophomore took the opportunity to do his personal best.

Placing fifth in the men's 400-meter freestyle at the Paralympics in the S10 class (minimal disability), Wise set both a personal record and an American record.

“It felt really awesome,” says Wise. “I just dropped nine seconds off my record time in one day and that’s a lot.”

Wise says the support of his family, friends and doctors gave him the physical and mental strength to work so hard for that level of competition.

“Four years ago, I told them that I wanted to make the Beijing trip to the Paralympics,” he says. “When I told them, they were with me every step of the way.

Getting to the Paralympics required much discipline. Wise was in the pool for two to three hours a day, seven days a week. He now plans to catch up on school work and get back in the pool to prepare for the 2012 Paralympics.