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Making a new splash

At 36, Paralympic swimmer is competitive as ever

Trischa Zorn, who is legally blind, competed in her first Paralympics in 1980, when she was 16

September 3, 2000
Web posted at: 11:05 PM EDT (0305 GMT)

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By Greg BotelhoIICNNfyi.com writer

Profile: Trischa Zorn
Age: 36
Hometown: Indianapolis
Weight: 135 pounds
Height: 5 foot, 3 inches

In 20 years as an elite athlete, Trischa Zorn has seen the Paralympic movement rise to whole new levels.

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She has seen the competitions move from recreational facilities to world-class stadiums. She has seen colleagues earn sponsorships, once unheard of in disabled sports. She's seen the public become more aware of the disabled -- as real people, with real challenges.

And somewhere in the meantime, Zorn -- who is legally blind, with 20/1200 vision in her right eye and 20/900 in her right -- has seen her swimming times drop. Thanks largely to nine months of intense training, Zorn is racing at the same level she was when she at her competitive peak nearly a decade ago.

"Swimming is not an old person's sport," said Zorn, 36. "And I'm swimming as fast as I did eight years ago -- that's unheard of, given my age."

Since January, Zorn has trained alongside world-class, able-bodied athletes at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

"I was excited about being able to train full time," said Zorn, one of five disabled athletes in the U.S. Olympic Committee's Residents Program. "It has been a big learning experience for me. I hadn't ever been able to really learn the science behind swimming."

That Zorn has more to learn is notable in itself, considering that she holds several world records and medals. Her first Paralympics was in 1980, when she was 16. Then again, learning and teaching go hand in hand for Zorn, particularly given her other "career" as a teacher.

Zorn said that her sight has not interfered with her ability to swim (she began swimming competitively at age 10) or her work in the classroom.

"I really don't see myself with a disability," Zorn said. "I never thought it was a problem."

Some students ask about her sight, Zorn said, out of curiosity. She said that she includes students of all abilities in her classes, careful not to single out those with disabilities.

Zorn most recently taught 6th grade at Emma Donnan School 72, an inner-city elementary school in Indianapolis. Through ongoing communication with these students and past experiences with young people, Zorn said kids increasingly get the point -- that there is little difference between disabled and able-bodied people.

"Children of today are exposed to it more. They are more able to see what a disabled person is and the different forms of disability," Zorn said.

"They know, through hands-on experience, that these people are no different than they are: that it's not that they're disabled and can't do anything they can do. You didn't see that 10 years ago -- that's been a big breakthrough."

The fact that she, a Paralympic athlete, can train in Colorado Springs next to Olympic champions is a big, if largely, symbolic breakthrough in its own right. But it's only the latest in a string of developments in the Paralympic movement she has seen during the past two decades.

While Zorn said the Paralympics are increasingly coming into their own as a legitimate athletic event, she added they never fail to be inspirational -- even for so-called disabled athletes such as herself.

"When you go to the Paralympic Games, you reflect back and say, 'I don't have it that bad,' " she said. "It is an inspiration to see others compete and be able to adapt so well."

U.S. Olympic Committee
Sydney 2000 Paralympics
The Sydney Morning Herald

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