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Recent Sightings Recent sightings: Gybe-ho!

September 26, 2007

Photo of adaptive sailing class on Lake Mendota

Photo: Jeff Miller

Students Jim Hamre, second from left, and Jane Schmieding, second from right, who usually use wheelchairs, refused to let a stormy sky dampen their enthusiasm for taking control of the rudder of Soma, one of the Hoofer Sailing Club’s largest boat, while sailing on Lake Mendota on Sept. 25.

Hamre and Schmieding are flanked by kinesiology, and rehabilitation psychology and special education students. All are taking part in Adapted Fitness and Personal Training, a fall-semester kinesiology class taught by faculty associate Tim Gattenby that features activities in the gym and swimming pool as well as outdoor pursuits.

Gattenby describes the course as the “epitome of credit outreach education” and one that often involves a variety of organizations to aid in sharing learning opportunities and assisting with fabricating adaptive equipment.

“Hoofers has warmly welcomed us back and not asked for a cent for use of the boats and their sailing instructors’ time,” says Gattenby.

The collective effort is rewarded when Hamre, who has multiple sclerosis, exclaims, “I’m loving it! I grew up playing on the water… this is a riot!”