Pete – What adaptive sports interest you?

I found water skiing and I thought “oh, for going fast.” I have always loved motor cycles and going fast with the turns. Well, that works. Hot Atlanta summers, let me go swimming, that works. And so I got involved in water skiing, specifically through Shepherd’s therapeutic rec program and a gentleman named Bill Furbish, who became my coach. And that’s where I found my fun in sporting again, and being physical, challenging myself. And it really played an important role being involved in these adaptive sports, because it gave me more of that sense of confidence in myself and my ability to achieve things. And so, I used that as a springboard to catapult me into other things that I like to do. I had been active in competitive motorcycling, and so it kind of gave me the idea, “well, maybe I could buy a car, and start racing cars and be competitive in the non- adaptive world? Just no problem with the adaptive sport world, but let me find something that is truer to my nature and truer to the spirit that I feel is in me.” And so, I did. I went and bought myself a cheap car at first because if I tore it up it wasn’t much lost. And I slowly found myself building momentum in racing cars. I think that the adaptive sports gave me the confidence that I needed to springboard into a sporting activity that was more true to my spirit and my sense of self.