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Paralympian Steve Daniel readies for next phase of the challenge
2008-11-08

It’s been a whirlwind year for Sudbury rower Steve Daniel. A former member of the Canadian Armed Forces, Daniel began rowing in August of 2007, and quickly rose to 11th in the world. After breaking the record at the Indoor World Championships in April, he was invited, at age 34, to the Olympic selection camp in June. What makes his story different is he did all this while overcoming a disability, emerging as Sudbury’s only Paralympian last month in Beijing.

“I thought the people as a whole were very organized,” said Daniel. “From the time you get off the plane to the time you get to the Olympic village, there were always people there to help me. If you had a question, there were always volunteers there to direct you. I was very impressed.”

Daniel spent 14 years in the army, recruited at the age of just 19. He was a part of four missions, one each to Croatia and Afghanistan with two tours of Bosnia. “I think there were a lot of positives that I got from the army that I could use once I got to Beijing,” he acknowledges.

Daniel talked about how he would play basketball and volleyball in high school, and about the days they spent training with sports. But in 2005, too much speed changed his life forever. While doing a free-fall jump with a parachute, Daniel fell too fast and ended up landing hard on his back and buttocks.

“My T-11 vertebrae just exploded, bursting into pieces,” he recalled. “I became paralyzed from the waist down.” From June until October of that year, he was rehabbing as he learned to live with his injury. Six months later, fellow rower Minna Mettinen turned him on to the sport as a means to improve his fitness.

It's turned into something much more important than a workout for the Sudburian. “Like in the army, rowing has facets of physicality and really forces me to push myself.” After competing in several regattas, including the US Nationals in New Jersey and the prestigious Canadian Henley, Daniel was pushed by his coach to try out for the Canadian National team in a bid to make the Paralympic games.

“I really wanted to push myself at every level, I took each race step by step,” he explained. But he realized, after getting to Beijing, how inexperienced he really was. "When I got there, because of my military background, I was strong and had good endurance, but I wasn’t as technically sound as some of the other rowers,” he said. “I had only been at it for months, when we were competing against rowers who had years of experience. I’ll have to put a lot of effort into improving my technique and conditioning, shaving 15-20 seconds off my times.”

Daniel was grateful for all the support he received from the Sudbury community. When he returned without a medal, nothing had changed. “The community supported me big time, even helped me raise money for my boat,” he said proudly. His experience in the military even helped him recover faster from the jet lag.

“I had about a week to adjust, but having experience travelling, I was able to use tricks like changing my diet and being prepared for the flight to recover faster.” His mark of 4:29 in the 1000m at the Indoor World Championships along with the Beijing experience has given him the drive to continue learning and he hopes to qualify for the World Championships next August in Poland.

“The Paralympics was just a very positive experience, and one of the highlights of my life.”

Palladino Subaru