Disabled athletes swim, bike and run in Chicago 'Try-athlon'

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Disabled athletes swim, bike and run in Chicago 'Try-athlon' -- chicagotribune.com

Swimmers toed the pool's edge and shuffled restlessly as race officials detailed instructions aloud and in sign language, yet another reminder that Sunday's triathlon was no ordinary competition.

A whistle and swish of a white flag began the race. Onlookers clapped and waved their hands in silent applause. And signs reading "You Rock!" and "We Love You" lined the looping course, enabling some competitors to read the encouragement they could not hear.

More than four dozen athletes battling everything from deafness to developmental disabilities lined up Sunday for the Chicago Park District's second annual "Try-athlon" in Shabbona Park on the Northwest Side. Twenty-four teams drawn from parks across the city competed, up from 14 last year. Most divided the tasks of a 100-yard swim, 2.5-mile bike and nearly mile-long run between participants.

Organizers said Sunday's race aimed to expose people to the sport and inspire a sense of pride.

Adam Lyke strode cautiously to the pool.

Adam, 13, began training for the competition two months ago, knowing he wanted to race independently. He is deaf and physically disabled with club feet and claw hands, said his mother, Denise Lyke. Adam topped off his preparation with a bike ride Saturday around his home on Chicago's Northwest Side.

"My bicycle is very hot, very fast," Adam said through a sign interpreter. "That's my baby."

So, when the flag waved for the first heat, he jumped into the pool eager to complete the swim and begin the second leg of the race. He cycled so fast that his adult partner could not catch him. Such drive propelled him through the run—"the hardest part," he said—to the finish line. Only there did he pause to consider the achievement with a shy duck of his head.

"When you look at what he's up against, it makes you realize how motivated he is. If he can do it, we all can try to do it," said Sarah Faber, a Park District program specialist for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Jodie Salis, 9, has limited hearing in one ear. In the other, she's deaf. But the young swimmer said she could see and sense the cheering as she neared the final lap of her 100-yard swim. She danced along the sidelines as friends cycled and jogged through their parts.

"You came in last, but the truth is you participated," said Jodie's grandmother, Brenda Nelson. "That's what really counts."
 
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