Blind lead the blind to athletic success
Accomplished para-triathlete shares skills and knowledge at specialized four-day camp
SAN DIEGO, CALIF.— Five years ago, Amy Dixon pulled herself out of a depressive funk over losing her vision by signing up for her first triathlon.
Now, the accomplished 42-year-old para-triathlete from Encinitas, Calif., is giving back to the sport that saved her with her Camp No Sight No Limits, a four-day skills camp for blind triathletes.
Thirteen athletes from as far away as New York and Florida took part recently in simulations, workouts, drills and lectures at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center, not far from the Mexican border.
Although there are hundreds of triathlon training camps around the country, only one caters to blind athletes. Dixon — who ranks No. 5 in the world in her para-triathlon division — said her camp offers something unique for visually impaired athletes.
“What I have is empathy,” said Dixon, who lost 98 per cent of her vision to a rare autoimmune disorder in her 20s and 30s. “I have a unique perspective on the challenges visually impaired athletes face when they compete. It’s a daunting experience and can be a big, scary abyss when you’re not prepared.”
Swimming, cycling and running coaches and sighted guides from around the country have volunteered their time at the camp, which has been underwritten largely by sponsors.
The athletes pay $1,000 (U.S.) for tuition, which covers all their activities, meals, lodging, insurance and rentals. Dixon said this is important because disabled athletes don’t attract as many sponsors as their ablebodied peers. She supports her racing career and Paralympics quest through sponsors, public speaking events and advocacy work for the vision pharmaceutical industry.
This camp isn’t designed just to shave a few seconds off the athletes’ race times.
Dixon’s camp offers practical skills that athletes and their guides can use to plan, organize and problem-solve the many obstacles blind athletes en- counter in the racing world.
“Being a blind athlete is all about having a plan B in place — and a plan C, D and E, just in case,” said Dixon, who moved to Encinitas from her native New England last April to train year-round and be closer to her coach and sponsors.
Blind triathletes travel the race course with a guide, who swims 750 metres and runs five kilometres beside them on a flexible tether, and also takes the front seat of a tandem bicycle for a 20-kilometre ride. The guides are able to help the blind athletes during the challenging periods of transitioning from wetsuit to running gear. The guide’s job also involves warning the athlete of obstacles, turns and difficult terrain.
Dixon’s primary guide is Kirsten Sass of McKenzie, Tenn. And since September 2016, she also has raced with guide Christy Fritts of Carlsbad, Calif. In their first race together, she and Fritts won the ITU Aquathlon world championship in Cozumel, Mexico, and they’ve since picked up three more gold medals.
“She’s my good-luck charm,” Dixon said of Fritts.
Dixon attributes her current ranking in the sport — she’s on a promising track to make Team USA for the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo — to her coach, Ray Kelly, who is among the volunteers at the camp.
Another of the volunteer coaches is retired pastor and Ironman competitor Scott Bennefield of New Mexico, who oversaw an open-water simulation last week in a Chula Vista swim- ming pool. It got off to a rough start when the guides and swimmers became tangled in each other’s tethers.
“The analogy I use is that triathlons are like life itself: you prepare for the expected, but it almost never turns out that way,” said Bennefield, who’s a certified USA Paratriathlon coach.
The key to avoiding mishaps in the water is clear communication between the guide and athlete on avoiding other swimmers and moving quickly around the buoys without entangling the tether.
Dixon said athletes at her last camp increased their times by up to 20 per cent, in large part due to improved communication. Some blind athletes have even cut seven minutes from their race time by methodically drilling on their quick-change moves during transition from water to land.
Dixon hand-picked this year’s camp participants, both for their experience (each must have completed at least three triathlons) and their ability to work in the group dynamic. About half are returnees from her first camp last winter and the rest are newcomers.
Among those newbies is Susan Wentzy, 36, of Silver Spring, Md. The second-generation pastor was born with retinopathy and lost most of her vision by age 13. After meeting and being inspired by Dixon, she started running in 2015 and has since completed six triathlons and one marathon.
“I continue to challenge myself and see how I can continue getting to know myself and my body,” Wentzy said. “I’m amazed at how the team effort here has been so positive.”
With so many athletes, such as Wentzy, travelling from back east, Dixon said she’d like to launch a second camp on the East Coast, but she is now focusing on her personal bid for the U.S. Paratriathlete team.
The camp offers practical skills that athletes and their guides can use to problem-solve the many obstacles blind athletes encounter