Anthony Davis had every intention of spending this week in New Jersey rowing for a chance to represent the United States at a qualifying race for the Paralympic Games.
But the path to Rio turned choppy for the Vancouver resident during a March training camp in Florida, and the lack of a suitable partner put an end to Davis’ dream.
“It’s frustrating,” Davis said. “I know that I have it inside me — I just can’t do it by myself.”
Davis would love the opportunity to race solo. But the category of Paralympic rowing he qualifies for — athletes who can use only their trunk and arms — requires a partnership between a man and a woman. Even a weeklong training camp in Florida didn’t produce a partnership that worked for Davis.
Tom Darling, the director of Paralympic rowing for U.S. Rowing, staged that training camp to try to find a fast partnership. He said Davis performed well, but only three women participated and the rower Darling thought would be the best match for Davis didn’t show up.
“It’s a tough situation,” Darling said.
Darling said head-and-trunk category is coed to increase opportunities for both men and women in adaptive rowing.
In Davis’ case, the need for a partner is doing the exact opposite.
On Wednesday, Lorah Goodkind and Afghanistan war veteran Helman Roman earned the opportunity to represent the United States later this month at the final Paralympic qualifier in Italy. There, they will be challenged to beat traditional powers China and Russia to earn a trip to Rio.
Davis and Goodkind posted the fastest time at the Florida training camp, and she asked Davis to join her in Florida and train for the Paralympics. Davis and coach Alan Stewart suggested that Goodkind, from Long Beach, Calif., come to Vancouver to train. But Goodkind had a chance to train in Miami with financial assistance.
Leaving his family for a month or more wasn’t in Davis’ plans. Also, he and Goodkind needed to cut 30 seconds off their time at the training camp to realistically challenge for a Rio berth, a time cut Davis said is unrealistic with only weeks of training together.
This is the second time in four years that Davis has seen his Paralympic dream slip away. In 2012, the opportunity to handcycle a marathon in Rome was too good to pass up even though it conflicted with a U.S. Rowing camp. Davis took the trip to Rome and U.S. Rowing went with a different rower.
Darling, a former Olympic rowing silver medalist, emphasized that circumstances, not ability, kept Davis from a chance to row for a Rio berth.
“He’s super fit he raced freely well,” Darling said. “He’s not lacking any determination or will and he’s a great athlete.”
Facing challenges
Davis turned to rowing in 2009, finding it an outlet for his competitive personality after a car accident left the La Center native paralyzed from the waist down. The accident happened as Davis was heading home after completing five years in the Navy that included two tours to the wars in the Middle East.
Stewart, the head coach at Vancouver Lake crew, taught Davis to row and has become a strong advocate for adaptive rowing. Stewart said the sport is barely funded in the United States, while China, Russia and other top countries have their adaptive rowers training full time.
Even before heading to Florida, there were indications this might not be Davis’ Paralympic time.
Four days before heading to the training camp, Davis broke the tip of his index finger during a gym workout. The injury was felt as he rowed in Florida, but did not keep him from turning in times that might have sent him to Italy this month had the right partner been in camp.
There were other frustrations. For example, Stewart pointed out that one of the other male rowers in the camp appeared to be using his legs to row in violation of international rules for the trunk-and-arms division.
Despite the hurdles that kept Davis from his Paralympic dream in 2016, he can see opportunities ahead. Perhaps the international rowing body will add a singles division for trunk-and-arms rowers. Stewart said that has been discussed, but seems unlikely to change before for the 2017 World Championships that take place in Florida.
Those world championships are the next big thing on Davis’ radar. But to make it worthwhile, he will need to find a female partner who shares his passion and commitment to a sport that is physically demanding. Davis said he used social media and contacts with the Portland-area Veterans Administration in his search for a female interested in learning to row competitively.
“We don’t have any girls (who row) here, and my category calls for girls so we’re kind of between a rock and a hard place,” Davis said.
As that search continues, Davis will enter non-adaptive events in the region, including a novice singles race this weekend in the Seattle area.
“I still want to be the fastest male rower” in the trunk-and-arms category, Davis said.
