Handicapped Swede sets Alcatraz swim record
Published: 5 Sep 11 12:55 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/35960/20110905/
Swedish handicapped swimmer Anders Olsson shocked a field of experienced open-water swimmers by winning a race from prison island Alcatraz to the California mainland in record time on Sunday.
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Olsson, a Paralympic gold medalist who is paralyzed from the waist down, was the first swimmer without functioning legs to enter the grueling competition.
Dubbed the “Swim with the Centurions”, the race entails swimming 2.6 kilometres in the rough and frigid waters of the San Francisco bay that separate the famed prison island from the mainland.
While Olsson described plying through the chilly 13 degree Celsius waters as “tough” he nevertheless managed to outclass hundreds of other swimmers who participated in the event, despite not having use of his legs.
Not only was Olsson's time of 24m32s enough to give him a four minute margin of victory over second place Kyle Winters, but it also set a new record for the 9-year-old Alcatraz Classic.
Following his stunning victory, Olsson was christened “The Swedish Torpedo” by his fellow competitors.
Olsson, who lost the use of his legs in the mid-1990s, was confined to a bed for five years battling depression and morphine addiction until he turned his life around in 2002, according to an account on his personal website.
He has since competed in the Paralyimpics in 2004 and 2008, and been named Sweden's Handicapped Athlete of the year in 2008 and 2010.
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Now, THERE is someone who really deserves to have their picture posted on " The Weekend's Finest" rather than a couple of drunk teenage girls making out.
Way to go Anders. What a great accomplishment and a great example of drive, committment and perseverence.
Now if we can just change the headline to more accurately read "Disabled" rather than the perjorative "Handicapped." The only thing that is handicapping about a disability, is the attitude of individuals who are able bodied.
There's no need to go negative on drunk teenage girls making out in order to make your point. ;-)
Not negative on drunk teenage girls, Negative that the Local. Week after endless week, in the "Highlights" section in the "Gallery" in "This Weekends Finest" are teenage girls, usually in some form of making out. While the girls are "fine", it is a bit insulting to Sweden actually to post the same thing week after week, when there are other people who have done very fine things, important things, valuable things to their communities, cities, the country, other than get drunk and kiss.
Take this man for example. Last weekend , he did an amazing thing. A "FINE" thing, one he and Sweden can be proud of. It was a huge achievement , a personal triumph and it says a lot for the Swedish spirit. He, and people like him deserve far more to be labeled as "This Weekends Finest" than the endless stream of pretty girls who have done nothing more than fix their hair and makeup, dress up, go out and get drunk enough to start making out with their friends.