Saltus Secondary School student, Jessica Lewis is the kind of teenager who is always looking for a new challenge.

That's why Miss Lewis, 17, recently took up wheelchair track racing.

She was born with diastomatomyelia, a congenital disorder in which a part of the spinal cord is split, usually at the level of the upper lumbar vertebra.

But she has never let her disability stop her from participating in sports. "At my old school, the Bermuda High School for Girls, I would participate in school sports days by going around the school track in my regular wheelchair," she said.

In May, she won two silver medals for wheelchair track racing at the Desert Challenge Games in Phoenix, Arizona. "It is basically like running but in a three-wheel chair," she said.

She raced in the T53 wheelchair class, which is for racers with restricted movement in their abdominals.

"I started wheelchair racing about four years ago, but I just got serious about it a year ago," she said. "The Desert Challenge was my second challenge. I got two silver medals for the 100 metre and the 200. I was racing against two other people.

"The Desert Challenge was absolutely amazing," she said. "I really, really enjoyed it. It was great to see other people in my sport, how they train and what they do."

Miss Lewis uses a track chair which is made up of one wheel in the front and two in the back.

"You have special gloves," she said. "You basically push with your knuckles. It is a different style of pushing to an everyday chair."

She trains three days a week, and she hopes to soon start lifting weights twice a week at the gym. "I didn't think I was going to take it this far," she said.

She was introduced to athlete Curtis Thom, who came to Windreach. At the age of 17, Mr. Thom was one of the youngest competitors on the Canadian National Wheelchair Racing team. Windreach also brought down Paralympics Beijing double bronze winner Anjali Forber-Pratt.

"She does the same wheelchair class as myself. She has been taking me under her wing," said Miss Lewis. "It is interesting to learn how they handle the competition."

She hopes to one day do the May 24 Half-Marathon Derby. "I don't think there are many disabled people who take part," she said. "I have always been really into sports and tried to find ways to be able to play with my classmates."

In June, she will be competing in the US Nationals. This is the qualifier for the 2012 Paralympics in London. "So it is kind of a big meet," she said.

She has one year left at Saltus Secondary School and in college, she hopes to study therapeutic recreation. "I want to take over Tammalita Astwood's job at Windreach Recreational Village," she said with a laugh. Miss Astwood is the Adaptive Sports Coordinator.

Like other athletes with disabilities we have spoken to, she wished that Bermuda was more accessible to people with disabilities.

"When you are riding on the street in a wheelchair, often at the crosswalk one side has a ramp, but there is a bump on the other side," she said. "Sometimes the ramps have drains right on the bottom."

At one point, the teenager was almost thrown directly into the path of traffic by one of these drains. "I have had problems where my wheel stuck in a drain and I flipped forward," she said. "I was with my mom. It was scary.

"I try to go sideways down the ramp if there is a drain so my wheels don't go into it."

Paul's Story

Paul Alves, 30, is no stranger to sport. He teaches tennis at Grotto Bay Beach Resort where he co-owns the tennis facility.

Mr. Alves, who was born with spina bifida, a spinal cord injury, recently set his sights on wheelchair racing.

At the Desert Challenge Games in Arizona Mr. Alves, who was born without a piece of his spine, did not win medals but achieved personal bests in wheelchair racing in the T54 Class for athletes with full upper body ability and balance.

“In the 100 metres I finished last in both races,” he said. “But it was my first time racing. I was really happy about it. In the 100 metres my best time was just over 20 seconds, but I once went 19 seconds in training.”

He said some of the great wheelchair athletes can do the competition in 15 seconds.

“It is always inspiring when you go away to compete and get to see people competing from around the world,” he said.

Mr. Alves only started wheelchair track a few months ago and was inspired to take it up after attending the Beijing, China Paralympics in 2008. He returned to Bermuda eager to try for the Paralympics himself.

“Beijing was great,” he said. “It was the best trip of my life. It was very interesting. It was very eye-opening.

“They were well-equipped for people with disabilities in Beijing. It was very impressive. It was a big surprise compared to what we have heard in the news. It was very impressive.”

He said there were a lot of things he saw in Beijing for people with disabilities that Bermuda could incorporate.

“For example, on sidewalks they would have markings that were upraised from the pavement. They were for blind people. If you hit them with the stick you would know it was the end of the sidewalk.”

By contrast, he said Bermuda still has many old buildings where the only access is by stairs.

“We have problems with the overall spacing on sidewalks,” he said. “A lot of them don’t have ramps on every end. Sometimes you have to go on the road. Some bathrooms are not accessible. Basic things like things like doorways are not accessible.

“If there was one thing I could change tomorrow in terms of accessibility, I would change the sidewalks.”

The wheelchair track was organised by Windreach. Mr. Alves trained at the National Stadium with trainer Gerry Swan.

For more information about Windreach telephone 238-2469 or check out their webpage at www.windreach.org. In Monday’s Lifestyle section the last in this series will focus on paraequestrian Ashlee Brady Kelly.