Blind Water Skiers Hold

 ‘Leaps Of Faith’ Clinic

By Chris Kuell

Although the sporadic rain and occasional clap of thunder have kept some of the faint of heart at home, there was still a good turnout at the Lake Zoar Water Ski Club’s fourth annual “Leap of Faith” clinic for blind children and adults. Held Saturday, June 23, in Sandy Hook, the clinic provided training and skiing for about 30 visually impaired people, most of them kids.

The idea for the clinics came four years ago from Joel Zeisler, the president of the Lake Zoar club, and Allan Golabek, a World Champion blind water skier from Bethel.

“I wanted to bring some of the confidence and self assuredness I had learned from water skiing to other blind people,” Mr Golabek explained.

Blind and visually impaired children are generally excluded from many of the camps and other recreational activities sighted kids in Connecticut attend during the summer. Parents and blind children aren’t left with many choices, as camps and other programs don’t have the training or faculty to deal with visually impaired children.

The Leaps of Faith Clinics were designed with blind skiers in mind, and virtually every participant is successful at experiencing the thrill or racing across the water.

The clinics have three premium ski boats and all trainers are certified from the USA Water Ski Association.

Each skier is fitted with a life vest and proper skis. They are shown on land how to sit as if they were in the water, then pulled up as they hold a handle. Proper body positioning and technique is carefully explained during the simulation. This is repeated in the water with trainers, and then the real thing is experienced by skiing with the boat.

Most of the skiers paid no attention to the rain; one even said it was a lot warmer than the lake. Since the turnout was lower than expected, many of the participants were able to ski several times.  This made Justin Gotthardt, a nine-year-old from Sherman, extremely happy. A return skier from the last three years, Justin was thrilled to ski all day, hardly even taking a break for lunch.

“Overall, I’d say it was a huge success,” Mr Golabek stated. The Lake Zoar Ski Club, which was selected as the Best Ski Club in New England by the USA Water Ski Association, plans to hold another clinic in late September.