Kendall Bailey, Paralympics Swimmer
June 18, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
Kendall Bailey is 19 years old, 6 foot 6, and a champion swimmer headed for the Paralympics in Beijing this September—–but he was almost rendered ineligible by the United States itself. Bailey has cerebral palsy, mental retardation, autism, and Klinefelter’s syndrome, which prevents his body from producing testosterone. Today’s New York Times profiles his dream to swim in the Paralympics and the efforts of his mother, Connie Shaw, to make sure that this happens:
Kendall Bailey is a rare case of a mentally disabled athlete who also has the physical disabilities to qualify him for the Paralympics. But in April, amid confusion about how disabled athletes are classified both before and during the Games, officials who oversee the American team on behalf of the United States Olympic Committee formally asked that Bailey be ruled ineligible.
Mrs. Shaw objected and had the request withdrawn, but was distraught over what United States team officials continued to describe to her as the strong possibility her son could be disqualified after arriving in China. Bailey’s local coach, Don Watkinds, feared the swimmer’s reaction: “Kendall would be uncontrollably enraged, or he might just crawl into a ball in the corner crying,” he said. “And he might never come out.”
The head of U.S. Paralympics, Charlie Huebner, who lodged the request to render Bailey ineligible, said in several interviews this week that he was merely “seeking clarification” of Bailey’s status so that his eligibility would be assessed before Beijing.
But David Grevemberg, who handled the matter for the International Paralympic Committee, said Monday that Bailey’s eligibility for the Paralympics was never a plausible issue, called the United States’ rationale “far-reaching,” and questioned its legitimacy altogether.
The Paralympics are for athletes with physical disabilities and are “often confused with the Special Olympics — a far less competitive event for people with mental disabilities like Down syndrome.” Bailey qualifies for the Paralympics because of his cerebral palsy and physical disabilities, but “after a challenge by another country, he was classified briefly as only intellectually disabled.” And being classified as such would render him ineligible to qualify for the Paralympics.
Happily, Bailey will be able to compete in Beijing. It seems telling that the reasons for disqualifying him were based on how to “classify” him—his athletic ability was not the issue. The New York Times article notes that his intellectual ability a number of times (”he alternates between being a clumsily communicative fifth-grader and an intractable toddler”) as well as his behavior problems (which are somewhat equated with his autism diagnosis). Do Bailey’s story and that of Oscar Pistorius—the South African runner who is a double amputee and runs using special prosthetic devices—-portend a new kind of Olympics; a new kind of understanding of athletic ability?
It is all because of the Spanish basketballers back in 2000.
Someone I admired at that time was Australian athlete Lisa Llorens, “The Cheetah”, so called because she personified the fastest animal. When I watched the Sydney Paralympics, it was so good to see an autistic athlete as well as someone who runs fast.
It would be great to have an autistic Olympics, like the Deaflympics, or at least sports which are accessible and competitive for us.
In the Paralympics there is a category called “les autres” which is (not exclusively) for people with (acquired) brain injuries.
It would be great to see Bailey compete, and all the other Paralympians in China. It will be a big experience for them.
The first three diagnostics given for Bailey would be all developmental disorders in most American social service systems.
I worked one-on-one with Kendall from age 16-18 and no matter the activity, he pushed himself harder and stronger than most typical athletes. Prior to moving away, he was outrunning me and training harder than anyone else I had worked with.
Here is an ideal candidate to represent America, someone who sees an obstacle and says “I am not going to stop until I get over that!” And this determination only grows with each new challenge.
I was prompted back to this story because the big girl’s competitive stroke is the breaststroke (not an easy one to swim at all) and the current Olympic trials in Omaha.
From this story,
“…But he blitzed through the water in 1:15.8 — winning the race, shocking the field and BREAKING his classification’s UNITED STATES RECORD” (my caps)
…
Shaw incurred $25,000 in legal fees trying to get U.S. Paralympics to drop its appeal and to sort out the matter of her son’s eligibility. In an interview at her home on June 8, she burst into tears at the thought of Bailey being rendered ineligible in Beijing, which the United States had told her was very possible. “It could take him under for life,” she said. “I mean it could make him a whole different person.”
…
“Just because he has other issues, he’s been looked at in a whole different way that hasn’t been fair,” she said. “He’s been singled out and isolated because of his autism, because of his intellectual disability. If Kendall wasn’t autistic, would any of this have happened? Absolutely not.”
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I can’t help agreeing with Mrs. Shaw and feeling somewhat aggrieved on her behalf because of the runaround and enormous expense that she was put to, esp. since the International Paralympic Committee felt the US request for clarification/appeal constituted a reach that was never in question. Will the family be reimbursed?
My hat is off to you Mrs. Shaw. Kendall, kick butt in your event. We’re rooting for you.
As a student working on my graduate program at Pensylvania State Univeristy, my worksace is filled with Kendall paraphernalia. I have watched he and his mother battle the beaurocacies with determination and moxie and I am proud to see his successfu, smiling face in the media. Kendall, despite his differences, brings back the true meaning of outperformng the self and finding the mnd-body connection.
kendall i love you and know that you are going to make all of us so proud when they give you the gold medal.we will all be watching this great event.ive held you special to my heart since the day i was there to see you born. I LOVE YOU
Paralympics Games (September 6-17) Net multimedia coverage
Live footage will be available, free of charge, on the IPC’s Internet TV channel ParalympicSport.TV, as well as on YouTube ParalympicSportTV
The Beijing Olympic Broadcasting Co. agreed to provide live signals of 12 Paralympic sports: athletics, boccia, track cycling, seven-a-side soccer, judo, swimming, table tennis, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis. In addition to the live events, ParalympicSport.TV will broadcast a daily news show, with additional highlights – including sports that won’t be live-streamed – available as video-on-demand.
A schedule of events can be found at http://www.paralympic.org
In the United States, daily live and delayed highlight shows will also be broadcast on UniversalSports.com.
Looks like Kendall’s event
Men’s 100m breaststroke, SB9
is scheduled for Wednesday, Sep 10.
Prelims/ 2 heats 09:00
Finals 17:00
Just FYI
We are all cheering for you, Kendall and Connie. You are solid gold!