Marc Shaw trims the jib on the Canadian Sonar. He is as trim and fit as any 40-year old you will meet. According to Ken Kelley, the Canadian skipper, that wasn’t always the case.

 

“He is a changed person. When we met him he was 275 pounds,” confided Kelley.

 

After two years of sailing together, getting training from middleman, Don Terlson, being meticulous about what he eats and biking to and from work everyday, Shaw has lost over 100 pounds. Not only that, he takes tremendous pride in what he does.

 

Said Shaw, who was injured in 1993 and struggled to keep his leg through 1995, “Don showed me a routine and I stuck with it. I have to thank everyone for being supportive and the whole team for believing in me.”

 

Terlson, who has a paralyzed arm, is a triathlete and a nimble middle man in the Sonar.

 

Kelley is paralyzed from the waist down and recovered remarkably fast from breaking a leg in the Paralympic Test Event earlier this year. While Kelley was recuperating and working with a sports psychologist, another Canadian helmsman sailed with Shaw and Terlson.

 

None of the crew sailed before being disabled, but gravitated to sailing as a past time and a passion. “The crew has been tremendous. They have let everything else go except for sailing. The Paralympics is something that we have been looking forward to for a long time,” said Kelley.

 

Don Martin who coached the Canadian Paralympic Sailing Team in Athens and Sydney, has been working with the team since 2006. They have also had a tremendous amount of support from the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, the Victoria Harbour Authority and the Phelen Foundation.

 

The Phelen Foundations assists in funding the entire Canadian Sailing Squad and has been instrumental in purchasing boats and paying for coaching for the Canadian sailors.