Aaron Miller
Blind student achieves dream, competes in Triathlon World Championships
Twenty-year-old Aaron Scheidies has macular degeneration, a hereditary disease that causes a gradual decrease in central vision. But, as he says, that doesn't mean his life is as limited as his eyesight.
On Nov. 9, Scheidies, a kinesiology student at Michigan State University, made a dream come true after competing in the Triathlon World Championships in Cancun, Mexico. Competing against more than 30 triathletes with disabilities from all over the world, Scheidies placed first among blind male athletes and second in the Athletes With A Disability division. He completed the 1.5-kilometer swim, 40-kilometer bike and 10-kilometer run in 2:24:16. More than 2,000 athletes competed in the two-day event.
\I had a blast - it was awesome," he said. "It's kind of like the Olympics, coming together with all the countries and racing against people from all over the world."
During the Cancun triathlon, Scheidies, whose vision is 20/400, was required to have a guide who ran, biked and swam alongside him to keep him aware of obstacles and let him know the location of other racers.
"It was different to have a guide at first but we practiced it a lot," Scheidies said. "The hard part was making sure my guide didn't go in front of me at all, because that would disqualify me."
During the biking event, Scheidies and his guide rode a tandem, with the guide steering in front.
The trip was a culmination of several years of training, planning and plain hard work. A tough competitor since high school, Scheidies started competing in triathlons when his decreasing eyesight made sports such as soccer too difficult. Since then, he's "just sort of gotten hooked."
Scheidies, who lives in Farmington, Mich., is a junior at Michigan State and carries a 4.0 grade point average.
"Aaron exhibits an ability that we believe is part of each of our students with disabilities," said Mike Hudson, director of the university's Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities. "He is the essence of what we mean when we talk about maximizing ability and opportunity."
Now that the Cancun race is over and the gold medal is hanging on the wall, Scheidies has his eyes set on his next goal - taking first in the 2003 Triathlon World Championships in New Zealand.
"I think you can really do anything if you have confidence in your own abilities and just believe that you can," Scheidies said. "You've gotta have a lot of heart and strong will. I'm really motivated - I'm motivated to prove that I can do whatever I want."