Aaron Miller
MSU junior succeeds in both classroom and athletics, has high hopes for Cancun race
Take the fact that 20-year-old Aaron Scheidies can swim, bike and run nearly 32 miles in less than 2 ½ hours and that later this year he'll be competing in the International Triathlon Union World Championships in Cancun, Mexico, and you know you're dealing with an impressive athlete.
Add that Scheidies is legally blind, and you've also got an impressive person with an interesting story.
Scheidies, an MSU kinesiology junior, has a hereditary disease called macular degeneration, which causes a gradual decrease in central vision. Right now, Scheidies' vision is at 20/300, meaning whatever someone with perfect 20/20 vision can see clearly at 300 feet, he can only see clearly at 20 feet. 20/200 vision is considered legally blind. But even with a visual disability, Sheidies was a tough athlete in high school, participating in a number of sports, including cross country, swimming and track.
"I've always been a really competitive person and I've always liked to test how far I can push my body," he said. "That's a reason I got into triathlons."
The sport of triathlon, invented by the San Diego Track Club in the early 1970s, is easy to learn - consisting of swimming, biking and running - but takes dedication and training to master. Scheidies has competed in triathlons since his high school years in Farmington, Mich., after sports such as soccer became too difficult because of his vision. He started off doing small triathlons in the area, and, as he says, just "kinda got hooked."
Now, Scheidies trains for triathlons several hours a day. It hasn't been easy, though. Triathlons pose specific problems for someone with limited central vision.
"When I'm doing a triathlon, the bike slows me down because I have to be cautious of seeing potholes," he said. "I also have trouble sometimes in the water, like I can't see the buoys, so usually I have to follow another person."
Even with added challenges, Scheidies manages to succeed. He easily won the physically challenged division of the USA Triathlon World Championships Qualifier on June 15 in Lake Placid, NY, which qualified him for the World Championship in Cancun, Mexico, in November.
"For the race in Cancun I'm going to have a guide, and we will bike on a tandem bike, so the guide would basically do the whole race with me," he said. "They direct me out of the way of obstacles and on the run they just show me where to run. My times are going to be a lot faster with a guide just because I'm going to be a lot more confident."
But before he can represent the United States in the physically challenged division, he has to first get to Cancun. He's currently searching for sponsors to help with such expenses as airfare, hotel rooms, uniforms, food, and the cost of purchasing a tandem bike. So far, Mailboxes Etc. has signed on Scheidies' team, but he is looking for more sponsors who will help him reach his goals.
Scheidies is not the only MSU student athlete with a physical disability who has succeeded on a national level. Nick Catanzarite, a 1999 MSU graduate, was a member of the 2002 U.S. Paralympics Alpine skiing team. Both Scheidies and Catanzarite excelled in the classroom, as well as on the playing field.
Catanzarite was a member of the Honors Society for International Students, president of his cooperative house, and was the first wheelchair user to participate in a Study Abroad program at MSU. Scheidies manages to maintain a 4.0 GPA, is a member of the Tower Guard honor society, and is president of the MSU Triathlon Club.
Scheidies says the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities at MSU has been instrumental in his academic success.
"The RCPD is my second home when I'm at school," he said. "I use a lot of their technology equipment and they read my books on tape for me. I know I wouldn't be the student I am without their help."
Already a success in the classroom and in athletics, Aaron has high hopes for the World Championships in Cancun, but he's not competing just for himself.
"I wanna win the gold for the physically challenged division - that's what my goal is," he said about the World Championships. "But I also just want to serve as an inspiration to other disabled people to show them that really anything's possible, it's all about putting your mind to it and believing that you can do it."