Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

They have overcome

Athletes with disabilities from the Clark County School District have earned the right to compete with the best of their peers nationwide and — in Beijing — worldwide

Paragames

Leila Navidi

Cortney Jordan, 16, is the only swimmer from Nevada to qualify for the U.S. Paralympics team and will compete in Beijing in September.

Three local teenagers will represent Nevada on national and international stages this summer with an assist from a first-year Clark County School District after-school program for physically challenged students.

One member of the district’s U.S. Paralympic Academy, Cortney Jordan, has been named to the U.S. Paralympics team in swimming and will compete in September in Beijing. The 2008 Paralympic Games will be held at the same venues that will host this year’s Summer Olympic Games.

Two other district students, Parker LeCates and Kiya Smith, have been named to Wheelchair Sports USA’s Junior Team that will compete at the International Wheelchair and Amputee Junior World Championships at Rutgers University in New Jersey in July. LeCates is a distance runner and Smith is a swimmer.

The U.S. Paralympic Academy is designed to introduce students with physical and visual disabilities to Paralympic sports including archery, cycling, swimming and track and field events. The program, run by the School District’s Adapted Physical Education Department, is open to every one of the estimated 33,000 students with a physical disability or visual impairment.

Here is a closer look at the three local student-athletes who will be traveling across the country and abroad this summer.

CORTNEY JORDAN

Age: 16

School: Coronado High

Event:Swimming

The star of the School District’s Paralympic Academy, Jordan is the only swimmer from Nevada to qualify for the U.S. Paralympics team. She will represent Nevada and the United States at the Paralympic Games in September in Beijing.

Born with a form of cerebral palsy that left her with no feeling on her left side, Jordan took up swimming at the suggestion of her physical therapist, but did not get involved in the Paralympics until she was 13. A year later, she set American and Pan American records in the 200-meter backstroke at the U.S. Paralympics Swimming National Championships in San Antonio and won bronze medals in the 50-meter, 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle events at the International Paralympic Committee Swimming World Championships in Durban, South Africa.

“Swimming feels really good because sometimes I am limited because, on land, my left side kind of holds me back,” she said, “but in the water I can overcompensate with my right side. It kind of feels like I’m complete in the water, so it’s nice.”

Jordan, who is earning straight A’s while taking three Advanced Placement classes at Coronado High, will be swimming in six events in Beijing and said her goal is to “medal in anything.”

PARKER LECATES

Click to enlarge photo

Legacy High School senior Parker LeCates, 18, will compete in track at the International Wheelchair and Amputee Junior World Championships at Rutgers University in July.

Age: 18

School: Legacy High

Event: Track

Parker LeCates, who earned a spot on Wheelchair Sports USA’s Junior Team USA and will compete in the International Wheelchair and Amputee Junior World Championships in New Jersey in July, is no stranger to competition. Although he has been running competitively for less than four years, LeCates has compiled an impressive resume as a member of the track and cross country teams at Legacy High.

LeCates was left with a paralyzed left arm as the result of a bicycling accident when he was in the eighth grade. A football and baseball player up to that point, he decided to take up running as a freshman in high school. Competing with his left arm in a sling, he has served as the captain of the cross country team the past two seasons. Last fall, he finished sixth at the Boys 4A Regional Cross Country Championships — against able-bodied high school athletes — and qualified for the state championship meet.

LeCates will compete in three distance events at the Junior World Championships despite undergoing surgery in February to transplant a muscle from his left leg in his left arm.

“Two months after the surgery, I’ve already been running,” he said. “(My leg) feels back to normal, mostly, so hopefully I can win all my events in New Jersey.”

After that, LeCates said, he hopes to qualify for the U.S. Paralympics team and earn a trip to Beijing, although he admitted that is a lofty goal.

There is only one other distance runner in LeCates’ classification, “and he is like 20 years older than me and he’s a lot faster than me, so they usually just take him,” LeCates said. “But hopefully I can close the gap and maybe get him this year.”

KIYA SMITH

Click to enlarge photo

Kiya Smith, 13, will compete in swimming at the International Wheelchair and Amputee Junior World Championships at Rutgers University in July.

Age: 13

School: Garside Middle School

Event: Swimming

Kiya Smith suffered a spinal-cord injury two years ago in a car accident and had to give up soccer. She took up swimming at the local YMCA and then got involved in the Paralympic Academy.

“I just like competing with others,” she said in a soft voice. “I try to beat other people and see how fast I can go.”

Smith qualified for the International Wheelchair and Amputee Junior World Championships in New Jersey by being one of the highest-ranked swimmers in her classification. But she said she especially enjoys competing against swimmers her age who are not physically challenged.

“When I competed against able-bodied (swimmers), I think I made the most progress,” she said. “It’s a real eye-opener to see what you need to work on.”

And what will be her goal when she gets to New Jersey for the Junior World Championships?

“I hope that I’ll get all gold medals and get a little bit faster.”

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