Adaptive Waterskiing at Lake Norman YMCA
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL SKIERS
The Lake Norman YMCA, in partnership with Carolinas Rehabilitation, provides an adaptive water skiing program for adults and children with disabilities. Through water skiing, participants gain the self-esteem and confidence that comes from being independent and away from the wheelchair.
Thanks to generous community support, the Y offers the only adaptive water skiing program in North Carolina. Since it began, the program has grown significantly and now serves nearly 100 skiers each week throughout the summer.
Since starting in 1996 as a partnership between the YMCA of Greater Charlotte and Atrium Health, the program has helped people of all ages appreciate that their disability is no handicap. Each summer, 85 or so skiers leave their wheelchairs at the shoreline and embrace the challenge found in the water. The skiers, who use modified equipment weighted for stability (picture sitting on one giant ski) range from age 2½ to their 70's. Illness, accident or wartime injuries have put a barrier in front of them.