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He can't move on his own, but that doesn't mean he can't train master divers
He can't move on his own, but that doesn't mean he can't train master divers
By Thomas Curwen
thomas.curwen@latimes.com
http://twitter.com/tcurwen
August 29, 2016, 3:00 AM
Dressed in a metallic-blue Speedo and well-oiled against the sun, Lenny Larsen reclines poolside in his power wheelchair. Larsen loves the midday warmth. A slight breeze musses his wispy blond hair.
....
Gravity is every diver’s nemesis, and Larsen knows its lessons well. Three years ago while practicing a backflip on a trampoline at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center, he broke his neck. Now a quadriplegic and coach, he believes that the lessons he learned from his mistake are worth sharing.
....
The key is to have faith in your strength and training — and to never count on your brain. Count on your brain, he says, and bad things will happen. This is a visual sport; your brain will lie to you every time. .. Larsen’s betrayal took place on a summer morning in 2013. He had arrived at the aquatics center for practice before driving to Woodland Hills, where he worked for a company that designed theme parks. In a month, he planned to dive at a national competition in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The pool was crowded with swimmers, and he and the other divers turned to the trampolines to start their morning routine. ... “I was doing a ridiculously simple backflip,” he recalls. ... Halfway through, he knew he had miscalculated. His brain told him that he had carried his feet over far enough. ... But he hadn’t. .... After two surgeries within 48 hours, he woke up unable to move or breathe on his own. .. Fellow divers hung in his room a banner, words of encouragement. A boyfriend, whom he’d been dating for a few months, stood by his side. Friends came and went. His parents were there every day.
By Thomas Curwen
thomas.curwen@latimes.com
http://twitter.com/tcurwen
August 29, 2016, 3:00 AM
Dressed in a metallic-blue Speedo and well-oiled against the sun, Lenny Larsen reclines poolside in his power wheelchair. Larsen loves the midday warmth. A slight breeze musses his wispy blond hair.
....
Gravity is every diver’s nemesis, and Larsen knows its lessons well. Three years ago while practicing a backflip on a trampoline at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center, he broke his neck. Now a quadriplegic and coach, he believes that the lessons he learned from his mistake are worth sharing.
....
The key is to have faith in your strength and training — and to never count on your brain. Count on your brain, he says, and bad things will happen. This is a visual sport; your brain will lie to you every time. .. Larsen’s betrayal took place on a summer morning in 2013. He had arrived at the aquatics center for practice before driving to Woodland Hills, where he worked for a company that designed theme parks. In a month, he planned to dive at a national competition in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The pool was crowded with swimmers, and he and the other divers turned to the trampolines to start their morning routine. ... “I was doing a ridiculously simple backflip,” he recalls. ... Halfway through, he knew he had miscalculated. His brain told him that he had carried his feet over far enough. ... But he hadn’t. .... After two surgeries within 48 hours, he woke up unable to move or breathe on his own. .. Fellow divers hung in his room a banner, words of encouragement. A boyfriend, whom he’d been dating for a few months, stood by his side. Friends came and went. His parents were there every day.
